Vincent Valdez (born 1977) is an American artist born in

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

, Texas, who focuses on painting, drawing, and printmaking. His artwork is representational and he frequently utilizes the genre of portraiture. Valdez often emphasizes themes of social justice, memory, and ignored or under-examined historical narratives. Valdez completed his B.F.A. at the

Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase th ...

in 2000. He lives and works in Houston, Texas, and he has often spent considerable time in Los Angeles. Valdez is represented by the David Shelton Gallery (Houston) and Matthew Brown Gallery (Los Angeles). His work has been exhibited at

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), is an art museum located in the Houston Museum District of Houston, Texas. The permanent collection of the museum spans more than 5,000 years of history with nearly 80,000 works from six continents. Follo ...

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a $25,000 (about $550,000 in 2023) gift from Edsel Ford. ...

Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Page Museum). LACMA was founded in 1961 ...

National Portrait Gallery (United States) The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded in 1962 and opened in 1968, it is part of the Smithsonian Institution. Its collections focus on images of American artists, politicians, scientists ...

Blanton Museum of Art The Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art (often referred to as the Blanton or the BMA) at the University of Texas at Austin is one of the largest university art museums in the U.S. with 189,340 square feet devoted to temporary exhibitions, permanent co ...

Parsons School of Design The Parsons School of Design is a private art and design college under The New School located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhattan art ...

, and the Fundacion Osde Buenos Aires. In 2024-25, he had a mid-career survey exhibition titled "Vincent Valdez: Just a Dream..." at the Contemporary Art Museum, Houston, and

MASSMoCA The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) is a museum in a converted Arnold Print Works factory building complex located in North Adams, Massachusetts, North Adams, Massachusetts. It is list of largest art museums in the world, on ...

in North Adams.

Early life and education

Early years

Valdez was born in the South Side of San Antonio, Texas, in 1977. Valdez's interests in art emerged at an early age. He regarded himself as an outsider, and his work has been preserved since he was three. At age nine, he took up mural painting under the mentorship of Alex Rubio, another young San Antonio artist.Romo, Ricardo (January 23, 2018).
S.A. artist Vincent Valdez showcased at Washington's National Portrait Gallery
. '' La Prensa'' (San Antonio). laprensasa.com. Retrieved 2018-07-21. Under Rubio's direction, Valdez worked on a series of murals; the first was located at the former site of the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center in San Antonio. Later, Rubio and Valdez worked side-by-side to complete murals under the auspices of the Community Cultural Arts program.

Education and Early Work

After graduating from Burbank High School, Valdez enrolled in art school in Florida, but shortly thereafter transferred to the

(RISD) on a full scholarship.2018-2020 Texas Touring Roster
. Section: "State Artist Vincent Valdez". Texas Commission on the Arts. arts.texas.gov. Retrieved 2018-07-19. He completed his B.F.A. there in 2000. He had his first solo exhibition at the

Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center (GCAC) is a nonprofit arts organization located in the West Side of San Antonio. Its focus is multidisciplinary, with performances, exhibitions, and classes pertaining to music, dance, theater, literature, art, an ...

's Theater Gallery in San Antonio in his last year at RISD. During Valdez's junior year at RISD, an elderly self-surrogate in his painting ''Remembering'' (1999) reflects his experience of "missing home," which contributed to his developing Chicano consciousness.Cordova, Ruben C. (2004). ''¡Arte Caliente! Selections from the Joe A. Diaz Collection''. Corpus Christi, TX: South Texas Institute for the Arts, pp. 40-41, 43. His senior project at RISD culminated in his iconic piece ''Kill the Pachuco Bastard!'' (2000), which was influenced by the beginning of the film American Me (1992, dir. Edward James Olmos). The painting depicts the 1943

Zoot Suit riots The Zoot Suit Riots were a series of riots that took place June 3–8, 1943, in Los Angeles, California, United States, involving United States Armed Forces, American servicemen stationed in Southern California and young Latino and Mexican ...

