Vincent Valdez: Just a Dream…

November 15 - March 23,2025

From CAMH: "About Vincent Valdez: Just a Dream… is the artist’s first major museum survey and spans over two decades of his work, from early career drawings to current allegorical portraits. This exhibition cements Valdez as one of the most important American painters working today—imaging his country and its people, politics, pride, and foibles. Working across painting, video, drawing, sculpture, lithography, and multimedia installation, Valdez deftly addresses the failings and triumphs of contemporary American society with a reverential focus on collective memory and overlooked political histories. Valdez states, “I create images as instruments to probe the past in order to reveal an immediacy to what is occurring today. I am alarmed by the denial of history. I will continue to create counter-images to impede the social amnesia that enables our fateful desire to repeat historic patterns.” Including previously unexhibited and new bodies of work, Just a Dream… is a unique opportunity to see the breadth of Valdez’s practice. The artist often works in series, with this exhibition marking the first time these chapters are in dialogue. Valdez celebrates common people, like his own family members, as empowered, formidable, and present, while challenging traditional and historic symbols of power within contemporary society. Organizers Vincent Valdez: Just a Dream... is co-organized by Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (CAMH) and Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA). The exhibition is co-curated by Patricia Restrepo, Curator at CAMH, and Denise Markonish, Chief Curator at MASS MoCA. Support Presenting sponsorship for Vincent Valdez: Just a Dream… is provided by the Henry Luce Foundation and the Terra Foundation for American Art. Major exhibition support is provided by the Ford Foundation, the Jacques & Natasha Gelman Foundation, and Judy and Charles Tate. Generous support is provided by grants from the National Endowment of the Arts, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and Beverly and Howard Robinson. Exhibition catalogue support provided by the Arthur & Alice Adams Charitable Foundation. Additional support is provided by Nicole Deller and Matt Bliwise, Lisa Rich and John McLaughlin, Meridee Moore, the Weingarten Art Group Fund, and Ric and Tina Whitney. Special thanks to Jon Cooper, Enrico Encarnacion, Janet Flohr, Tessa Ferreyros, Jan Greenberg, Clara Ha, Glenn Ligon, Mary Maas, Anne Parke, and Elizabeth Tenenbaum. Contemporary Arts Museum Houston exhibitions are made possible by the patrons, benefactors, and donors to CAMH’s Major Exhibition Fund: Chinhui Juhn and Eddie Allen, Louise Jamail, Sissy and Denny Kempner, Dillon Kyle and Sam Lasseter, Cabrina and Steven Owsley, Elisa and Cris Pye, Beverly and Howard Robinson, Louisa Stude Sarofim, and Mary Ann and F. Carrington Weems Foundation. Contemporary Arts Museum Houston is funded in part by the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance and the Texas Commission on the Arts."

On View: November 15, 2024 | 12-5 pm

Contemporary Arts Museum Houston - CAMH 5216 Montrose Boulevard
Houston, TX 77006
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