m.giovanni valderas
curriculum vitae
Education
2012 Master of Fine Arts in Drawing and Painting
College of Visual Arts & Design, University of North Texas - Denton, Texas
Study with Annette Lawrence, Mathew Bourbon, Susan Cheal, Robert Jessup, Ed Blackburn, and Vincent Falsetta
2007 Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drawing and Painting
University of North Texas - Denton, Texas
Community Service
2014-16 Appointed by Dallas City Council as Vice Chair of Cultural Affairs Commission
Appointed Chair of Allocations Committee for Cultural Affairs Commission
2013-16 Cultural Affairs Commission
Appointed by Mayor Mike Rawlings of the City of Dallas to serve on the CAC advisory board, the commission is instrumental in overseeing and making policy suggestions on arts initiatives for the City of Dallas.
2013 -14 Education Committee: Contemporary Art Dealers of Dallas (CADD)
CADD is a non-profit membership organization of galleries formed in 2006 for the purpose of promoting the advancement of contemporary art on all levels.
Artist Workshops
2017 The Kimbell Art Museum - Fiesta de la Familia
2016 The Fort Worth Modern Museum of Art - Summer Art Camp at the Modern
2015 Dallas Museum of Art
Studio Creations: Experiments on Public Space - Worked collaboratively to build a temporary monument recognizing and celebrating the Latino community of Dallas. Participants used piñata-making techniques to create the building blocks for the monument which was installed on Late Night, Friday, April 17th, at the DMA. Invited by Eliel Jones, the McDermott Education Intern for Visitor Engagement.
Kimbell Art Museum (Fort Worth, TX)
Tactile Portraits – Invited Artist Workshop for the museum’s Spring Break Art Extravaganza Program. Invited by Marilyn Ivy Studio and Family Programs Coordinator.
Dallas Museum of Art
Palpable Portraiture – Invited Artist Workshop for DMA’s “Artistic Encounters Program. Invited by JC Bigornia, C3 Programs Coordinator.
2013 Dallas Museum of Art
A collaborative installation with students for Urban Armor Mural Camp with the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, culminating in creation of a large-scale wall painting focusing the ideas one discovers about the intersections of art and science.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/centerforcreativeconnections/sets/72157635121832161/
Solo Exhibitions
2017 TBA – Galveston Arts Center, Galveston, TX
QUIÉN MANDA – Site Specific installation - The MAC, Dallas, TX
2016 Forged Utopia – The MAC, Dallas, TX
A Forged Utopia – Art League Houston Sculpture Garden, Houston, TX
2014 Soft Power - Box 13 Artspace - Houston, Texas.
2013 Frayed Elements – Cohn Drennan Contemporary, Dallas, Texas.
New Works – Art League Houston, Houston Texas.
2012 HOMECOMING – Janette Kennedy Gallery, Dallas, Texas.
Group Exhibitions
2017 Mind the Gap – 500X Gallery, Dallas, TX
2016 Houston vs Dallas – BLUEorange, Houston, TX
Alternate ROOTS – South Dallas Cultural Center, Dallas, TX
Structure and Change – deadWEST, Fort Worth, Texas
New Art/Arte Nuevo: San Antonio 2016 – UTSA Art Gallery, San Antonio, TX
Proxy: Curated by Lauren Cross – Grackle Art Gallery, Fort Worth, TX
2015 Impossible Geometries: Curated by Lauren Haynes – Field Projects, New York, NY
Family Ties: Brooklyn|Dallas – 500X, Dallas, TX
Curated by Bonny Leibowitz & Julie Torres
2014 Object Object!! - Helmuth Projects, San Diego, CA
Survival Politics - David Connolly & Giovanni Valderas Project Space Collaboration - 500x Gallery, Dallas, Texas.
Particularly These - Lance McMahan, Roxanna Tuff and Giovanni Valderas - BLUEorange Gallery, Houston, Texas
Home - IHR Gallery at Arizona State University - Tempe, AZ
Annual Faculty Exhibition - UNT Art Gallery, Denton, Texas.