, when sailors, servicemen, and other authorities in Los Angeles attacked Mexican Americans and tore off their Zoot Suits. Acquired by entertainer and arts collector and advocate

Cheech Marin Richard Anthony "Cheech" Marin (born July 13, 1946) is an American comedian and actor. He gained recognition as part of the comedy act Cheech & Chong during the 1970s and early 1980s with Tommy Chong, and as Don Johnson's partner, Insp. Joe Dom ...

, the piece was exhibited as part of Cheech's '' Chicano Visions: American Painters on the Verge,'' which traveled to twelve venues from 2001 to 2007, including

San Antonio Museum of Art The San Antonio Museum of Art (SAMA) is an art museum in Downtown San Antonio, Downtown San Antonio, Texas, USA. The museum spans 5,000 years of global culture. The museum is housed in the historic former Lone Star Brewing Company, Lone Star Bre ...

(SAMA), the

National Hispanic Cultural Center The National Hispanic Cultural Center is an institution in Albuquerque, New Mexico dedicated to Hispanic culture, arts and humanities. The campus spans 20 acres and is located along the Rio Grande in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Avenida César Chá ...

in Albuquerque, the

Indiana State Museum The Indiana State Museum is a museum located in Downtown Indianapolis, downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. The museum houses exhibits on the science, art, culture, and history of Indiana from prehistoric times to the present day. His ...

, Museum of Contemporary Art, La Jolla, and the

De Young Museum The de Young Museum, formally the M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, is a fine arts museum located in San Francisco, California, named for early San Francisco newspaperman M. H. de Young. Located on the West Side (San Francisco), West Side of the ci ...

in San Francisco. In a review of the SAMA exhibition, it was deemed "the show's edgiest work," one in which "rapacious sailors... violate every Chicano body and cultural emblem with unremitting barbarity. The painting is remarkable for: the dynamic expressiveness and superb characterizations of its varied protagonists, the lurid lighting effects, the complex space (including a tile floor that 'rolls' like waves on an ocean) and the undeniable mastery that makes it possible to pack such dense (and meaningful) iconographic details into a compelling, clearly legible narrative." The painting was showcased in "Cheech Collects," the inaugural permanent collection exhibition of

The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art, Culture & Industry The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture, known as The Cheech, is a museum in Riverside, California. It is part of the larger Riverside Art Museum. The center is focused on the exhibition and study of Chicano art from across the Uni ...

in Riverside, Ca, where a reviewer called it an exhibition highlight. His three versions of ''I Lost Her to El Diablo'' (2001-2004) reflect an interest in Texas folklore (in the form of the "Devil at the Dance" tale), as well as deepening treatments of psychology and atmosphere in the culminating painting. Valdez continues the "Devil at the Dance" theme in a Day of the Dead context in ''A Dance with Death'' (2000), in which "the cold beauty" of the female protagonist is influenced by

John Singer Sargent John Singer Sargent (; January 12, 1856 – April 15, 1925) was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian era, Edwardian-era luxury. He created roughly 900 oil ...

's ''

Madame X ''Madame X'' (original title ''La Femme X'') is a 1908 Play (theatre), play by French playwright Alexandre Bisson (1848–1912). It was novelized in English and adapted for the American stage; it was also adapted for the screen sixteen times ...

'', and ''El Diablo at the Dance'' (c. 2002) described as "an early masterpiece" by the artist."

Career

Residencies and awards

Valdez held residencies at

Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture The Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture is an artists residency located in Madison, Maine, just outside of Skowhegan. Every year, the program accepts online applications from emerging artists from November through January, and selects 65 ...

(2005), The

Vermont Studio Center The Vermont Studio Center (VSC) is a non-profit arts organization located in the town of Johnson, Vermont. It conducts the largest fine arts and writing residency program in the United States, with a significant population of international artis ...

(2011), the

Blue Star Contemporary Blue Star Contemporary is a non-profit contemporary art institution located in San Antonio, Texas. It was established by a group of artists in 1986 after the success of the ''Blue Star Exhibition'', a show featuring the work of local contempora ...

