Limited-Edition Artist’s Publication by Painter Vincent Valdez

Co-published with El Museo del Barrio in commemoration of ESTAMOS BIEN – LATRIENAL 20/21

With an essay by Andrea Lepage, Professor of Art History at Washington and Lee University

“The Strangest Fruit is a series of paintings inspired by the lost—and often erased—history of lynched Mexicans and Mexican Americans in the United States from the late 1800s well into the 1930s. Although a specific history inspires this subject, my focus was to identify and create images that speak to the present. Like the erased bodies of the past, these paintings depict present-day individuals who face the threat of a similar fate in America; the more that they struggle to break free, the tighter the noose will choke.” —from the artist’s statement

“American society perceives the young non-white male as a threat. Valdez’s work transforms these faceless statistics into individuals. Through his exploration of prolonged and targeted discrimination and systematic stereotype reversals, Valdez has shown the viewer of The Strangest Fruit that it is his diverse group of brown men who are the threatened.” — Andrea Lepage, from the essay

Edition of 300

Contents

• Nine, folded, full-color posters (17.75 x 23.75 inches, each)

• An essay in English and Spanish

• Reference Postcard

Current and Past Exhibitions of The Strangest Fruit series

• El Museo Del Barrio, New York City (2021)

• Staniar Gallery, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA (2015)

• Artpace, San Antonio, TX (2014)

• David Winton Bell Gallery, Brown University, Providence, RI (2013)

In Permananent Collection

• Blanton Museum of Art, Austin

• McNay Museum of Art, San Antonio

• Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

There are a limited amount of reserved copies available for special collection facilities. Please contact us if you would like to acquire a copy for your institution.

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