About Valido
Valido is an abstract expressionist painter who is from Miami Florida’s Little Havana neighborhood. He states, “My art depicts the colorful spirit world as it radiates through my paintings.” Growing up in a Cuban American home, the Cuban culture has played a major role in his art work as his paintings take us through the Cuban political and economical struggle, Cuban music and street culture, to its unique spiritual belief system that combines Catholicism and the practice of Santeria.
As a child growing up in Miami, Valido displayed signs of innate artistic talent in both painting and creative writing. Valido grew up in the early 80s during the beginning of the hip hop Culture, as it spread from New York City to Miami. During this time Valido learned the different elements of Hip Hop. “Being able to breakdance, MC and do graffiti played a major role in my youth, as it provided a creative outlet that allowed me to express myself.” Valido is a self taught artist who still combines a lot of his graffiti techniques into his work today.
Valido graduated from the Florida State University with a Bachlors of Arts in Creative writing and has served as an educator. Currently, he combines his love for creating art and being a coach. Valido explains how the two worlds of sports and the arts coexist in his life. “Being a coach one has to be able to tell a story and bring in life references in order to teach the subject matter at hand. Art is a tool for me that allows me another way to illustrate and teach through visual learning.”
Valido was recently selected to exhibit his works at the 2023 Latinsimo Art Exhibition in New York City. He is showing two of his “Descarga” series works, “El Piquete” and “El Barrio” Also, Valido is also exhibiting several works in the 2023 Luxembourg Arts Fair. Valido has also been selected by Monat Gallery in Madrid Spain, to exhibit his paintings in a group exhibition in August 2023. Excited about his works being displayed in Europe, Valido states “I have three of my paintings that will be exhibited in Europe this fall. “Manteca”, “Bebo” and “Sucker Free”. “Manteca” and “Bebo” are from my “Descarga” series that honor Afro-Cuban jazz musicians. Lastly, Valido is showcasing his “El Conguero” artwork with Zowe Art and this years Lecce Italy’s Art Fedtival in August. Descarga is a series where I wanted to show how these legendary musicians, who believed in the Cuban Santeria religion, spirits gave them a different physical appearance when pioneering what is known today as AfroCuban Jazz. While “Sucker Free” shows how todays scams and conspiracy rabbit holes are constantly tempting us to stray from our spiritual path.”
Valido is currently working on two projects that also dives deeper into his Caribbean roots. “Defacement”, “La Santisima” and “Arroz Con Mango” series. These series, dealing with current issues on the island and in the exile Cuban community are expected to be completed by September of 2023.