Serie Project

Filmmakers Mark and Angela Walley follow artist Vincent Valdez for two years as he paints a portrait of his childhood friend, who died after serving in Iraq.

A recent work, La Guadalupana, is a 15.5-foot photomural that was installed at the Musee Puech Denys at Rodez, France. I was invited to create an installation that would source the Guadalupe. Since a 17c-easel painting resided in the town’s cathedral, they were familiar with the icon as a religious relic. I wanted to present them the Chicano vernacular concerning the Virgin. The mural depicts a “Pinta” (inmate) standing in front of metal bars, he is wearing handcuffs, and a tattooed of the Guadalupe is on his back. Shot with an 8x10 camera, the negative holds amazing detail and blown up to 15.5 feet the pores on the back and the hairs on the arms are quite visible. It resonates as a massive projection. The intention was to return an image of colonialism’s dark side to Europe. Ultimately the piece resonated the sacred and profane. Once again Saints and Sinners theme emerged. The installation resides in the collection of the New Mexico Fine Art Museum.

This is an amazing photo 

Gaspar Enriquez 

By Haydeé Muñoz De la Rocha

Jessica Halonen received a MFA in Painting from Washington University in Saint Louis and a BA from Kalamazoo College. Her work is in the permanent collection at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston and The Museum of Southeast Texas. She has been an artist in residence at the MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire and a Core Fellow at the Glassell School of Art, Museum of Fine Arts Houston. She lives and works in Austin and San Antonio.

Mixed with the skills that I learned in the streets is the knowledge that I have gained in an academic setting. It’s binding painting’s traditional techniques with experimental forms of applying paint on a raw surface. Interweaving art history references with graffiti art’s history, which is still being made today.  Creating a hybrid way of thinking made from art jargon and slang from the streets.