Anna Valdez - "Natural Curiosity"

NEW YORK- Hashimoto Contemporary is pleased to present Natural Curiosity, an exhibition featuring new painting, print, and ceramic work by Oakland based artist Anna Valdez. The gallery is thrilled to welcome Valdez back for her second solo exhibition with the gallery and her debut exhibition at Hashimoto Contemporary’s New York City location.

Well known for her uniquely stylistic still-life paintings, Valdez returns with a new crop of vibrant works and hand-painted ceramics. The pieces comprising Natural Curiosity probe further into Valdez’s daily practice of observation and documentation.

Unfurling her signature palette of rich reds, bright yellows and sumptuous surfaces, the exhibition is visual poetry at work, at once rooted in art historical practices while also remaining faithful to the present moment. Flora and fauna spill from her larger-than-life canvases, punctuated by found objects, carefully placed and arranged from around the studio. Strewn throughout these compositions is the recent addition of her very own hand-painted ceramic vases and flowerpots, many of which have been thoughtfully displayed alongside their two-dimensional counterparts.

The works function both as still life and self portrait, offering vantage into Valdez’s daily practice and the objects which inform it. Venus Painting, oversized and brilliantly pink, features two of the artist’s plants against a wall covered in a swirling floral design. Framed by the houseplants is a smaller, more serene still life painting, depicting a bust of Venus in cool blue tones. This self-referential painting-within-a-painting nods at the time honored tradition of oil painters breaking the fourth wall while subtly hinting at a more modern practice of image-viewing and media consumption. 

The careful consideration of each detail––each hand-mixed oil paint, every carefully composed vignette––invites the viewer into the artist’s studio and practice of close observation, begging the question: when do we allow ourselves to follow our own curiosity?

Please join us Saturday, October 5th from 6 - 8p for the opening reception of Natural Curiosity. In conjunction with the opening reception, the gallery will be hosting an artist talk with Valdez, Nina Mdivani (curator in residence at Kunstraum, NYC) and Chad Alligood (co-curator of "The Beyond: Georgia O'Keeffe and Contemporary Art" at the Crystal Bridges Museum) as well as a book signing from 5 - 6pm for the release of the artists debut monograph, Natural Curiosity. 

The exhibition will be on view through Saturday, October 26th. For more information, additional images or exclusive content, please email us at nyc@hashimotocontemporary.com