Diego Arias Asch’s attitude towards painting is the same as his attitude towards life.
Let me set an example: Not long after we met, I found Diego in one of Costa Rica's large market places (Alajuela’s Central Market), where he disguised himself as a street vendor. He was selling unauthorized copies of Ben Hur. However, no one knew that these copies had been partially edited with footage of a homemade version of Jesus Christ’s journey to the cross. Diego visited several nursing homes dressed as the son of God where he tried to pick fights with the elders; the scenes were musicalized.
Thoughts by Guillermo Tovar Carazo
The exhibition took place from September 16 to October 16, 2015.
Diego Arias Asch, born 1988, is a visual artist and filmmaker based in San José, Costa Rica. He graduated from the School of Communications of the University of Costa Rica, specialized in audiovisual production. He studied drawing and animation with artist Guillermo Tovar Carazo.
In 2009 he started producing highly manipulated and irrelevant documentaries, prominent among them is ‘I’ve Lost My Friends’ (2012), shot in Austin, Texas, during the South by Southwest Festival. In 2010 he established the Doyle Club for the production and diffusion of his collaborative projects. In 2012 he performed as a staff dancer for a Flaming Lips gig.
In 2014 he co-created the Feliz Feliz publishing company in order to publish a young man’s first novel; he then closed Feliz Feliz and is currently editing Doyle Club’s second art-book. From December 2014 he’s been performing on a long-term feature by filmmaker Neto Villalobos about himself and his relationship with designer Paz Gutiérrez Guerinoni.
His first feature-film is programmed to be released in mid-2017.