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Chicano Artist Vincent Valdez

mahmag2  •  01 February, 2007

Suspect: Dark Clothes, Dark Hair, Dark Eyes, Dark Skin, 2002 by Vincent Valdez


“A menacing mood permeates the form and content of my most recent work. As in the past, I am dealing with expressions that intertwine traditions and stereotypes with themes that are familiar to my generation." Vincent Valdez


"In developing these works, however, I came to see the figures not only as forms frozen in time but also as captives of a universal culture of sex and violence. Through the use of a foreboding palette of dark hues and dim light, I have tried to vest the figures with a keen self-awareness that is both evocative and erotic. In their gaze, one can read both a sexual longing and an explosive hedonism. By portraying forms with expressive and at times exaggerated gestures, I hope to reflect characters on the brink of an overwhelming sexuality or violence while offering a hint of the hidden pathos of everyday life.”

Vincent Valdez was born in 1976 and raised in San Antonio, Texas. He started painting at the age of three and early in his life realized he had an artistic ability unique to other classmates. His early influence was his great-greandfather who was a Spanish artist. At the age of ten, while participating on a mural project in San Antonio, he had decided that art would be his career. He mentored with artist/muralist Alex Rubio in Alamo City and eventually started doing murals on his own. He is the youngest person to have art exhibited in a museum in Texas. He received a Bachelors of Arts in Illustration at Rhode Island School of Design in Providence.

Self Portrait by Vincent Valdez


His most famous work is entitled “Kill the Pachuco Bastard!” depicting the 1943 Los Angeles Zoot Suit Riots. Pachuco originated as a nickname for El Paso, Texas in the 1930’s, later it became associated with Chicanos or Mexicans dressed in Zoot suits. Its contemporary application is for young men who are perceived to be members of a gang by the way they look.

Kill the Pachuco Bastard! by Vincent Valdez


sources: The Chicano Collection , Latino Art Community
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Comments

Posted by Trader Joes  •  20 March, 2007  •  00:00:10

nice blog!
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Posted by Norma Paglia (Michael Paglia-s Mother)  •  18 February, 2008  •  11:03:43

Vincent: We have been trying to get in touch with you. Just saw your work at the Market place. As always, your work is awesome.
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Posted by Leticia Duarte  •  11 March, 2009  •  06:32:39

Vincent,

Luckily my son and I had the opportunity to take several classes with you at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center in San Antonio. I know that you meet many people and probably don't remeber half of who you meet but I just want to say that your work is so remarkable. It as if your looking at a photo of someone instead of a painting. It is a God given talent to be able to capture such detail in painting. I hope that you are blessed with much more work and sales and keep up the nice art for people as myself to continue to enjoy.
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