Artwork
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Artist
Vincent Valdez
(American, born 1977)
DepartmentContemporary Art
Date2004
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions74 x 46 in. (188 x 116.8 cm)
Credit LineSan Antonio Museum of Art, gift of Michael D. Maloney
Object number2010.28.1
Copyright© Vincent Valdez
GeographyPlace madeUnited States
DescriptionClose up portrait of a young man with face/head upturned and lips parted. The man wears a blue t-shirt and chain necklace. In the background is a street scene rendered in red.Label Text"I have dedicated my process of image making to be a declaration of the world around me, where fictitious characters become a testament to the social and political statements that they embody. A cinematic, hyper-realistic technique enables me to blur the line between the real and the non-real, between historical and the present, and between myth and memory."
- Vincent Valdez
Using his younger brother as his model, Valdez created this large-scale portrait of an urban street youth, one of a number of iconic masculine stereotypes that he has represented in his paintings. Other recurring characters in his repertoire include a boxer, a soldier, and a martyr. Shown with gold-capped teeth, a gold chain around his neck, an earring in one ear and wearing a typical American baseball cap, this figure represents the new generation of stoic youth that has emerged in recent years from the Latino neighborhood where the artist was raised. Influenced by motion pictures, Valdez positioned the figure's head to fill most of the composition, in the manner of a movie close-up. The monochromatic red palette was chosen for its connotations of violence and power, which one might associate with a tough youth from the streets.
SignedSigned upper right corner: vincent valdezNot on view
Collections
The San Antonio Museum of Art is in the process of digitizing its permanent collection. This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect SAMA's complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of such records is ongoing.
This resource has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor.