Berlin Residency/Kunstlerhaus Bethanien (2014), and The Joan Mitchell Foundation Artist in Residency (2018). He is a 2015 recipient of The Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant for Painters and Sculptors. In 2015, he earned The Texas Commission on the Arts State Artist Award. Artadia named Valdez and his collaborator Adriana Corral as the 2019 Houston Award Winners. Valdez was a 2020 Studio Fellow at NXTHVN, an organization in New Haven, CT founded by Titus Kaphar, Jason Price, and Jonathan Brand, NXTHVN fellowships are designed to foster "intergenerational mentorship, cross-sector collaboration, and local engagement oaccelerate the careers of the next generation and foster retention of professional art talent." During his fellowship, Valdez exhibited his work in the group show ''NXTHVN: Un/Common Proximity'' at James Cohan Gallery in New York, NY with Allana Clarke, Alisa Sikelianos-Carter, Daniel T. Gaitor-Lomack, Jeffrey Meris,

Esteban Ramón Pérez Esteban Ramón Pérez (born 1989) is an American artist who produces multi-media paintings and sculptures. His sociopolitical artwork often emphasizes subjective memory, spirituality, and fragmented history. Pérez earned a BFA from the Californ ...

, and Ilana Savdie. ''Un/Common Proximity'' was curated by 2020-2021 NXTHVN Curatorial Fellow, Claire Kim. In 2022, Valdez was a finalist and one of seven prizewinners for the Sixth Triennial Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition; he received one of four commendations. He was a 2022 recipient of the Mellon Foundation's Latinx Artist Fellowship.

Exhibitions

Valdez has shown his work in a number of solo exhibitions throughout the United States, including venues

Mass MoCA The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) is a museum in a converted Arnold Print Works factory building complex located in North Adams, Massachusetts. It is one of the largest centers for contemporary visual art and performing ...

, The University of Texas Austin's

, The University of Houston's

Blaffer Art Museum Blaffer Art Museum is a non-collecting contemporary art museum located in the Arts District of the University of Houston campus. Housed in the university’s Fine Arts Building, it is part of the Kathrine G. McGovern College of the Arts. It was ...

Artpace Artpace (also known as Artpace San Antonio) is a non-profit contemporary art foundation located in downtown San Antonio, Texas that is free and open to the public. Founded by artist, collector, and philanthropist Linda Pace, Artpace opened its d ...

in San Antonio, The David Winton Bell Gallery at Brown University, Washington and Lee University's Staniar Gallery, The McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, The Mesa Contemporary Arts Center, The

Snite Museum of Art The Snite Museum of Art, was the fine art museum on the University of Notre Dame campus, near South Bend, Indiana. Valdez has shown his work in a number of group exhibitions at venues including The

, The National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC,

Vincent Price Art Museum The Vincent Price Art Museum (VPAM) is an art museum located at East Los Angeles College in Monterey Park, California, US. The museum is named after American actor Vincent Price who donated portions of his personal art collection to the college i ...

'','' Los Angeles, California, The Minnesota Museum of Art, St. Paul, Minnesota, The

Phoenix Art Museum The Phoenix Art Museum is the largest art museum, museum for visual art in the southwest United States. Located in Phoenix, Arizona, the museum is . It displays international exhibitions alongside its comprehensive collection of more than 18,0 ...

, Phoenix, Arizona,

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is a museum of American art in Bentonville, Arkansas. The museum, founded by Alice Walton and designed by Moshe Safdie, officially opened on 11 November 2011. It offers free public admission. Overview ...

North Carolina Museum of Art The North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA) is an art museum in Raleigh, North Carolina. It opened in 1956 as the first major museum collection in the country to be formed by state legislation and funding. Since the initial 1947 appropriation that ...

, The Albuquerque Museum of Art, The

National Museum of Mexican Art The National Museum of Mexican Art (NMMA) is a museum featuring Mexico, Mexican and Chicano art and culture. It is located in Harrison Park in the Lower West Side, Chicago, Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, Chicago, Illinois. The museum ...

, Chicago, The Frye Art Museum, Seattle, and the

, Paris, France.

