“I want to paint Americans in the 21st century who, in my eyes, are still fighting the good fight, not for power, not for profit, not for fame, but because it’s still simply the right thing to do.”
—Vincent Valdez, as featured within the New York Occasions
Vincent Valdez bears witness to the world round him, chronicling America on the margins. Only a Dream… at MASS MoCA is the artist’s first main museum survey, together with work from over 20 years throughout all media. This exhibition addresses present US politics and goals to cement Valdez as one of the vital essential American painters working at present — imaging his nation, its folks, politics, satisfaction, and foibles.
Vincent Valdez: Only a Dream… spans over twenty years of the artist’s work, from early profession drawings to present allegorical portraits. Working throughout portray, video, drawing, sculpture, lithography, and multimedia set up, Valdez deftly addresses the failings and triumphs of up to date American society with a reverential concentrate on collective reminiscence and neglected political histories.
Together with beforehand unexhibited and new our bodies of labor, Only a Dream… is a singular alternative to see the breadth of Valdez’s observe. The artist usually works in sequence, with this exhibition marking the primary time these chapters are in dialogue. Valdez celebrates frequent folks, like his circle of relatives members, as empowered, formidable, and current, whereas difficult conventional and historic symbols of energy inside up to date society.
Accompanying the present is a lushly illustrated, bilingual (English/Spanish) catalogue that incorporates a gatefold and a sewn-in booklet of behind-the-scenes studio pictures. Texts embody a reprint of Joyce Carol Oates’ On Boxing (1987), essays by exhibition curators Denise Markonish (MASS MoCA) and Patricia Restrepo (CAMH), and writing on the artist’s relationship to Texas by MASS MoCA curator Evan Garza.
Vincent Valdez: Only a Dream… is on view at MASS MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts, by means of March 2026.
Tickets can be found now.
To be taught extra, go to massmoca.org.
Vincent Valdez: Only a Dream… is co-organized by MASS MoCA (Massachusetts Museum of Modern Artwork) and Modern Arts Museum Houston (CAMH) . The exhibition is co-curated by Denise Markonish and Patricia Restrepo.
Set up view of Vincent Valdez: Only a Dream… as put in at MASS MoCA, North Adams, Massachusetts. (photograph Jon Verney)
