KIKI VALDES

Miami artist. Cartoonist at heart, painter by reputation. 
@kikivaldes

Face-Time (2012)

Posted 2012-04-12 14:22:20 | Views: 15,378

"Face-Time" 

Oil on canvas (2012) 

I've been doing cartoon based drawings with india ink for the past year. This is my first attempt at this new form of painting for me. It's a mixture of expressionism and cartoon imagery from my childhood. I stopped painting women in the traditional sense and started using something more playful and nostalgic to pull new viewers into some of the same type of issues and themes I’ve been experimenting with for the past 5 years.  

 

Kiki Valdes


Erasing Boogie from 2010

Posted 2012-04-01 16:24:22 | Views: 15,271

"Erasing Boogie" 

Kiki Valdes - Oil, acyrlic on canvas. 

I found this photo of this painting I did a few years ago. It was a painting I was working on then I started layering it with older paintings and ideas I never finished, basically in some ways I resolved this painting with previous ideas from other works and studies. 


Kiki Valdes Painting In Bogota

Posted 2012-03-15 15:12:01 | Views: 17,801

KIKI VALDES

painting in Bogota, Colombia for Social Media Week. Here are photos of the process of the painting being created.


Kiki Valdes - 9 Muses

Posted 2012-03-14 13:16:35 | Views: 16,438

Another cool picture by David Cabrea.  

I love this guy. He pretty much captures

really important phases of my artistic development. Check out his work.

This was taken at our show THE OUTSIDERS. 

KIKI VALDES 9 MUSES 


Some Face-Time (Kiki Valdes + Valissa Yoe)

Posted 2012-03-04 14:05:39 | Views: 16,598

VALISSA YOE and KIKI VALDES 

in front of the painting "Face-Time" 2012. The painting was featured during THE OUTSIDERS group show from Jan. Photo by David Cabrera


Kiki Valdes Confronted by Stephen Marley

Posted 2012-02-27 22:19:03 | Views: 16,653

KIKI VALDES 

 "A Little Bird Told Me" 2012

Painted this at a benefit for Pincrest Gardens with private concert by Stephen Marley. Mr. Marley confronted me about the painting wanting to know what it means. He put me on the spot in a way that made me speechless. I was not expecting a musician to question my actions as a painter. But then again he’s a Marley….a legend. 

- KV


Being a Radical - Jose Marti

Posted 2012-01-20 19:36:04 | Views: 16,194

"A genuine man goes to the roots. To be a radical is no more than that: to go to the roots."


- Jose Marti 


One Week Only - THE OUTSIDERS

Posted 2012-01-09 17:09:19 | Views: 16,508

THE OUTSIDERS

ERIC TORRIENTE - KIKI VALDES - GEORGE SANCHEZ-CALDERON - KRISTY LEIBOWITZ - DAVID MARSH - NICOLE SODEN - EDWARD CROWELL II - JOHNNY LADERER - DAVID “UPNUP” CABRERA - DIANNE RADLER - ROLLIN STIRMAN

Ironside Warehouse - 7630 NE 4th Court Miami, FL 33138-5032 - book appointment: 786.315.8369  - Show runs till Jan. 14th.

 

 

  

  

CURATOR: KIKI VALDES


INSIDE THE OUTSIDE

Posted 2012-01-03 17:07:07 | Views: 16,719

INSIDE 

Heike Wollenweber catches up with New York/Miami artist KIKI VALDES, who is  organizing the group show  "THE OUTSIDERS"(opens Jan. 7th). They discuss the show, the artists involved and creative friendships.
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

You recently relocated from Miami to New York. How is the New York experience so far?


It is hard. It is different but I like it. I noticed there is something going on between New York and Miami. Everyone that is doing stuff in New York is somehow connected to Miami. So I am over there and I am constantly seeing Miami people.

 

You are the curator for the upcoming group show “The Outsiders”. Why did you choose that name?


