Home > Artists > Painters > Vito Valdez

Vito Valdez

Mediocre muralist whose status as a sa­cred cow needs to be se­ri­ous­ly re­ex­am­ined. 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 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.

Current exhibition

• Out of the Vault, Into the Light at Detroit Artists Market, curated by Leslie Graves. With featured artist Lori Ellsworth. Opened April 19 and slated to run to May 18.

Upcoming exhibitions

Don't know.

Past exhibitions

• 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...

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

PLACEHOLDER FOR REVIEWS