2013 Hullabaloo - galleryHOMELAND, Houston, Texas
Return to Narrative - 500X Gallery, Dallas, Texas.
Mayor Mike Rawlings Business/Arts Initiative Invitational – Trinity Groves, Dallas, Texas.
Art League Houston 65th Anniversary Gala Invitational - Hotel ZaZa, Houston, Texas.
TX Biennial ★13 - Blue Star Contemporary Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas.
500X Member Show - 500X Gallery, Dallas, Texas.
Austere Measures - Oak Cliff Cultural Center, Dallas, Texas.
10th Annual Invitational Hecho in Dallas Show - Latino Cultural Center, Dallas, Texas.
College Faculty Exhibit - Cliff Gallery, Dallas, Texas.
2012 Annual Faculty Exhibition - UNT Art Gallery, Denton, Texas.
New Texas Talent Exhibition - Craighead Green Gallery, Dallas, Texas.
9th Annual Hecho in Dallas Show - Latino Cultural Center, Dallas, Texas.
Jurors: Peter Doroshenko, Maria Teresa Garcia Pedroche and Dr. Roberto Tejada
From Here to There: Practice, Form, and Meaning - UNT Art Gallery, Denton, Texas.
52nd Annual Voertman Student Art Competition - Unt Art Gallery, Denton Texas.
Juror: Clint Willour of The Galveston Arts Center.
Fragment - Art installation, Lago Vista Gallery, Richland College, Dallas, Texas.
Maiden Voyage - Art Rover Mobile Gallery, Dallas, Texas.
2011 Now - Juried Exhibition, Lightwell Gallery, Denton Texas.
Jurors: Vincent Falsetta & Ed Blackburn
Fresh Meat - Juried exhibition, 500X Gallery, Dallas, Texas.
Jurors: Cris Worley & Erick Swenson
110° - Summer invitational group exhibition, Cohn Drennan Contemporary, Dallas, Texas.
Loteria, Loteria! (Tres) - Group invitational exhibition, Bath House Cultural Center, Dallas, Texas.
35th Annual Student Art Competion - Best in Show, Juried Exhibition, Union Gallery,
Denton, Texas. Juror: David Iles
2009 34th Annual Student Art Competion - Best in Show, Juried exhibition. Union Gallery, Denton, Texas.
2008 OUTSIDE THE LINES 8 - Juried exhibition, Bath House Cultural Center, Dallas, Texas.
Jurors: Marty Ray, Elizabeth Mellot-Carreón, Mary Morgan, & Dahlia Woods.
Twelve - Senior painting show, Cora Stafford Gallery, Denton, Texas.
Dia de los Muertos - Group invitational exhibition, Art Space, Shreveport, Louisiana.
Junior/Senior Prom - Open invitational, 500X, Dallas, Texas.
Stroke - Rachel Fischer and M. Giovanni Valderas, Union Gallery, Denton, Texas.
Slippage - Hybrid forms group exhibition juried by Tanya Synar, College of Visual Arts and Design Building, Denton, Texas.
Sophomoric - Junior painting show, Cora Stafford Gallery, Denton, Texas.
2004 Sin Tema - Group invitational exhibition, Bath House Cultural Center, Dallas, Texas.
2003 17th Annual Dia de Los Muertos Exhibition - Bath House Cultural Center, Dallas, Texas.
2002 11th Annual La Virgen de Guadalupe Exhibtion - Ice House Cultural Center, Dallas, Texas.
Dallas Soars! Public Art Event, Dallas, Texas.
Honors
2009 “1962” – Commissioned portrait of Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta; Adelfa Callejo- Callejo-Botello Foundation.