I picked “The Outsiders” because all the artists in the show do not necessarily show all the time. They do their thing. A lot of times artists tend to feel like outsiders because they might not follow a particular trend so automatically they are like outsiders. They might not care about what’s in. I do not think that’s how art should be measured. It should be measured by its merit, its devotion and its time and sincerity. Everybody is pretty sincere on the show. When you are sincere you tend to be an outsider, too. When you are true to yourself and not following what’s hot. That’s what it is really about. We are not following any type of status quo. We are outsiders. We are not doing this during Art Basel. A lot of the artists in this show did not show during Art Basel. That was intentional. It is about art for us and not about Art Basel and in Miami you tend to be an outsider for that, too. The work is about the individual artists and how they feel in general.

 

What work did you choose for the exhibit?


 I chose the work that I like. I connect with people whose work I like and who are not necessarily getting the attention they deserve. Even for myself, none of these galleries respond to me so that’s why, a few years ago, I started putting together shows. I cannot wait for anybody. We are going to do our own thing and let the people decide if it’s something that is honest and good and touches something that is connected to everybody.

 

Did you choose the artists who are in the show?


Yes.

 

Based on what criteria?

 

Galleries a lot of times show people they are friends with first and all the artists in the show are my friends. But it is not just because they are my friends. I like their work. When you are friends with somebody you can kind of see how they have developed and understand their work more. That’s more important than just throwing darts in the wind by showing someone you might not really understand what they are doing. In this show, I understand their work and it is easier for us to pick the work together . They feel comfortable with me and I feel comfortable with them. It is also about the aesthetics of the work, about the strength of the work , too.

 

For a group show does it make a difference if the artists are on the same wavelength?


I don’t care about that. I don’t pick the work because it works together. I put the work in a room and then we try to make it work. I think that is the best way to do it. We try to make it work together and if it doesn’t work it’s on me. I just want to grab work I feel strongly about and make it work within the space to see what happens, what’s the end result. It’s gambling with different artists that we admire, that my friends admire. That’s kind of my philosophy for all the shows.

 

Why did you choose the warehouse as the space for the exhibit?


I always had my eyes on this warehouse, for a long time, and I always wanted to do a warehouse show. I wanted a much smaller space but it wasn’t available to me and then I saw this one, filled with storage and I asked them if they would let me execute a show and they said yes then they cleared it out. The pieces started falling together. I was on the prowl to find a space and I found this warehouse space and then I just connected it with the whole outsiders theme.

 

How many artists are in the show?


10 now. There is two more now . George Sanchez- Calderon. He showed during Art Basel at Primary Projects. Also Johnny Laderer. His installations pull you in. They have something about them that scream Florida.

 

Why did you choose artists from New York and Miami?


I did not have an idea like ‘oh it’s all gonna be New York or oh it’s all gonna be Miami‘. It’s kind of just how it happened. That’s kind of my experience right now - Miami and New York.

 

Can you tell us something about each artist and their art for the exhibit?


Johnny Robles does a lot of murals and he also does conceptual work. He builds sculptures. He is kind of a refined artist that kind of taps into a lot of different mediums. He is going to have a drawing, a 5 ft drawing of a child with his eyes closed. The kid looks like he is dreaming.

 

Eric Torriente’s work is very expressionistic. He is a very intense individual. I have known him since I was like 13. He has always painted but he actually stopped painting now . He is only doing sculptures. He feels very limited to the canvas so he is only working in sculpture. This sculpture he is showing is I think is like only the second or third sculpture he has ever made. It’s great. It’s like 9 ft tall.

 

Kristy Leibowitz is New York based. She is one of the first people I met in New York. She is also one of the main in house photographers for the Hole Gallery in New York, which are doing a lot of avant garde and really cool stuff. Some of her photographs that she has taken have actually been sold at the armory show and Art Basel through Deitch Projects. The photograph she is showing with us, it isn’t a very big photograph, no one has ever seen it. It has never been published. She did a photo shoot with Kembra, who is a performance artist also doing fetish films, and never did anything with them so that has never been shown. I am very excited about it.

 

David Marsh is a painter, from Miami. He is rather abstract. He uses a lot of materials within his canvases. He uses like stretched out old jerseys and he will make them into these paintings. It’s a lot of fun.

