Juana Valdés. Rest Ashore (video still), 2020. 4K video, loop (13:35 min). Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Zachary Balber. Director and Producer: Juana Valdés; Cinematographer: Lee Burghard (Camera Operator & DP); Editor: Setty McIntosh; Assistant Editor, Sound Editor, Mix Engineer, Sound Design & Composer: Onel Mulet.
Juana Valdés. Redbone Color China Rags, 2017. Ceramic (bone china porcelain fired at 1234c), 12 x 3 x 4 in. (each). Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Diana Larrea.
Juana Valdés (Residence: United States, b. 1963, Cuba). Installation view of Redbone Color China Rags, 2017, at Spinello Projects, Miami, FL, 2018.
Ceramic (bone china porcelain fired at 1234c), 12 x 3 x 4 in. (each). Courtesy of the artist; Photo: Diana Larrea.
Juana Valdés. Redbone Color China Rags (detail), 2017. Ceramic (bone china porcelain fired at 1234c), 12 x 3 x 4 in. (each). Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Diana Larrea.
Juana Valdés (Residence: United States, b. 1963, Cuba). Detail installation view of Redbone Color China Rags, 2017, at Spinello Projects, Miami, FL, 2018.
Ceramic (bone china porcelain fired at 1234c), 12 x 3 x 4 in. (each). Courtesy of the artist.
Juana Valdés. Single Drawn Line/ Drummer, 2014. Digital print on Arches BFK paper, 36 x 44 in. Edition 7. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Zachary Balber.
Juana Valdés (Residence: United States, b. 1963, Cuba). Single Drawn Line/ Drummer, 2014.
Digital print on Arches BFK paper, 36 x 44 in. Edition 7. Courtesy of the artist; Photo: Zachary Balber.
Juana Valdés. Rest Ashore, 2020. Installation view at Locust Project, Miami, FL, 2020. 4K video, loop (13:35 min), and shipping palettes. Dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Zachary Balber. Director and Producer: Juana Valdés; Cinematographer: Lee Burghard (Camera Operator & DP); Editor: Setty McIntosh; Assistant Editor, Sound Editor, Mix Engineer, Sound Design and Composer: Onel Mulet.
Juana Valdés (Residence: United States, b. 1963, Cuba). Installation view of Rest Ashore at Locust Project, Miami, FL, 2020.
4K video, loop (13:35 min), and shipping palettes. Director and Producer: Juana Valdés; Cinematographer: Lee Burghard (Camera Operator & DP); Editor: Setty McIntosh; Assistant Editor, Sound Editor, Mix Engineer, Sound Design, and Composer: Onel Mulet. Courtesy of the artist; Photo: Zachary Balber.
Juana Valdés. Rest Ashore (video still), 2020. 4K video, loop (13:35 min). Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Zachary Balber. Director and Producer: Juana Valdés; Cinematographer: Lee Burghard (Camera Operator & DP); Editor: Setty McIntosh; Assistant Editor, Sound Editor, Mix Engineer, Sound Design & Composer: Onel Mulet.
Juana Valdés (Residence: United States, b. 1963, Cuba). Video still from Rest Ashore, , 2020.
4K video, loop (13:35 min). Director and Producer: Juana Valdés; Cinematographer: Lee Burghard (Camera Operator & DP); Editor: Setty McIntosh; Assistant Editor, Sound Editor, Mix Engineer, Sound Design, and Composer: Onel Mulet. Courtesy of the artist.
Juana Valdés. The World Stripped Bare and Flat, 2017, and Imperial China, 2017. Installation view at The American Museum of the Cuban Diaspora, Miami, FL, 2017–2019. Mixed media (bone china, wood, metal, and sheetrock), 96 x 15 x 144 in.; Framed digital photographs on Hahnemühle paper, 11 x 14 in. (each). Courtesy of the artist.
Juana Valdés (Residence: United States, b. 1963, Cuba). Installation view of The World Stripped Bare and Flat, 2017, and Imperial China (detail on wall in back), 2017, at The American Museum of the Cuban Diaspora, Miami, FL, 2017–2019.
Mixed media (bone china, wood, metal, and sheetrock), 96 x 15 x 144 in.; Framed digital photographs on Hahnemühle paper, 11 x 14 in. (each). Courtesy of the artist.
Juana Valdés (Residence: United States, b. 1963, Cuba). Installation view of Terrestrial Bodies (2019) at Miami Dade College Cuban Legacy Gallery at MDC Special Collections, Freedom Tower, Miami, FL, 2019–2020. Installation (ceramic, vinyl, MDF, cyanotype prints, and DNA), Dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist; Photo: Zachary Balber.
Juana Valdés (Residence: United States, b. 1963, Cuba). Installation view of Terrestrial Bodies (2019) at Miami Dade College Cuban Legacy Gallery at MDC Special Collections, Freedom Tower, Miami, FL, 2019–2020.
Installation (ceramic, vinyl, MDF, cyanotype prints, and DNA), Dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist; Photo: Zachary Balber.
Juana Valdés. Terrestrial Bodies, 2019. Installation view at Miami Dade College Cuban Legacy Gallery at MDC Special Collections, Freedom Tower, Miami, FL, 2019–2020. Installation (ceramic, vinyl, MDF, cyanotype prints, and genetic material), Dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Zachary Balber.
Juana Valdés (Residence: United States, b. 1963, Cuba). Installation view of Terrestrial Bodies (2019) at Miami Dade College Cuban Legacy Gallery at MDC Special Collections, Freedom Tower, Miami, FL, 2019–2020.
Installation (ceramic, vinyl, MDF, cyanotype prints, and DNA), Dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist; Photo: Zachary Balber.
Juana Valdés. Terrestrial Bodies, 2019. Installation view at Miami Dade College Cuban Legacy Gallery at MDC Special Collections, Freedom Tower, Miami, FL, 2019–2020. Installation (ceramic, vinyl, MDF, cyanotype prints, and genetic material), Dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Zachary Balber.
Juana Valdés (Residence: United States, b. 1963, Cuba). Installation view of Terrestrial Bodies (2019) at Miami Dade College Cuban Legacy Gallery at MDC Special Collections, Freedom Tower, Miami, FL, 2019–2020.
Installation (ceramic, vinyl, MDF, cyanotype prints, and DNA), Dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist; Photo: Zachary Balber.
Juana Valdés. Adrift (still from Rest Ashore), 2020. Kodak silver halide photographic metallic paper, 17 x 30 in. Edition 25 + 2 AP. Produced by Locust Projects. Courtesy of the artist.
Juana Valdés (Residence: United States, b. 1963, Cuba). Adrift (still from Rest Ashore), 2020.
Kodak silver halide photographic metallic paper, 14 ¾ x 28 in. (image); 17 x 30 inches (paper). Edition 25 + 2 AP signed and numbered. Produced by Locust Projects. Courtesy of the artist.
Juana Valdés. An Inherent View of the World, 2017. Mixed media (ceramic, wood, metal, and sheetrock), 96 x 15 x 144 in. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Oriol Tarridas.
Juana Valdés (Residence: United States, b. 1963, Cuba). An Inherent View of the World, 2017.
Mixed media (ceramic, wood, metal, and sheetrock), 96 x 15 x 144 in. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Oriol Tarridas.
Juana Valdés. An Inherent View of the World (detail), 2017. Mixed media (ceramic, wood, metal, and sheetrock), 96 x 15 x 144 in. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Oriol Tarridas.
Juana Valdés (Residence: United States, b. 1963, Cuba). An Inherent View of the World (detail), 2017.
Mixed media (ceramic, wood, metal, and sheetrock), 96 x 15 x 144 in. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Oriol Tarridas.
Juana Valdés. Hanging By, 2017. Screen-print on porcelain bone china fired at 1234c, 12 x 9 in. (each). Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Diana Larrea.
Juana Valdés (Residence: United States, b. 1963, Cuba). Hanging By, 2017.
Screen-print on porcelain bone china fired at 1234c, 12 x 9 in. (each). Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Diana Larrea.
Juana Valdés. Photo: Predro Wazzan.
Juana Valdés (Residence: United States, b. 1963, Cuba). Artist at Locust Projects, Miami, FL.
Courtesy of the artist; Photo: Predro Wazzan.