2007 Adelfa Botello Callejo- Commissioned portrait; Hispanic Law Students Association, Texas. Wesleyan School of Law.
Teaching Experience
2013 Fall
Adjunct Faculty - Design, Mountain View College, Dallas, TX
- Intermediate Figure Drawing, University of North Texas, Denton, TX
- Beginning Figure Drawing, University of North Texas, Denton, TX
2013 Spring
Adjunct Faculty - Art Appreciation, Mountain View College, Dallas, TX
- Drawing I, Mountain View College, Dallas, TX
- Drawing II, Mountain View College, Dallas, TX
- Intermediate Figure Drawing, University of North Texas, Denton, TX
- Beginning Figure Drawing, University of North Texas, Denton, TX
2012 Fall
Adjunct Faculty - Art Appreciation, Mountain View College, Dallas, TX
- Beginning Figure Drawing, University of North Texas, Denton, TX
Summer
Adjunct Faculty –Topics in Studio: Mural Painting, University of North Texas, Denton, TX
Spring
Teaching Assistant - Design II, University of North Texas, Denton, TX
Teaching Fellow (Instructor of Record) -Beginning Figure Drawing, University of North Texas, Denton, TX
2011 Fall
Teaching Fellow (Instructor of Record) – Drawing I, University of North Texas, Denton, TX
Teaching Fellow (Instructor of Record) – Beginning Figure Drawing, University of North Texas, Denton, TX
Summer
Teaching Fellow (Instructor of Record) – Beginning Figure Drawing, University of North Texas, Denton, TX
2010 Fall
Teaching Assistant - Drawing II, University of North Texas, Denton, TX
Area Assistant - Drawing II Core, University of North Texas, Denton, TX
Press and Reviews
2016
An Artist Is Starting a Dialogue About Gentrification with Pinata-Inspired Real Estate Signs: Dallas Observer. Dallas Observer. Online publication: June 2016
“Sitting on the commission really just gave me this insight to civic engagement,” Valderas says. “As a contemporary artist I started thinking about that.” He decided to bypass the gallery system and put his artwork out in the community, gorilla style, setting it next to real real estate signs to see if a dialogue developed.
-Jeremy Hallock
Reinventing Place: Art Blocks Awaken Main Street Square. Arts and Culture Magazine. Online & printed publication: June 2016
Valderas’s work Saludos has the unique opportunity for his work to be on display during the Super Bowl. Valderas is based in Dallas, Texas and comes from Guatemalan, Mexican, and American ancestry. Cultural identity is a frequent subject of his work. Saludos features an image of a common phrase used in the Hispanic community, “ay te miro” (see you later) spelled out on a bed of piñata fringe, a fitting message for the end of the Art Blocks Main Street Square project. “With a population of 43% of Latinos living in Houston (38% living in Texas), I strongly believe having artwork that reflects our community is important,” says Valderas.
-Casey Stranahan
http://artsandculturetx.com/reinventing-place-art-blocks-awaken-main-street-square/
2015
Visual Art: Finally! To Thrive, Dallas Arts Need to be Less Elitist. The Populist ArtPrize Might Help.
Dallas Observer. Online publication: April 2015
Someone more interested in supporting artists than in supporting the arts. Someone who sees theater, dance, music and art as a way to expand the city, as voices in how the landscape is built. But this is a two-way street, and one artists are finally starting to walk down…Giovanni Valderas is putting art directly under the city officials noses by helping plan The Seven, an exhibition at City Hall;
-Lauren Smart
http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/mixmaster/2015/04/its_near_the_end_of.php
Arts & Culture: Finally! City of Dallas to Give Money to Artists. Dallas Observer.Online publication: February 2015
The rumors are true and the official announcement and link for more details are on the way, but this week Giovanni Valderas, Vice Chair of the Cultural Arts Commission for the city of Dallas announced via Facebook that starting February 27, artists will be able to apply for grants that range from $1,000- 5,000. These "Special Support Grants" might be a small, yet mighty step for the city to take, as it demonstrates a direct support of the artists who choose to call Dallas home.
