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Vito Valdez

Muralist whose status as a sa­cred cow needs to be se­ri­ous­ly re­ex­am­ined; his work is often redolent of much better artists. The better muralists in Detroit on occasion do imprecise work, but in those cases it's clearly an artistic choice, not a limitation imposed by an unpracticed technique, whereas with Vito Valdez one wonders if he's even aware of his limitations.

Selected with Katie Yamasaki for a Knight Arts Challenge match­ing funds grant in 2015. The match­ing funds grant was for them to fi­nal­ly complete a mural near Ver­nor and Ferdinand in Detroit.

As of late 2019, the Vernor and Ferdinand mural seemed close to com­ple­tion, after a burst of activity months prior. Which was not surprising, given that the ex­treme­ly heavy transactional bur­dens of Knight Foundation match­ing funds grants are a lot even for artists with integrity.

As of 2025, the Vernor and Ferdinand mural will not be completed at all due to a change in ownership of the building the mural was on. The incomplete mural was painted over in a solid color.

Current exhibition

• Hilos de Identidad at the Wayne State University Elaine L. Jacob Gallery. Opened September 18 and slated to run to December 12.

Upcoming exhibitions

Don't know, don't really care.

Past exhibitions

• ¡Trabajadores!, juried by Nora Chapa Mendoza, at 2835 Bagley in Detroit. May 1 — 28, 2026.
• Out of the Vault, Into the Light at Detroit Artists Market, curated by Leslie Graves. With featured artist Lori Ellsworth. April 19, 2024 — May 18, 2024.
• Uprising at Hatch Art. November 2 — 30, 2019.
• Some "multimedia" exhibit pertaining to the still incomplete mural, at the Mexicantown Cultural Center in Detroit. May 5 – 31, 2018.
• City Walls, sponsored by the Southwest Detroit Business Association. October 26, 2017.
• El Grito de Mi Raza (curator), at Ellen Kayrod Gallery. March 10, 2017 – April 21, 2017.
• The Essential Self: Meditations on the Politics of Identity at Detroit Artists Market. June 12, 2015 – July 18, 2015.
• Mundo Mericas: Contemporary Art of the Americas, in the Main and Rose Galleries of the N'Namdi Center for Contemporary Art. March 27, 2015 – May 30, 2015.
• ...a few more going back decades...

Also exhibited at Johanson Charles Gallery many years ago, and was in a retrospective for that gallery at Office Space Gallery.

External links

• Knight Foundation matching funds grant page

News

• Alonso del Arte, "Vito Valdez shows the proper way to plan a mural", Daily Kos, August 3, 2016.

Reviews

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