Permanent collections

Valdez's work is included in the following permanent collections:

Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth (widely referred to as The Modern) is an art museum of post-World War II art in Fort Worth, Texas with a collection of international modern and contemporary art. Founded in 1892, The Modern is located in the c ...

Permanent Collection, The

Museum of Fine Arts Houston The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), is an art museum located in the Houston Museum District of Houston, Texas. The permanent collection of the museum spans more than 5,000 years of history with nearly 80,000 works from six continents. Follo ...

Permanent Collection, The Bell Gallery/Brown University Permanent Collection, The Linda Pace Foundation Permanent Collection,

ArtPace Artpace (also known as Artpace San Antonio) is a non-profit contemporary art foundation located in downtown San Antonio, Texas that is free and open to the public. Founded by artist, collector, and philanthropist Linda Pace, Artpace opened its d ...

Permanent Collection, The Arkansas Drawing Center Permanent Collection, The McNay Museum of Art Permanent Collection, The

Permanent Collection, The

Frye Art Museum The Frye Art Museum is a modern and contemporary art museum in the First Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1952 to house the collection of Charles and Emma Frye and has since grown to include rotating temporary exhibi ...

Permanent Collection, The Raclin Murphy Museum of Art Permanent Collection, The University of Houston Public Art Collection, The

Museum of Texas Tech University The Museum of Texas Tech University is part of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. It is made up of the main museum building, the Moody Planetarium, the Natural Science Research Laboratory, the research and educational elements of the Lubbo ...

Public Art Collection, The

Permanent Collection, and

Artwork

''Made Men'', 2003

''The Made Men'' series was first exhibited in San Antonio. It was featured with ''The Strangest Fruit'' series at Brown University's David Winton Bell Gallery (2013). It also appeared in his "Just A Dream" exhibition in 2024-25. The series consists of four large pastels, which represent three masculine archetypes, a boxer, a soldier, and a martyr, men who are used and discarded by society. The fourth man, a street kid, seeks to escape their stereotypic roles and achieve liberation. The series was partly inspired by Bob Dylan's song "I Shall be Released."

Expulsion From the Great City, 2002

''Expulsion'' features a monumental modern-day Adam and Eve, who are stripped nude and forced from a great metropolis visible in the background. Valdez regards the pastel as part of the "Made Men" series.

''Stations'', 2004

At 26, Valdez was the youngest artist to be awarded a solo exhibition at the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, Texas. ''Stations'' emphasizes the physical dangers of the sport as it guides the viewer through one exhausting night in the life of a boxer. The series title, as well as the imagery, connects it to the passion of Christ in the form of the

Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Via Dolorosa, Way of Sorrows or the , are a series of fourteen images depicting Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and acc ...

. The themes are intertwined, and together they narrate the story of the "underdog." ''Stations'' was exhibited at the McNay Art Museum in 2004 and The Mesa Contemporary Arts Center, Mesa, AZ in 2010, and selections appear in "Just a Dream..."

''El Chavez Ravine'', 2009

''El Chavez Ravine'' represents a collaborative effort between Valdez and the musician Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder., who conceived of the project. Cooder had Duke’s So. Cal construct a 1953 Chevy Good Humor ice cream truck out of old parts. He enlisted Valdez to paint the historical narrative of the locale over the entire surface of the truck. The painting elucidates the story of Los Angeles's historically Mexican community,

Chavez Ravine Chavez Ravine is a shallow canyon in Los Angeles, California. It sits in a large promontory of hills north of downtown Los Angeles, next to Major League Baseball's Dodger Stadium. Chavez Ravine was named for a 19th-century Los Angeles councilm ...

. Deemed the "worst slum in the city,"Laslett, John H. M. (2015). ''Shameful Victory: The Los Angeles Dodgers, the Red Scare, and the Hidden History of Chavez Ravine''. University of Arizona Press. the land was seized from Chavez Ravine homeowners using

eminent domain Eminent domain, also known as land acquisition, compulsory purchase, resumption, resumption/compulsory acquisition, or expropriation, is the compulsory acquisition of private property for public use. It does not include the power to take and t ...

and funds from the

Housing Act of 1949 The American Housing Act of 1949 () was a landmark, sweeping expansion of the federal role in mortgage insurance and issuance and the construction of public housing. It was part of President of the United States, President Harry Truman's program ...