 

Nicole Soden is a socialite. Everyone has seen her before. She is always at the Vagabond and very interactive in the community . Her sculpture that she is showing was voted “Best Female Sculpture” at Nada Art Fair last year so I am really happy that she is involved. Everybody knows who she is.

Then we have Edward Crowell II. Ed is an interesting person. I met him a little over a year ago. He is awesome. He lives on the Beach. He is not from Miami so he does not know a lot of people in the Miami community, the art community so in some funny ways he is definitely the quintessential outsider. He is working on a lot of poetry on black canvas and they are really thick and chunky so they are like these text, cursive paintings and they have like a Cy Twombly feel.

 

David Cabrera is a photographer and he kind of even reminds me of Kristy Leibowitz in a way . He mostly takes photographs and does video and they do stuff with Cash Money and Lil Wayne. They worked on Rick Ross music videos and a video shoot for Playboy. He is really involved in the music videos for rappers but he has crossed over and he is now doing documentations of art events. He has done a few art videos for me. He is showing this inception, skyline type of thing. It’s like a skyline that doesn’t end. He has definitely always been interested in art and doing different kind of work and I feel like he is an outsider for that.

 

George Sanchez-Calderon is a very established Miami artist. Everybody knows who he is. He is really smart and he had his work a few months ago at the De La Cruz Collection. He does architectural work, kind of talking about the growth of Miami and the corruption. He does a lot of interactive works in the community. He made this throne out of wood and all the homeless people would sit on it and they had it in the community. That was in upstate New York. His stuff is very very conceptual compared to a lot of other works in the show. I am glad he is involved.

 

 Dianne Radler committed suicide. I don’t know the year. It was a while ago. She is actually really good friends with Nicole Soden and Nicole has most of her works. Dianne lived between Miami and New York City. In 1980 she took a lot of pictures of iconic people. She took pictures of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Madonna when they were first dating . The one we are showing is Madonna and Basquiat and the picture is taken kind of upside down. We are pretty excited about it. I think that is the first time she is going to be part of a group thing like that. With this show I think people will have a lot more awareness of her work and hopefully it will end up in some good collections. She is actually the only artist in the show I have never met but Nicole Soden was really good friends with her. They were really connected and I am really good friends with Nicole so I would imagine I would have gotten along with her, too.

You are the curator for “The Outsiders” but also one of the artists so tell us about your art.

 

I am definitely a painter first. My new stuff definitely taps into expressionism mixed with cartoon and elements of pop culture. For this show I am actually showing 9 portraits based on the 9 Greek muses so I did 9 paintings based on 9 women from Miami that affected my life in some form or fashion and based them off of each Greek muse. The 9 Greek muses were always applied to different operas and stuff. I did the portraits off my memory. I did not do them off of photographs or anything so they are really really abstract . The muses and the mythologies were carried on verbally and through memory. They never had it written down so I kind of feel like that’s how I went about it when I did the work. I will show 9 paintings of the muses and then I will finish one other painting.

 


THE OUTSIDE

"In this show, I understand their work and it is easier for us to pick the work together . They feel comfortable with me and I feel comfortable with them."

- Kiki Valdes  Jan. 2012

"It’s gambling with different artists that we admire, that my friends admire. That’s kind of my philosophy for all the shows."

THE OUTSIDERS” at IRONSIDE WAREHOUSE
Opening: Saturday, January 7th 2012

6- 10:30pm
Show runs for one week only

_____________________

Ironside Warehouse

7630 NE 4th Court 

Miami, FL 33138-5032


THE OUTSIDERS (MIAMI) - JAN. 7th

Posted 2011-12-29 19:32:09 | Views: 16,509

THE OUTSIDERS

JOHNNY ROBLES
ERIC TORRIENTE
KIKI VALDES
GEORGE SANCHEZ-

CALDERON
KRISTY LEIBOWITZ
DAVID MARSH
NICOLE SODEN
EDWARD CROWELL II
DAVID  CABRERA
DIANNE RADLER
ROLLIN STIRMAN

Works by:

Opens: Saturday, January 7th 2012

Ironside Warehouse
7630 NE 4th Court
Miami, FL 33138-5032

6pm - 10:30pm

KIKI VALDES + IRONSIDE PRESENT:

Photos: Eric Torriente 'Aphrodisian' development stages. 


