Ricardo Valentim Work | Artist Statement & CV | Return to Artist List
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Artist Statement
Having trained in both anthropology and visual art, my artistic practice is geared towards questioning the authority of the social sciences and rethinking how cultural representations are produced. Initially I was very interested in adapting ethnographic methodologies to an aesthetic practice in order to employ and problematize their systems. However, over time, such a direct approach began to seem too obvious, and I began to feel much more attracted to the underlying values within cultural production, especially those that reflect the identity of dominant groups. Within the culture industry of the late 20th and early 21st century, the images that have surrounded us in our daily lives have been fabricated to shape social beliefs and manage the masses. In fact, this constructed reality within which we live has been propagated through a variety of cultural forms. Its creation has been supported by the unrelenting production of knowledge rooted in the ideologies of cultural difference, identity, economic interest, and political debate.
For instance, the allegorical sculptural monuments depicting the four continents at the United States Custom House in Manhattan can be seen as an index of turn-of-the-century American attitudes, reflecting America’s perception of the world at large and her role in it. As well, we can find identical positions expressed in educational materials for American school children produced after the Second World War. Some were aimed at representing what life was like in the various places of the world, but the result was more akin to the Disneyfication of global cultures; the representations they produced didn’t necessarily have anything to do with what the world was really like. Both examples can help us to discern the mechanisms of cultural production evident in them, and to see how culture develops and is illustrated throughout representations in daily life. From the subliminal image (consisting of four filmic frames) of a woman who blinks her eyes as part of a standard film countdown leader, to an abstract detail of a magazine ad for Johnnie Walker brand Scotch which exemplifies the abstract and muddled disclarity of society itself, I would like to validate my audience’s own critical interpretations, and enable their agency in deconstructing how cultural representations are produced around us.
Having trained in both anthropology and visual art, my artistic practice is geared towards questioning the authority of the social sciences and rethinking how cultural representations are produced. Initially I was very interested in adapting ethnographic methodologies to an aesthetic practice in order to employ and problematize their systems. However, over time, such a direct approach began to seem too obvious, and I began to feel much more attracted to the underlying values within cultural production, especially those that reflect the identity of dominant groups. Within the culture industry of the late 20th and early 21st century, the images that have surrounded us in our daily lives have been fabricated to shape social beliefs and manage the masses. In fact, this constructed reality within which we live has been propagated through a variety of cultural forms. Its creation has been supported by the unrelenting production of knowledge rooted in the ideologies of cultural difference, identity, economic interest, and political debate.
For instance, the allegorical sculptural monuments depicting the four continents at the United States Custom House in Manhattan can be seen as an index of turn-of-the-century American attitudes, reflecting America’s perception of the world at large and her role in it. As well, we can find identical positions expressed in educational materials for American school children produced after the Second World War. Some were aimed at representing what life was like in the various places of the world, but the result was more akin to the Disneyfication of global cultures; the representations they produced didn’t necessarily have anything to do with what the world was really like. Both examples can help us to discern the mechanisms of cultural production evident in them, and to see how culture develops and is illustrated throughout representations in daily life. From the subliminal image (consisting of four filmic frames) of a woman who blinks her eyes as part of a standard film countdown leader, to an abstract detail of a magazine ad for Johnnie Walker brand Scotch which exemplifies the abstract and muddled disclarity of society itself, I would like to validate my audience’s own critical interpretations, and enable their agency in deconstructing how cultural representations are produced around us.
CV
Ricardo Valentim
Born in Loulé, Portugal, 1978
Lives and works in New York
Education
2004-2006 – MFA - School of Visual Arts, New York, USA
1999-2003 – BA in Anthropology - ULHT, Lisbon, Portugal
Solo and Two Person Exhibitions
2008
Art Nova, (with Marcius Galan), Art Basel - Miami Beach, Miami Beach
Art Premiere, (with Pedro Barateiro), Art 39 Basel, Basel
Ricardo Valentim, Galeria Pedro Cera, Lisbon
2007
Film Festival, Statements/Art Basel 38, Basel, under the auspices of Galeria Pedro Cera, Lisbon
Film Festival, unitednationsplaza at e-flux, e-flux, New York
2006
Lecture Nº1 (Lectures on Light), Legion, New York
Film Festival, Galeria Pedro Cera, Lisbon
Group Exhibitions
2009
Serralves: A Colecção, (curated by João Fernandes and Ulrich Loock), Serralves Museum, Porto
Film Festival, Cinema Passos Manuel / Museu de Serralves, Porto
Sounds and Visions, (curated by Maria Rosa Sossai and Angelo Gioè), Tel Aviv Museum of Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv
2008
Matter of Fact: Aftermath, (curated by Krist Gruijthuijsen) Galeria Vermelho, São Paulo; Escola de Artes Visuais do Parque Lage, Rio Janeiro
Notorious, (curated by Xavier Franceschi) Frac Ile-de-France/ Le Plateau, Paris
Manifesta 7, (curated by Adam Budak), Alto Adige/ South Tyrol, Italy
Mundos Locais, (curated by Lúcia Marques and Paula Rousch), Centro Cultural de Lagos, Lagos, Portugal
Memoria, Galeria Marta Cervera, Madrid
2006
Contrabando, (curated by Carolina Grau) Galeria Luísa Strina, São Paulo
Dirty Words, Galeria Pedro Cera, Lisbon
Delicate Arrangement (curated by Dan Cameron), David Zwirner Gallery, New York
Prime Time (curated by Amy Smith-Stweart), Visual Arts Gallery, New York
Other Projects
2009
Film Festival Radio Program, Emissores Reunidos – Episódio 2: Senhor Fantasma, Vamos Falar (curated by Ricardo Nicolau) Radio Zero, Serralves Museum, Porto. Project by Ricardo Valentim and texts by Aida Estela Castro
2008
eflux video rental, (video selection of Marcellvs L, Patricia Esquivias, Johan Grimonprez and Oda Projesi), Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisboa.