. Though the neighborhood was demolished to make way for the Elysian Park Heights public housing project, the new high rise housing complex was never constructed, due to the Red Scare, which led to opposition to public housing. Instead the land was sold to

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brook ...

owner

Walter O'Malley Walter Francis O'Malley (October 9, 1903 – August 9, 1979) was an American sports executive who owned the Brooklyn Dodgers, Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers team in Major League Baseball from 1950 to 1979. In 1958, as owner of the Dodgers, he br ...

for the construction of

Dodger Stadium Dodger Stadium is a ballpark in the Elysian Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the home of the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Opened in 1962, it was constructed in less than three years at a ...

. Valdez's painting illustrates the inhumane treatment of Chavez Ravine residents and also showcases their resistance against the seizure of their land. One side of the truck illustrates the idealized community, the other side shows forcible displacement. The roof depicts a monstrous-looking bulldozer flinging bodies and cars in the air. On the hood, a baseball game is taking place while, on the left, displaced residents inhabit the ruins of their partially destroyed houses. Valdez and Cooder are depicted (from behind) in the center of the hood as observers. Cooder's 2005 album,

Chávez Ravine Chavez Ravine is a shallow canyon in Los Angeles, California. It sits in a large promontory of hills north of downtown Los Angeles, next to Major League Baseball's Dodger Stadium. Chavez Ravine was named for a 19th-century Los Angeles councilm ...

also recognizes the Chavez Ravine residents. In "3rd Base, Dodger Stadium," the fourteenth track on the album, Cooder's lyrics memorialize the community's historical link to the Chavez Ravine neighborhood: "I work here nights, parking cars, underneath the moon and stars / The same ones that we all knew back in 1952 / And if you want to know where a local boy like me is coming from: "3rd base, Dodger Stadium." Valdez's ''El Chavez Ravine'' painting wraps around the kind of ice cream truck that circulated in all areas of the city, including the Chavez Ravine neighborhood in 1953. Valdez discussed the piece: "This became an epic project for me, not only because of the time I invested into it, but because it is the only lowrider that I know of that is painted by hand with a brush and artist oil paints. Most importantly, I also felt like somewhat of an archeologist digging up a lost history that isn't in the textbooks." ''El Chavez Ravine'' was exhibited at The San Antonio Museum of Art in 2009 and it is in "Just a Dream."

''Excerpts for John'', 2011–2012

''Excerpts for John'' is a series of monochromatic paintings that illustrate a U.S. military funeral procession. The paintings are complemented with a film showing a casket draped in an American flag ethereally floating through San Antonio neighborhoods. As the title suggests, the series is dedicated to Valdez's friend, John. Valdez said, "This suite of paintings pays homage to my lifelong friend, 2nd Lt. John R. Holt Jr., (1978–2009) who survived a tour of duty in Iraq as a combat medic, but lost a battle with post-traumatic stress disorder in 2009. The varied backgrounds remain anonymous to the viewer, but depict the neighborhood that John and I grew up in." ''Excerpts for John'' was exhibited at the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, Texas in 2011. Selections from the series were exhibited at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery as part of the 2017 exhibition ''The Face of Battle: Americans at War 9/11-Present''. A selection of ''Excerpts for John'' was also exhibited as part of the

Pacific Standard Time LA/LA 2017 exhibition ''Home—So Different, So Appealing''. It is also in "Just a Dream."

''The Strangest Fruit'', 2013

''The Strangest Fruit'' series consists of nine paintings that feature Mexican and Mexican American men dressed in contemporary clothing and suspended from invisible nooses. The title of the series was inspired by

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday made significant contributions to jazz music and pop ...

