Opening Reception: Vincent Valdez: Undercurrents

Vincent Valdez: Undercurrents
opening reception + artist talk: Thursday, July 11, 6-9 pm

Artpace is excited to welcome back San Antonio native, Vincent Valdez for the opening of Undercurrents. Artpace will display a varying range of work, including Vincent’s series titled, Siete Dias/Seven Days, which was exhibited at the Art League Houston in 2023, where Vincent was awarded Texas Artist of the Year.

In addition to Siete Dias/Seven Days, Undercurrents examines the dynamics that shape identity through a comprehensive group show. Anchored by the artistic practice of Vincent Valdez, this exhibition expands as pieces by influential artists come into dialogue with Valdez’s work and connect him to individuals, places, and stories. In doing so, Undercurrents simultaneously traces and amplifies the ecology of San Antonio’s prolific Latino and Chicano art scene.

Central to Siete Dias are fourteen haunting portraits of disappeared individuals drawn from an archival calendar originally published in 1980s Central America. These ghostly depictions exude a palpable presence, organized in a chapel-like arrangement, with three rows of portraits inviting visitors to contemplate the enigma of their absence.  Seven single-word text panels are interwoven among the evocative images, each representing a day of the week in Spanish. These text panels poignantly symbolize the passage of time, amplifying the ongoing absence and uncertain fates of these missing individuals.

In addition to Siete Dias, Valdez recreates a personal memory of his first museum experience through a curation of work. In collaboration with Joe Diaz, a long-time collector and advocate for Latinx and Chicano art (and Valdez’s first collector,) Valdez aims to elevate and acknowledge the artists who inspired his dedication to his craft.

Artpace’s Hudson Showroom | The San Antonio presentation of Vincent Valdez’s Undercurrents has been made possible through generous support from Sarah Harte and John Gutzler, Janet Lennie Flohr, Larry Mendez, and H-E-B , with special thanks to Joe, Georgina, and Zoe Diaz.