Juana Valdés: Embodied Memories, Ancestral Histories

October 22, 2023 – February 11, 2024

For 30 years, Juana Valdés (b. Cuba, 1963) has transformed ideas, thoughts, and feelings into works of art anchored in stories, many of which are inspired by her personal experiences. The exhibition title, Embodied Memories, Ancestral Histories, encompasses many concepts and complexities. Beginning with Un saco para el Viejo (A Coat for the Old Man, 1993), a suit made from burlap by her mother, the artist addresses her Caribbean identity and introduces two recurrent aspects in her work: her Cuban roots and her African ancestry. With this installation as the prologue, the story Valdés tells unravels as the visitor moves through the galleries and becomes acquainted with three main topics that are not necessarily exclusive: “The History of Migration,” “Representation and Subjectivity,” and “Materiality.”
Since the mid-1990s, Valdés has been interested in history, especially in narratives related to her Afro-Cuban heritage. Through many of the works featured in the exhibition, she has generated a voice and a discourse inspired by themes such as colonization’s history and migration’s impact. Another significant theme is the issue of gender and the representation of the feminine body. Through several works, notably the installation Sweet Honesty-Tender Pink (1997), Valdés invites the public to reflect on the objectification of the female body and the “whitening of race” as a legacy of colonialism. Race is a connecting thread that links the different sections of the exhibition, an issue that she addresses from her experience as a woman of color living in the United States.
Her choice of materials is as important as the themes she conveys. Working in a range of both traditional and non-traditional media—from ceramics, with all its associations of feminine and manual work, to new-media—Valdés communicates ideas of the personal and subjective while at the same time challenging the canon of art. Her audiovisual work highlights her entire oeuvre as an archive through which she analyzes and recodifies topics that include transnationalism, migration, race, gender, and discrimination at work, and the Latinx discourse she deals with from her experience as an Afro-Cuban woman residing in the United States.
Juana Valdés lives and works in Amherst, MA; New York, NY; and Miami, FL.

This exhibition is organized by Sarasota Art Museum of Ringling College of Art and Design and curated by Francine Birbragher-Rozencwaig, Ph.D., independent curator.

This exhibition is made possible, in part, with generous support from:

Platinum Sponsor
Shari and John Hicks

Silver Sponsors
Ellen Chapman and Michael Moss

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Programs