Collage of Events - Kiki Valdes

UniteUsTV.com Interview
UniteUsTV.com had the pleasure of linking up with Miami's rising artistic star Kiki Valdes. We talked about his recent growing recognition, his paintings, and where it's taking him next. Kiki Valdes is painting the town all kinds of colors and people are taking notice.Interview by Leonardo Nicastro, UniteUsTV.com Editor

Kiki Valdes is a painter who is widely known for painting in front of live audiences. The very charismatic and modest Valdes has been commissioned for various works of

art by Krannert Art Museum at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne, Freedom Tower Art Center, University of Illinois at Chicago, Princeton University and aven an Ex-girlfriend to name a few. Valdes has exhibited his works at the Florida State Capital Rotunda, PS1 (Museum of Modern Art), Florida International University, Duke University and in corporate collections as well. The rising artistic star first started painting in Miami's famed nightclubs alngside some of the biggest names in music, movies, and sports. Kiki is all about the art, and creating it is what is most important to this talented 27 year old. He works in a manner so that the audience can interact with art. Kiki Valdes now paints at private events, museums and galleries and he often paints aside masterpieces by artists such as Mark Rothko, Andy Warhol, Stuart Davis, and Robert Matta.

Kiki Valdes is sure to turn heads in the art world and make a big name for himself world-wide.

UUTV-First off, your work has gained a tremendous amount of recognition recently, what do you attribute this great infusion of interest in your work to?

Kiki-I wouldn't say I have gotten tremendous recognition yet. Most of the newspapers in Miami still have not done a a story on me. Even if they did I still don't think that's tremendous. I think that's because I have always saw myself in Time magazine before a local small paper. Maybe because I think what I'm doing is larger then a local idea. I do feel that a buzz is going around that goes further then Miami. A cop in Chicago knew who I was and I thought that was weird. Television has been more supportive then print media. I'm just getting started. There's a lot of things I'm tapping into with my newer projects. I think if you focus on your work everything else will come along. I'm not too concerned with recognition. When it comes it comes.

UUTV-I understand you launched a website Openzine.com? how did that come about; tell us about it so we can share that information with our online community.

Kiki-OpenZine use to be a small photocopy punk Zine my brother Humby and I use to publish. We would hand them out in Miami outside of Churchill's in 1994. I was

really young. We even passed them out in front of CBGB's during a Cro-Mags show. People would throw it on the floor. After time, people didn't do that anymore. After 2001 we stopped publishing. Now we have picked up the pieces and its now a social publishing community where we provide anyone easy to use tools to make their own Zine online with new issues and back issues. Taking the idea of Magazines and Zines and bringing it to the net. Sharing is done through a clip and approval process, allowing the owner to modify and control the destiny of their original content. Users publish online in a magazine style blog. It's still in open beta testing. We were chosen to show our site at the demo pit at this years Tech Crunch 50 in San Francisco in Sept. It's a conference with a lot of the most influential people from the internet attending. It's all very exciting and its just the beginning.

UUTV-How has the internet changed the way art is made and shared for you?

Kiki-The internet is so powerful, and I am just happy to be apart of it in a major way

now. I am always trying to find ways to use avenues on the internet so my art can reach further quicker. Now that Humby and I started this site, It just lets us get very hands on in things I did not like on the internet and push forward and problem solve. We want to help people like me to connect right away and get their message across in a very nice, easy to use format. I'm not computer savvy. I just know what I want and I have ideas. I think the growth of the internet is very important for art. This is why I am so involved in this. My partner is my brother he's got to be the smartest guy I know. He's very much involved in my art career too. He's my personal adviser along with my mom.

UUTV-How has the Latino community responded to your work since historically, symoblism and fallacy has been an issue that most Hispanics have been tentative in siding with in the art world?

Kiki-The Latino community has been very supportive. Sometimes Latinos like Mexicans show such loyalty and respect to what I'm doing. To be honest, I just see myself as an artist. I really don't like the titles. I used them in the very beginning after college because I had some ignorant professors that thought my work looked "Hispanic." So after that I made it sort of a hidden satire in my work. Yeah, look at my artwork I make banana boat art! But, I think I'm past that. I really just consider myself an American artist. I love the support of the Latino community...but I really care to touch all somehow.

