Life & Work with Diego Cardoso of Downtown LA

Today we’d like to introduce you to Diego Cardoso

Hi Diego, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Immigrant from South America, lived most of my life in the USA . Went to school in LA, Stockholm and Paris. Worked for three years teaching at a university in Ecuador . My stay in Europe and teaching experience in Cenca, Ecuador , highly inspired my interest in the visual arts and city planning, However, urban photography and urban art at that time had limited opportunities . I pursued Urban Planning and later developed professional carrier in transport planning. It is then that I started using photography to illustrate and express my ideas and later on initiated sketching and painting to best convey what I was seeing . My art is an extension of my life education and professional work experiences. At one point in my life I realized I wanted to integrate my daily work and my art interests in such a way that I not only working for a living but above all work for self -realization. Becoming a full-time artist allows me to realize this objective.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I am artist making some of my living from art production. Challenges are always part of doing business and living in general . At this stage in my life I can not afford to worry about what I am producing.; in my case art work is not just a commodity, it is what I produce to express myself.. I know what I will be doing in my life. I just need to do better. I am like a poet that uses words to express something beautiful. I use paint to express beauty.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Light and colors are important in my art. After so many years of living in LA and experiencing its city form and work to improve transportation I am seeking to capture them in my art; . I am a a painter that creates paintings as poets write poems.. You read my art by observing its compositions, arms and colors.

Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
My art is completed by the viewer. My art is a public manifestation . I paint the common ground . I paint the public spaces. I paint urban infrastructure . I paint urban landscapes.. I paint skies . I paint the urban ordinary,. I paint alleys. I paint city t beaches. I paint buses and trains. I paint bicyclists. I paint people walking. I paint freeways. I paimt automobiles.. I paint the humans living on sidewalks . When you see my art you see familiar places. You need to say something .

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @diegoartla

Image Credits
, Diego R Cardoso