's famous 1939 song "

Strange Fruit "Strange Fruit" is a song written and composed by Abel Meeropol (under his pseudonym Lewis Allan) and recorded by Billie Holiday in 1939. The lyrics were drawn from a poem by Meeropol published in 1937. The song Protest song, protests the Lynch ...

", which was adapted from

Abel Meeropol Abel Meeropol (February 10, 1903 – October 29, 1986)Baker, Nancy Kovaleff, "Abel Meeropol (a.k.a. Lewis Allan): Political Commentator and Social Conscience," '' American Music'' 20/1 (2002), pp. 25–79, ; see especially note 3. was an Ameri ...

's anti-lynching poem written in 1936. ''The Strangest Fruit'' series evokes a little known history of the lynching of Mexicans and Mexican Americans in the United States. Historians William Carrigan and Clive Webb have documented 547 cases of extralegal executions of people of Mexican origin or descent in states like Texas, California, and New Mexico, but suspect that the actual number of victims is considerably higher. In Valdez's series, each man is juxtaposed against a white background meant to symbolize forgotten histories and erased narratives of racialized violence against Mexicans and Mexican Americans. Juan Cartagena, the President and General Counsel of

LatinoJustice PRLDEF LatinoJustice PRLDEF, long known by its former name the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, is a New York–based national civil rights organization with the goal of changing discriminatory practices via advocacy and litigation. Privat ...

notes that Valdez's ''The Strangest Fruit'' series "expertly juxtaposes the infamous symbol of state-sponsored/state ignored violence—here the visualized but invisible noose—with the bodies of young Latino men in modern attire." In his artist statement, Valdez enumerates these modern day threats as mass incarceration, the for-profit prison industry, the criminalization of poverty, biased justice systems, racial profiling, and mass deportation. ''The Strangest Fruit'' series was exhibited at Brown University's David Winton Bell Gallery (2013),

in San Antonio (2014), and Washington and Lee University's Staniar Gallery (2014). Selections from the series were exhibited as part of

's 2014 State of the Art exhibition, as well as in "Just a Dream." According to the artist, the paintings allude not only to the lynching nooses, but also to ongoing oppression, which he calls the “invisible noose.” The suspension of these bodies between heaven and earth is also meant to be ambiguous—their position could refer to transcendence and release as well as their death by lynching.

The Beginning is Near, Part I: ''The City'', 2015–2016

''The City I'' is a 30-foot-long black and white painting featuring fourteen hooded members of the Ku Klux Klan. The artwork was sparked by

Philip Guston Philip Guston (born Phillip Goldstein, June 27, 1913 – June 7, 1980) was a Canadian American painter, printmaker, muralist and draftsman. "Guston worked in a number of artistic modes, from Renaissance-inspired figuration to formally accomplis ...

's ''City Limits'' (1969, Museum of Modern Art) and also influenced by

Gil Scott-Heron Gilbert Scott-Heron (April 1, 1949 – May 27, 2011) was an American Jazz poetry, jazz poet, singer, musician, and author known for his work as a spoken-word performer in the 1970s and 1980s. His collaborative efforts with musician Brian Jackso ...

's song ''The Klan,'' from his 1980 ''Real Eyes'' album. ''The City I'' is dedicated to Guston and Scott-Heron, bearing the inscription "To PG and GSH" in the lower right. When he was a young artist, Valdez accidentally came face-to-face with a KKK Grand Wizard in front of the Alamo, and this experience had been percolating in the back of his mind for a long time. An expansive and glowing city stretching out behind the figures provides the title for Valdez's painting. Near center, a hooded toddler wearing baby Nikes points out at the viewer, a reference to

James Montgomery Flagg James Montgomery Flagg (June 18, 1877 – May 27, 1960) was an American artist, comics artist, and illustrator. He worked in media ranging from fine art painting to cartooning, but is best remembered for his political posters, particularly his ...