OUTSIDE of Wynwood. Jan. 7th 2012

Posted 2011-12-28 11:39:17 | Views: 16,777

THE OUTSIDERS

JOHNNY ROBLES

Eric Torriente

EDWARD CROWELL II

KIKI VALDES

GEORGE SANCEHZ -

CALDERON

NICOLE SODEN

DAVID MARSH

David Cabrera

ROLLIN STIRMAN

DIANNE RADLER

Opens: Saturday, January 7th 2012

( show runs one week only)

Curator:

KIKI VALDES

Ironside Warehouse
7630 NE 4th Court
Miami, FL 33138-5032

KRISTY LEIBOWITZ


WHO'S AN OUTSIDER? JAN. 7TH

Posted 2011-12-26 22:18:03 | Views: 16,728

THE OUTSIDERS

 

 

 

JOHNNY ROBLES

ERIC TORRIENTE

KIKI VALDES

GEORGE SANCHEZ -

CALDERON

NICOLE SODEN

KRISTY LEIBOWITZ

DAVID MARSH

EDWARD CROWELL II

DAVID CABRERA

ROLLIN STIRMAN  DIANNE RADLER

CURATOR: KIKI VALDES

Opens: Saturday, January 7th 2012

/ Ironside Warehouse: 7630 NE 4th Court. Miami. 6 - 10:30pm

"A group show in a warehouse by some train tracks"


THE OUTSIDERS: Q + A

Posted 2011-12-26 08:32:05 | Views: 17,020


Q + A with organizer Kiki Valdes
Conducted by: M.A. Macias


WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE THE TITLE FOR THE SHOW "THE OUTSIDERS"?


KV: I think most artists in general at some point or another in their careers can feel like outsiders. If you achieve a certain amount of success you can feel alienated at times from your peers. You can also feel like an outsider from the art world in general if you don't like to be social all of the time. The warehouse where we are doing this show is called Ironside. It's a property close to some train tracks. The street kids always throw rocks from the train tracks at us. I just felt it connected so much of how people feel lately.


HOW DID YOU PICK THE ARTISTS INVOLVED?


KV: Everyone in the show is my friend. I've been following everyones work for years. Dianne Radler is no longer with us but I am so happy to show her work for this. She took photos of so many iconic people in Miami and New York during the 1980's. People that were considered outsiders at one point, but now are really legends of our time. I respect everyone involved. Everyone brings something different. It sounds cliche but it's true and I think that's the only way I find this fun to do.


HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE ART WORLD IN GENERAL, IS THIS SHOW A REBELLION AGAINST IT?


KV: I don't know. I just want to do a show and open doors for my friends. We all want to show what we are doing and I think sometimes we have to do it ourselves. Everyone is really great and I think this show will help people notice that more. This show is about doing it ourselves. None of us are represented. We can make work and do shows and have fun. It was really important for me to do this show in Miami a month after Art Basel. This is how we live. We don't live for Dec.


YOU LIVE IN NEW YORK STILL? ARE YOU ARE LIVING IN MIAMI NOW?


KV: I don't live in Miami year round anymore. I am doing New York and Miami. I think it's something I needed to do. I want to keep doing shows like this one in Miami and New York. We will see how that goes. It's a lot of fun to do. I call it cultural diplomacy. I like to interact with artists. It makes you learn more about art and about what you look for. It helps me grow as an artist too. I like learning the whole process of how to pick art and when everyone is happy with the outcome. It makes me happy too.

THE

OUTSIDERS

JOHNNY ROBLES
ERIC TORRIENTE
KIKI VALDES

GEORGE SANCHEZ-CALDERON 
KRISTY LEIBOWITZ
DAVID MARSH
NICOLE SODEN
EDWARD CROWELL
DAVID CABRERA
DIANNE RADLER
ROLLIN STIRMAN

Ironside Warehouse: 7630 NE 4th Court
Miami, FL 33138-5032/ Learn more: TheOutsidersExhibition.com

The Outsiders (Group Show) opens Saturday, Jan. 7th 2012

For Press Inquiries:
Marcsman Company

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works by: