Julio Valdez
Recent Works
November 5-December 18, 2022

In his recent work, Julio Valdez explores an oceanic landscape, at once dreamlike and hallucinatory. Valdez has been exploring images of water as a metaphor for consciousness and the creative process—reflecting his interest in spatial uncertainty, a sense of time not yet defined. Rooted in abstract expressionism, Valdez uses an “all over technique” to call the attention of the viewer to the entire visual field. By focusing on visual aspects (transparency, color saturation, luminosity, forms, etc.), he combines them in such a way that the separation of form and content are indistinguishable.

Valdez explores portraiture as an imperfect translation of a self that can never be captured. For example, his Pandemic Portraits and Self-portraits are a vehicle for exploring cultural identity during the Covid-19 pandemic, a period of existential uncertainty that began in early 2020. Valdez is acutely aware of how this period in our history has become a cultural experience that has redefined us from the inside-out as individuals and as a people.

Valdez’s work has long included themes of displacement, identity, belonging, isolation, being adrift, being grounded, and community, (e.g., family and friends), while exploring the geographical and political circumstances that have defined the Caribbean region. Some of his most recent works, such as Epitaph, are part of his series I Can’t Breathe, currently a public art project in Harlem, New York City, addressing the recent wave of police and civilian brutality against people of color in the United States. As a whole, his work infuses personal experiences with a collective destiny.

Julio Valdez is a painter, printmaker, teacher, curator and mixed-media installation artist whose work has been exhibited internationally since 1986. Lives and works in Washington DC and New York City. He was part of the official representation of the Dominican Republic at the 58th Venice Biennale, Italy in 2019 and in 2021 exhibited at The Phillips Collection in Washington DC. A new museum exhibition titled Julio Valdez: Mapping the Layers, is currently open at the Art Museum of the Americas, Organization of American States (OAS), Washington, DC. Valdez has presented 30 institutional and gallery solo exhibitions nationally and internationally, and has participated in more than 150 group exhibitions, biennials and related educational programs in the visual arts. Visit Julio Valdez’s website to learn more.

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Identity Formations

Identity Formations features three artists who explore the fertile intersections of Latino/a/x identity through the fluid boundaries of history, culture, and geography. In si je meurs/If I die, Muriel Hasbun employs photography to capture the enduring legacy of her mother, investigating issues of identity, memory, and inter-subjectivity. In Recent Works, Julio Valdez uses water as a metaphor for consciousness, revealing the self as imperfect and transient. In Soy Yo—I’m Me, Ric Garcia examines identity through reimagined representations of Americana to share and better understand his bicultural experiences.Together, the diverse works presented by these three artists utilize techniques that vary in style and complexity. What they share is a richness of vision and a passion for self-discovery that reside within the liminal spaces of being and becoming.