's famous World War I era recruitment poster. It features a pointing Uncle Sam, with the title " I Want You for the U.S. Army." This poster is depicted in Kill The Pachuco Bastards!. On the convergence of Klan imagery and contemporary details such as beer cans, an iPhone, and a modern Chevrolet, Valdez said, "There's a shift happening. Two worlds are being pulled apart, or pulled together. You, as a viewer, are stuck in between. You have to decide who you are, where you are, and how you got there." Valdez also wanted to emphasize that these contemporary klansmen are urban, educated, and affluent, because the klan is not limited to impoverished rural areas. In March 2016, ''New York Times'' writer Lawrence Downes featured Valdez's ''The City I'' in an editorial piece. Dowes wrote, "Mr. Valdez was not planning to be prophetic when he began the painting last November. He is not a polemical artist, or a literal-minded one, though his paintings are striking for their attention to emotion, storytelling and the revealing detail. He could not have known how much the Ku Klux Klan, and white supremacy, would overtake the 2016 presidential campaign." ''The City'' received widespread coverage throughout Texas when it was first exhibited at the David Shelton Gallery in Houston, TX as part of the solo exhibition ''The Beginning is Near (Part I)''. The paintings were acquired by The

at the University of Texas, Austin and were on view beginning July 17, 2018. The Blanton Museum produced extensive programming to support the exhibition. The opening of the exhibition was covered in the ''New York Times,'' ''The Guardian,'' and ''Artnet News''. On the evening of the opening, the Blanton Museum of Art hosted a conversation with Valdez and journalist Maria Hinojosa, anchor and executive producer of ''

Latino USA ''Latino USA'' is a nationally syndicated public radio program and podcast produced by The Futuro Media Group and distributed nationwide by the Public Radio Exchange (PRX), after 27 years of being distributed by NPR. The program is anchored by ...

'' on

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

. In a February 2020 ''Artnet News'' piece identifying Valdez as one of four breakout artists from the Los Angeles Art Fairs, the author referenced the controversy surrounding ''The City I'', which the author defines as a "sensationalistically misread painting." The Artnet News author goes on to note that, "Valdez has already been widely embraced by significant museums and art nonprofits, with more honors to come." The painting is featured prominently in both venues of "Just a Dream." At MASS MoCA, it was placed near the entrance to the museum. Denise Markonish, co-curater of this exhibition, said the placement was "strategic," because “Vincent is unflinching,” and “We, as a museum, should be too.”

The Beginning is Near, Part II: ''Dream Baby Dream'', 2018

In 2019, Valdez exhibited ''Dream Baby Dream'' (2018) at

MASS MoCA The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) is a museum in a converted Arnold Print Works factory building complex located in North Adams, Massachusetts. It is one of the largest centers for contemporary visual art and performing ...

as part of the exhibition ''Suffering from Realness'' curated by Denise Markonish. Twelve mostly grayscale oil on paper paintings (42 x 72 inches) focus on the multi-ethnic cast of individuals who attended

Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and social activist. A global cultural icon, widely known by the nickname "The Greatest", he is often regarded as the gr ...

's funeral shortly after his death on June 3, 2016. Each person exhibits varying degrees of grief at the loss of the American icon. In the MASS MoCA exhibition catalog, Markonish notes that each figure is “silent, hesitant, and even uncertain about their willingness to speak.” Markonish continues, “This potential muteness serves as an apt metaphor for our troubled times.” About the series, Valdez said, "This work reminds me on a daily basis that we are bound by similar patterns of history, experiences, and struggles for survival. Filtering the present through the past presents me with the difficult and private examination of my own tangled history--as a Mexican American in twenty-first-century America. I don't presume that painting can change the world. But, I stand firm in my belief that the artist can still provide critical moments of silence and clarity in times of immense distortion and chaos." The series is structured as a grid, based The Brady Bunch television show, whose lack of diversity did not match his familial experience. He has, in the words of one commenter, thus "replaced a non-diverse past with a diverse present, one that hopefully points to a diverse future." ''Dream Baby Dream'' was first exhibited at the David Shelton Gallery in Houston in September 2017. At MASS MoCA in 2019, ''Dream Baby Dream'' was exhibited alongside Valdez's ''Requiem'' (2016–19), a collaborative piece created with Adriana Corral. Valdez and Corral organized a performance to mark the opening of ''Requiem''. The artists processed ''Requiem'', a monumental bronze representation of a dying golden eagle, alongside pall bearers, who carried the weight of the sculpture. A mariachi band accompanied the procession that was inspired by a New Orleans funeral; Valdez played the trumpet. Other artists who participated in ''Suffering from Realness'' include Aziz+Cucher, Cassils, Joey Fauerso,

