PACO DÍAZ (Madrid, 1965). "Roma VII". Oil on linen. Signed on the back. Measurements: 130 x 130 cm. Attracted by the plastic arts, photography, graphic design and architecture, Paco Díaz studied at the Complutense University of Madrid. At the end of his studies, he began to work in the field of advertising although, as he himself says, he never gave up his artistic vein. His enigmatic creations emanate a surrealist aura, attracting our attention and curiosity towards the artistic object. Both his cityscapes and still lifes are orchestrated by the delicate aesthetics that characterise the painter, who draws from classical sources to reach new contexts in the present day. In his work "Roma VII", the landscape is inspired by photographs showing Roman sculptures. In fact, if we look closely, we can see the folds of a Roman toga, common in the sculptures of Roman emperors, whose vertexes have served as models of their landscapes. The evolution and change that materials and landscapes undergo due to the passage of time is another of the points of interest in Díaz's work, so much so that we can observe the nicked and fragmented marble in the work, as well as the change in the tonality of the colour caused by the alterations standing out against a black background. Winner of prizes such as the XVI Casimiro Baragaña National Contemporary Painting Competition; XLV Fuente Álamo International Painting Competition; XXIII Francisco Zurbarán International Painting Prize; XXXVIII Casimiro Sainz National Painting Competition; XXVII Francisco Pradilla Painting Competition or the X Francisco Fernández National Photography Competition. Paco Díaz also has works in public and private institutions: Colegio de España de París; Fundación Goya de Fuendetodos; Colección Banco de Sabadell or the Centro de Arte Contemporáneo Francisco Fernández, among others.