Reception, Friday, , January 30, 6 – 8:30 p.m. with brief gallery talks by the artists beginning at 6:30 p.m.

The Gallery at The University of Texas at Arlington is pleased to present a two-person exhibition featuring San Antonio/Los Angeles artist Vincent Valdez, and Los Angeles artist Michelle Dizon. The two artists met in 2008 and discovered that, although focusing on different historical events and geographic subjects, each was dealing with issues of political resistance in their artwork. Vincent was in the process of completing a painting, Nuthin' to See Here, Keep on Movin', that dealt with police brutality at the May 1, 2007 protest at MacArthur Park in Los Angeles. Michelle had just finished a video installation, Civil Society (I) that dealt with events of civil unrest in Paris in 2005 and Los Angeles in 1992. Their conversations raised the question of how people resist in the face of oppressive forces and how it is that they, as artists, bear witness to this struggle.

The two artists state, “Without End, the title of this exhibition, signals both the interminability of the struggle of the oppressed as well as the constant reach of power by the oppressor.  In this exhibition, we are interested in examining the legacy of violence and its cycles throughout history.  The theme of history holds a prominent role for each of us and is the basis from which we begin our work. Through our discussions, we've come to understand that our interests lie not in the spectacle of violence and victimization, but rather in finding a way to translate the realities that are silenced and the subtle ways that power exists in our everyday.”

Vinccnt Valdez Laugh Today Cry Mañana, 2008 graphite on paper, 92” x 42”	Vincent Valdez was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas. He received his BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2000. He has had one-person shows at the Marion Koogler McNay Art Museum, the Snite Museum of Art at Notre Dame, and the Museo Alameda in San Antonio, Texas. He has also exhibited his work at Parsons University, Paris, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the Smithsonian; and the Mexican Museum in Chicago. His work is included in the collection of Cheech Marin, and is part of the traveling exhibition "Chicano Visions: American Painters on the Verge." Valdez recently collaborated with Ry Cooder on a commissioned work—he painted a redone 1953 Good Humor ice cream truck with a visual narrative about the razing of the communities of Chavez Ravine, eventually making way for the construction of Dodger Stadium. He lives and works in Los Angeles and San Antonio.
Michelle Dizon Civil Society (I), , 2008 mixed media installation, dimensions variable
Michelle Dizon is an artist, filmmaker and writer based in Los Angeles, California. She received an MFA in Interdisciplinary Studio from UCLA in 2008 and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Rhetoric at the University of California, Berkeley. She has received numerous awards including a Fulbright Fellowship, the Eisner Prize in Film and Video, and several academic awards and fellowships from both UCLA and UC Berkeley. She has exhibited and participated in Film Festivals throughout the country including at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the Pacific Film Archive, Artist’s Television Access, Southern Exposure, Film Arts Foundation, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, and internationally at CineManila, the Philippines, Alu Cine Film Festival, Toronto, Canada and the Ctl_Alt_Del Sound Festival, Athens, Greece.
In association with the exhibition, the artists will discuss their work in an illustrated, hour-long presentation in the Fine Arts Auditorium, Room 148 on Thursday, January 29 beginning at 12:30 PM. The exhibit and all events are free and open to the public. Gallery Hours: Monday-Friday 10p.m. - 5 p.m., Saturday 12 - 5p.m. Located on first floor of the Fine Arts Building, UTA Campus, 502 S. Cooper St., Arlington, Texas. For more information, contact Benito Huerta 817-272-3143, or Patricia Healy 817-272-5658 www.uta.edu/gallery. The 2008-2009 exhibition schedule is made possible by the generous support of Arlington Camera, the Hanley Foundation, and Hilton Arlington.     © 2003-10 | design: university publications

October 19 – November 14, 2009