Film Festival Radio Program, Radio Epode (curated by Tobi Maier) Radio Papesse, Manifesta 7, Italy. Project by Ricardo Valentim and texts by Bosko Blagojevic
The Exotification of Western Activities Lecture at Séquences, Frac Ile-de-France/ Le Plateau, Paris
Awards/ Residencies
2008
Premio Ron Brugal Artistas Emergentes ARCO8, Madrid
2009
Sommerakademie directed by Tirdad Zolghadr, Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern
Publications
Film Festival Radio Program, LP vinyl record by Radio Zero (forthcoming)
Film Festival Radio Program, LP vinyl record by Radio Papesse (forthcoming)
Das Erziehungsbild (Education Image), Reader edited by Tom Holert and Marion von Osten. Published by Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna (forthcoming)
Activity, Artist Book by Pedro Barateiro and Ricardo Valentim. Published by Christoph Keller Editions - JRP-Ringer, 2011 (forthcoming)
Temporary Collaborations, Edited by Pedro Barateiro and Ricardo Valentim, texts by Wayne Gabardi, Susan Kelly, Maurizio Lazzarato and Jonathan Xavier Inda/Renato Rosaldo. Published by Galeria Pedro Cera, 2008
Selected Press
Valentim, Ricardo and Maier, Tobi, “Invented World,” in cat. Film Festival Radio Program
Sardo, Delfim, “A Particular Meta-Cinema”, in cat. “Sounds and Visions”, Tel Aviv Museum of Contemporary Art, 02.2009, pp.152-153
Amado, Miguel, “Ricardo Valentim”, Reviews, Artforum, May Issue - New York, 05.01.2008
Soares de Oliveira, Luisa, “O olhar do antrópologo”, Ípsilon, Publico - Lisboa, 08.02.2008
Ayers, Robert, “Generation Next”, artinfo.com - New York, 06.15.2007
Clintberg, Mark, “Valentim: the art of education”, The Art Newspaper - Art Basel Daily Edition, 14.06.2007
Amado, Miguel, “Ricardo Valentim”, Critic Picks, artforum.com - New York, 02.19.2007
Pomar, Alexandre, “Ricardo Valentim”, Actual, Expresso - Edição 1735 - Lisboa, 28.01.2006
Ricardo Valentim
Born in Loulé, Portugal, 1978
Lives and works in New York
Education
2004-2006 – MFA - School of Visual Arts, New York, USA
1999-2003 – BA in Anthropology - ULHT, Lisbon, Portugal
Solo and Two Person Exhibitions
2008
Art Nova, (with Marcius Galan), Art Basel - Miami Beach, Miami Beach
Art Premiere, (with Pedro Barateiro), Art 39 Basel, Basel
Ricardo Valentim, Galeria Pedro Cera, Lisbon
2007
Film Festival, Statements/Art Basel 38, Basel, under the auspices of Galeria Pedro Cera, Lisbon
Film Festival, unitednationsplaza at e-flux, e-flux, New York
2006
Lecture Nº1 (Lectures on Light), Legion, New York
Film Festival, Galeria Pedro Cera, Lisbon
Group Exhibitions
2009
Serralves: A Colecção, (curated by João Fernandes and Ulrich Loock), Serralves Museum, Porto
Film Festival, Cinema Passos Manuel / Museu de Serralves, Porto
Sounds and Visions, (curated by Maria Rosa Sossai and Angelo Gioè), Tel Aviv Museum of Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv
2008
Matter of Fact: Aftermath, (curated by Krist Gruijthuijsen) Galeria Vermelho, São Paulo; Escola de Artes Visuais do Parque Lage, Rio Janeiro
Notorious, (curated by Xavier Franceschi) Frac Ile-de-France/ Le Plateau, Paris
Manifesta 7, (curated by Adam Budak), Alto Adige/ South Tyrol, Italy
Mundos Locais, (curated by Lúcia Marques and Paula Rousch), Centro Cultural de Lagos, Lagos, Portugal
Memoria, Galeria Marta Cervera, Madrid
2006
Contrabando, (curated by Carolina Grau) Galeria Luísa Strina, São Paulo
Dirty Words, Galeria Pedro Cera, Lisbon
Delicate Arrangement (curated by Dan Cameron), David Zwirner Gallery, New York
Prime Time (curated by Amy Smith-Stweart), Visual Arts Gallery, New York
Other Projects
2009
Film Festival Radio Program, Emissores Reunidos – Episódio 2: Senhor Fantasma, Vamos Falar (curated by Ricardo Nicolau) Radio Zero, Serralves Museum, Porto. Project by Ricardo Valentim and texts by Aida Estela Castro
2008
eflux video rental, (video selection of Marcellvs L, Patricia Esquivias, Johan Grimonprez and Oda Projesi), Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisboa.
