Vincent Valdez blends large, representational paintings—the scale of which recall Western traditions of history painting as well as mural painting and cinema—with contemporary subject matter. He focuses on subjects that explore his observations and experience of life in the twenty-first century. The results are powerful images of American identity that confront injustice and inequity while imbuing his subjects with empathy and humanity. Valdez states, “My aim is to incite public remembrance and to impede distorted realities that I witness, like the social amnesia that surrounds us all.” Exhibitions and Collections include: The Ford Foundation, The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, MASS MoCA, The Museum of Fine Arts Houston, among others. He lives and works in Houston and Los Angeles.

Jessica Holmes, a co-editor of the Artseen section for the Brooklyn Rail, has also contributed to its pages for over a decade. Her writing has also featured in BOMB, Hyperallergic, The New York Observer, Vanity Fair Spain, among many others, and has been included in over two dozen exhibition catalogues and monographs. Previously, Jessica worked for the Calder Foundation for nearly two decades, including six years as its Deputy Director.