Giovanni Valderas: Forged Utopia
June 4 – June 25, Saturdays 12-4 or by appointment
Opening reception Saturday, June 4, 6-9
Closing reception Saturday, June 25, 6-9
The MAC
1601 South Ervay Street
214.953.1212
Entrance at 1600 Gano St. and street parking on Gano St.
As part of the New Urban Landscape series, The MAC is proud to present Forged Utopia, new works by artist Giovanni Valderas. The exhibition will be on view June 4 through June 25, Saturdays 12-4 or by appointment. The opening reception will take place on June 4 from 6-9 with a closing reception on June 25 from 6-9. Valderas’ installation at The MAC addresses culture, history, and origins in order to bring awareness to the marginalization of Latino communities through gentrification.
In Forged Utopia, Valderas appropriates two disparate symbols – real estate signs and piñatas. These symbols are juxtaposed to create mixed-media works implying the artist’s own Guatemalan, Mexican, and American lineage as well as the displacement of Latino communities in the name of economic development. Real estate signs are scattered through neighborhoods that exist somewhere between blighted and gentrified, giving a foreboding sense of the changes to come, yet oblivious to the existing community around them. Although the issues addressed seem insurmountable, Valderas’ work acknowledges and empowers the viewer through the use of familiar images and vernacular.
Giovanni Valderas is a native of Dallas, Texas. He received his Master of Fine Arts in Drawing and Painting from the University of North Texas in 2012. Valdaras has had solo exhibitions at Box 13 Artspace in Houston, Cohn Drennan Contemporary in Dallas, Art League Houston, and Janette Kennedy Gallery in Dallas. His work was also included in group shows at Field Projects in New York, Helmuth Projects in San Diego, IHR Gallery at Arizona State University, Oak Cliff Cultural Center, Latino Cultural Center, 500X Gallery, and Blue Star Contemporary in San Antonio. Valderas has been featured in the 2013 Texas Biennial and New American Paintings, issue #108.