Film Festival Radio Program, Radio Epode (curated by Tobi Maier) Radio Papesse, Manifesta 7, Italy. Project by Ricardo Valentim and texts by Bosko Blagojevic
The Exotification of Western Activities Lecture at Séquences, Frac Ile-de-France/ Le Plateau, Paris
Awards/ Residencies
2008
Premio Ron Brugal Artistas Emergentes ARCO8, Madrid
2009
Sommerakademie directed by Tirdad Zolghadr, Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern
Publications
Film Festival Radio Program, LP vinyl record by Radio Zero (forthcoming)
Film Festival Radio Program, LP vinyl record by Radio Papesse (forthcoming)
Das Erziehungsbild (Education Image), Reader edited by Tom Holert and Marion von Osten. Published by Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna (forthcoming)
Activity, Artist Book by Pedro Barateiro and Ricardo Valentim. Published by Christoph Keller Editions - JRP-Ringer, 2011 (forthcoming)
Temporary Collaborations, Edited by Pedro Barateiro and Ricardo Valentim, texts by Wayne Gabardi, Susan Kelly, Maurizio Lazzarato and Jonathan Xavier Inda/Renato Rosaldo. Published by Galeria Pedro Cera, 2008
Selected Press
Valentim, Ricardo and Maier, Tobi, “Invented World,” in cat. Film Festival Radio Program
Sardo, Delfim, “A Particular Meta-Cinema”, in cat. “Sounds and Visions”, Tel Aviv Museum of Contemporary Art, 02.2009, pp.152-153
Amado, Miguel, “Ricardo Valentim”, Reviews, Artforum, May Issue - New York, 05.01.2008
Soares de Oliveira, Luisa, “O olhar do antrópologo”, Ípsilon, Publico - Lisboa, 08.02.2008
Ayers, Robert, “Generation Next”, artinfo.com - New York, 06.15.2007
Clintberg, Mark, “Valentim: the art of education”, The Art Newspaper - Art Basel Daily Edition, 14.06.2007
Amado, Miguel, “Ricardo Valentim”, Critic Picks, artforum.com - New York, 02.19.2007
Pomar, Alexandre, “Ricardo Valentim”, Actual, Expresso - Edição 1735 - Lisboa, 28.01.2006
Untitled (O Outro Lado do Uso)C-Print with Diasec, 2006-10
30 1/4 x 38 1/4 inches
Untitled (Eyeblink: Frame 4)C-Print with Diasec, 2008-10
30 1/4 x 38 1/4 inches
Untitled (Consumer Education: Who Needs It?) C-Print with Diasec, 2009-10
30 1/4 x 38 1/4 inches
Untitled (America)C-Print with Diasec, 2010
30 1/4 x 38 1/4 inches
Untitled (Eyeblink: Frame 2)C-Print with Diasec, 2008-10
30 1/4 x 38 1/4 inches
Untitled (Africa)C-Print with Diasec, 2010
30 1/4 x 38 1/4 inches
Untitled (Johnnie Walker)C-Print with Diasec, 2008-10
30 1/4 x 38 1/4 inches
Untitled (Eyeblink: Frame 3)C-Print with Diasec, 2008-10
30 1/4 x 38 1/4 inches
Untitled (Asia)C-Print with Diasec, 2010
30 1/4 x 38 1/4 inches
Untitled (Found Image)C-Print with Diasec, 2000-10
30 1/4 x 38 1/4 inches
Untitled (Educational Programs)C-Print with Diasec, 2010
30 1/4 x 38 1/4 inches
Untitled (Mottahedeh China)C-Print with Diasec, 2009-10
30 1/4 x 38 1/4 inches
Untitled (57th Street and 5th Avenue) C-Print with Diasec, 2006-10
30 1/4 x 38 1/4 inches
Untitled (Eyeblink: Frame 1)C-Print with Diasec, 2008-10
30 1/4 x 38 1/4 inches
Untitled (Europe)C-Print with Diasec, 2010
30 1/4 x 38 1/4 inches
Untitled (Found Image)C-Print with Diasec, 2000-10
30 1/4 x 38 1/4 inches