Stations - Vincent Valdez

Stations

By Vincent Valdez | May, 2007

A breathtaking display of large-scale charcoal drawings, Valdez created a metaphorical reflection that depicted the last day and fight of a boxer's life. Based loosely on the stations of the cross, the drawings demonstrate Valdez's belief that boxing is a metaphor for the everyday struggles of humanity. While his drawings have a an artistic quality of an "Old Master," his subject matter is anything but. He focuses on the everyday life of San Antonio's largely Hispanic Southside with gritty realism. "His drawings are palpable; one feels the heat in the close and contained gym, hears the sounds of the crowd, and smells the stale air of the place," expresses Lyle Williams, curator at the Marion Koogler McNay Art Museum.