(born 1960?), U.S. artist. The American Library Association awarded David Diaz the 1995 Caldecott Medal for his dramatic, expressionistic paintings in Eve Bunting's ‘Smoky Night' (1994), a book about a child witnessing turmoil in his neighborhood that was inspired by the Los Angeles riots of 1992. Diaz's early interest in art was developed further by a high-school teacher who encouraged him to enter competitions and helped him get an apprenticeship with hyperrealist sculptor Duane Hanson. Diaz also credited a 1980 German expressionist art show at the Guggenheim Museum and the work of illustrator William Steig with influencing his artwork. In 1979 Diaz moved from Florida to California and began seeking design and illustration jobs. After a period of financial hardship while trying to get established, he eventually landed corporate clients such as American Express, Benetton, and Pepsico. His wife Cecelia, whom he met in an eleventh-grade art class, often worked with him on projects. She also helped him create hand-assembled limited-edition books to use as promotional pieces. Diaz debuted in children's literature by contributing the illustrations in Gary Soto's ‘Neighborhood Odes' (1992), but it was the bold-colored acrylic paintings and textured collage backgrounds of ‘Smoky Night' that brought Diaz national attention. He worked with Bunting again on ‘Going Home' (1996), a story of a migrant family spending Christmas back in Mexico, and ‘The Christmas Home' (1997). Other books containing his artwork included Eve Merriam's ‘The Inner City Mother Goose' (1996), Marybeth Lorbiecki's ‘Just One Flick of a Finger' (1996), and Kathleen Krull's ‘Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World's Fastest Woman' (1996). |