Vincent Valdez: Just a Dream… Is on View Now at MASS MoCA
“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 in the New York Times
Vincent Valdez bears witness to the world around him, chronicling America at the margins. Just a Dream… at MASS MoCA is the artist’s first major museum survey, including work from over 20 years across all media. This exhibition addresses current US politics and aims to cement Valdez as one of the most important American painters working today — imaging his country, its people, politics, pride, and foibles.
Vincent Valdez: Just a Dream… spans over two decades of the artist’s work, from early career drawings to current allegorical portraits. 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.
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.
Accompanying the show is a lushly illustrated, bilingual (English/Spanish) catalogue that features a gatefold and a sewn-in booklet of behind-the-scenes studio images. Texts include 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: Just a Dream… is on view at MASS MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts, through March 2026.
To learn more, visit massmoca.org.
Vincent Valdez: Just a Dream… is co-organized by MASS MoCA (Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art) and Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (CAMH) . The exhibition is co-curated by Denise Markonish and Patricia Restrepo.