Comments (0)

Creating Art Where it's Needed
To say that we noticed Kiki on the Internet would be a big understatement, it was more like Kiki knocked us off our feet with his enthusiasm, energy and expressive paintings. The Internet is a vast space of activity, but somehow Kiki seems to rise above all the hustle and bustle and takes command of your attention. His work deserves the attention too! Read the article and look at his work and see if you agree.
________________________________________________________________
BFC: What was the culture in your home growing up and how did your parents influence your formative years?
I was born in Miami and moved to Northern New Jersey when I was a baby, then moved back to Miami when I was 8. My mom has always been involved with clothing and fashion. She used to take us into New York City with my brothers when I was real young. She's always been a big supporter of me with creating

. When I was 16 she took me to New York and we went to every single museum in the city. She took me to a Basquiat, Keith Haring and Kenny Scharf show that was up during that summer. I was moved. When I was younger people said my work looked like Basquiat, I understand why. It was from that trip to and from that important show. I still have the catalog somewhere in my studio. My dad was always supportive too, but he was more hands off. He let me do what I wanted and really didn't ask questions. He wasn't opinionated and I think that was really important.

BFC: How did you discover your passion for the arts?
I started formal training in painting at the age of 11. When you're a kid you know its

what you want to do, because every kid loves to paint. I stuck with it. I remember falling in love with painting when I found out there wasn't any rules. I honestly couldn't believe it. I mean I had to learn color, the figure and basic things. But when you're alone, there are no rules. I learned that real young. I think when I saw the real competitiveness from all the talented kids from high school that also sparked something.

BFC: What was a major lesson or experience you've taken from the New World School of the Arts High School that you still remember or influences you today?
New World is going to be mentioned often when great artists are talked about in the future. It’s still a young place. Very talented people come out of there. I learned a lot. There was just so much going on, and when you're in your teen's things just effect you so much more. Miami is where I'm from and it’s growing

day by day. It's like a newborn baby and your watching her grow. I could have gone to New York to do art, but I made a conscious decision to do it here. Great art is created where it’s needed.

BFC: Can you briefly describe how your work has evolved? What elements have changed and what has remained consistent? What is a neon expressionist?

My work has changed a lot, when I was younger it was aggressive, then I really started to exploit the ideals of Latin American Art from the standpoint of a Miami born Cuban. Now my work is breaking down the figure and I'm doing something so new. My colors aren't as bright anymore. I'm taking painting somewhere else. That’s where I am. One consistent theme has been the aggressiveness, bold lines and compositions of rhythm.
Neon Expressionism is something I'm working on with a group of artists from Miami and from other parts of the world. It's a reaction to what’s happening today in painting. A Neon Expressionist to me is pretty much post Neo Expressionism.

Comments (0)

A Luta Continua
Kiki Valdes recreates his life's passion on canvas

By: Amy Andrieux

Mexican artist Frida Kahlo once said, "I paint my own reality. The only thing I know is that I paint because I need to, and I paint whatever passes through my head without any other consideration." Despite the fifty-year gap, it is wholly obvious that the same statement applies to twenty-five year old Cuban artist Kiki

Valdes. Throughout his work are elements of his heritage: unrequited dreams of tomorrow, questions of life, and fleeting moments that captured his attention, if only briefly.

Using solid strokes of brush, Kiki brusquely places blunt yet shapely figures amid hues of red, green and yellow. There is an image of Tupac Shakur sitting sullenly, simply titled by the rapper's middle name, Amaru. A Che Industry depicts the quintessential face of revolutionary Che Guevara slightly askew behind a fading flag. Then there is Blanca Rosa, a painting that over time came to depict the grandmother who cared for him during his early years. Kiki's work is vulnerable, organic and very real. As if his creations were slices of his life, Kiki says, "I generally paint best when my compassion is broken or troubled. I get fixated on situations that are sometimes unpromising, things that are naturally a part of living. I call those things firewood that help burn the fire inside of me. There is a cause, and my actions are the effect. I can find the solution and I will."

His career started as a child doodling in notebooks. Kiki tells the story to DULCE magazine, remarking that his first serious experience in art began when he was thirteen years old. "It was the first time a bunch of really good artists were in my presence and I had to express myself and compete. There's nothing more competitive then a bunch of egoists, really talented kids, in one room for a model session." Today Kiki's art is his life. In his Miami studio he draws on the mysterious and paints from his soul.

Blessed with continuous support from his family, especially his brother Humby, Kiki is able to maintain a sense of reality about his life as an artist. He is aware that because his art is his livelihood, he must promote

his work as often as possible. He recently completed some work for the Hennessy Artistry tour, a unique collaboration that included some of the world's most sophisticated performers of music, fashion and art. Look on his website and you will see photos of him with Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Cuban- American rapper Pitbull and many others. He was also invited by mega-musician Wyclef Jean to paint a mural live at the latter's birthday party in New York this past October.

Currently, he's preparing for Art Basel, the highly respected series of art shows that occurs in the art deco district of Miami Beach each winter. Considering his impact on the world through his art, Kiki reaffirms his commitment to the struggle on canvas. "A lot of young Latinos follow what I do and believe I am a voice for them. I am no activist but my works will document the times from a poignant manner. From personal imagery to intercontinental scale stuff, it will be about this era. This is an essential time to generate new artifacts."

Comments (0)