Jeffrey Gibson Jeffrey A. Gibson (born 1972)''U.S. Public Records Index'' Vol. 2 (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), 2010. is an American Mississippi Choctaw/Cherokee painter and sculptor. He has lived and worked in Brooklyn, New York; Hudson, New Y ...

, Hayv Kahraman, Titus Kaphar, Roberto Longo, Christoper Mir, MPA, Wengechi Mutu, Allison Schulnik, Keith Sklar, and Robert Taplin. ''Dream, Baby, Dream'' also appears in "Just a Dream..."

People of the Sun, 2018

''People of the Sun / El Gente de la Sol (the Santanas)'', to give the work its full title, depicts the artist's grandparents in front of a clothesline. This photorealist work took three years to complete. Valdez told the ''New York Times'': “It’s one of the very, very few paintings that I am content with,” He added: “It speaks about the labor and the toil and the determination of creating that better life and situation in America, so that your offspring have a better way forward.”

So Long, Mary Ann, 2019

Mary Ann is the name of the tattooed man's mother, who died when he was a child. He commemorated her by tattooing her name several times. When considering painting this man, Valdez heard the song “So Long, Marianne” by Leonard Cohen. The two tales of "lost love” are combined in this painting, with the unnamed man's experience of loss as important as Cohen’s. A glimmer in the man's eye reflects a cross. ''So Long, Mary Ann'' is featured in "Just a Dream..." In Houston, it was located at the entrance to the exhibition.

''Eaten'', 2018-19

''Eaten'' is an installation in which a fat, mutant pig has eaten part of a suit-wearing man from a bygone era. He has also bitten a book. The pig's eyes are those of J. Edgar Hoover, who was the director of the FBI. The slick hair is from Robert S. McNamara, the Secretary of Defense who oversaw the Vietnam War. Its facial skin is base on Steve Bannon, who was an advisor to President Donald S. Trump during his first term. To the artist, these are all villains of sorts, in a work with ambiguous and multiple meanings. Eaten is featured in "Just a Dream...," and a detail of it illustrates the cover of the exhibition catalo

Supreme, 2022-ongoing

Valdez began ''Supreme'' on the very day that the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. Roe had guaranteed the right to abortion since 1973. The unfinished painting depicts the Supreme Court, along with a monumental statue of Justice, whose head is decapitated. Whereas Justice's blindfold traditionally symbolizes impartiality, here it has been compared to that of an executed prisoner. The presence of John Gast’s painting ''American Progress'' (1872), a symbol of Manifest Destiny, refers to regressive policies from the past. ''Supreme'', the only unfinished painting Valdez has exhibited, is featured in "Just a Dream..."

Documentaries about Valdez's work

*2020: American Masters, In the Making: The Beginning is Near, Filmmaker Ray Santisteban, PBS *2013: Vincent Valdez: Excerpts for John, Walley Films *2009: A behind the scenes look at the making of at Vincent Valdez "El Chávez Ravine" *2009: Vincent Valdez: The Art of Boxing by Ray Santisteban *2009: Vincent Valdez: El Chávez Ravine – Research & Painting

Oral Histories with Valdez

* 2005: University of Notre Dame ILS Oral History Project * 2020: Archives of American Art Pandemic Oral History Project

References

Interviews

“Quiero visibilizar esos episodios de la historia de América que se ocultan o se olvidan”. Interview by Ana Vidal in El País, June 2025

External links

Vincent Valdez
{{DEFAULTSORT:Valdez, Vincent Living people 1977 births American male artists 20th-century American painters Artists from San Antonio Rhode Island School of Design alumni 21st-century American painters Painters from Texas 20th-century American male artists Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture alumni