-Lauren Smart
http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/mixmaster/2015/02/city_of_dallas_announces_artist_grants.php
Canvassing: 25 Things Worth Celebrating In The Dallas Arts Right Now. Central Track. Online publication: April 2015
There's possibly no one doing more for Dallas culture right now than Giovanni Valderas. Between making art, serving as the gallery director of The Cliff Gallery at Mountain View College, curating shows at Oak Cliff Cultural Center and City Hall, and serving as the Vice-Chair of the Cultural Affairs, he's at the forefront of making Dallas an equitable and progressive place for artists.
-Darryl Ratcliff
2014
100 Creatives: No. 33 Triple Threat Giovanni Valderas. Dallas Observer.Online publication: December 2014
Giovanni Valderas runs one of the hottest galleries in town. He programs the work of both up-and-coming and established artists in his comfortable, well-lit space. But you won't find his space in the Design District. As the director of the Cliff Gallery at Mountain View College, Valderas has been tasked with creating an artistic culture on the campus of Oak Cliff's community college. And by all appearances, he's more than risen to the challenge.
The University of North Texas graduate not only programs and teaches at MVC, he also serves as the Vice Chair on the Cultural Arts Commission, which the mayor uses as his arts community advisers. And Valderas is a mixed media artist whose earned a reputation for his riveting collage art. We chatted with him about his work as all three, and what's next.
-Lauren Smart
Creating 'Cultural Constructs': Park Cities Bubble Life: Online publication: October 2014. Q&A with Editor Caitlin Giddens, Bubble Life
2013
Dallas Arts Revue, Art Seen Lately #18: Online publication: October 2013
I have no idea who those guys are or were — saints or sinners, but the unity created by the disparate elements gives me pleasure and pause, and I am startled by their presence.
-JR Compton
http://www.dallasartsrevue.com/art-crit/Here_Lately/ArtHereLately.html
New American Paintings, Issue #108
Juror Veronica Roberts, Curator of the Modern and Contemporary Art, Blanton Museum of Art, states "Dallas- based artist Giovanni Valderas, creates haunting mixed media portraits of men. Often their faces or clothes are stitched or painted meticulously onto fabric, while their hands or faces dissolve into a thicket of painted wood sticks, forming portraits that seem to involve acts of destruction and invokes loss more than homage."
-Veronica Roberts
Mercado Bilingüe: September Issue
Q & A session: “I was pleasantly surprised to find out that he was also going to be showing his work in the Texas Biennial, which if you’re an artist and art lover around these parts, you know it’s really big deal. “
-Patricia Rodriguez
http://mercadobilingue.net/pdfs/MB-September18_2013.pdf
frayed elements, Solo Exhibition: Arts & Culture Dallas: June 2013
"Giovanni Valderas,“with his piercing satire and crisp subject examination"..."these pieces especially struck me – for the questions they leave the viewer with."
-Kent Boyer
http://artsandculturentx.com/fresh-friday-frayed-elements-surface-tension-eye-candy/
frayed elements, Solo Exhibition. Patron Magazine: Summer 2013
“Giovanni Valderas has his first solo exhibition at Cohn Drennan Contemporary and it’s an auspicious beginning,” “…Valderas deals with culture, relationships, family, and origins, and his artistic language is symbolic, exploring appearance vs. reality and dual identities.”
http://www.patronmag-digital.com/patronmag/summer_2013#pg56
2011
HOMECOMING, MFA Thesis Exhibition. Modern Dallas.net: Art Review
"Valderas uses his own cultural cues with elements of the piñata. Valderas lays bare the internal constructions of the piñata as well as the fringe surface, though he leaves the fringe dirty and worn, drained of the festive colors. It would seem that the violent breaking of the piñata is over and what is left is not candy, but the emotional wreckage of lives that have to be reassembled and held together with whatever is left.”
.-Todd Camplin
http://moderndallas.net/todd_camplin_weekly.html
2011 ART ROVER
D Magazine: Front Row, A daily review of the arts
“Striving for exposure and welcoming comradery, these non-traditional venues act as a counterpoint to the often sterile, stereotypical gallery experience. Self conscious and eager to engage, the roving venues were low on pretention and high on conversation, offering these emerging artists and the public a platform for discourse and growth.”
-Ryder Richards