Francisco Valverde

Francisco Valverde Biography

Francisco Valverde was born in 1972 and raised in Cuernavaca, Mexico, of a Cuban father and Mexican mother.
Early in his career, he was known for his work in contemporary figurative painting. While
teaching traditional techniques and large-format painting at Morelense Center for the Arts
(Centro Morelense de las Artes), Francisco became inspired by his students’ search for their
individual expression, which lead to his own quest for a new artistic practice.

Francisco began working on large canvases, using bottle dispensers filled with colorful synthetic
materials instead of traditional paints and brushes. His goal was to re-create the essential
element within drawing and painting: the line. The resulting lines were imperfect and denied the
traditional representative characteristic of a line, or what Francisco describes as
“righteousness.” These paintings formed a rhythmic structure in which a certain order was
realized. This was the start of his new direction.

Francisco’s current work utilizes plastic materials to build complexity. These paintings utilize
powerful lines with direction, suggestive backgrounds, mysterious forms, and varying depths to
create a story. Obsession and freedom are two words that Francisco uses to describe his
current work: the obsession of daily routine, and the freedom he experimented with as a child
drawing and scribbling on a piece of paper for the very first time. He recognizes that perhaps a
certain commitment to tradition survives in the smooth finishes of his paintings. These paintings
also remind the artist of the colorful, shiny candies he used to eat as a child at local fairs.

Passionate about public and urban art, Francisco recently participated in “The Street Is Yours”
project in the State of Mexico. And, in 2015, the artist produced an urban intervention at the
“SMART Art festival 2015” in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

Francisco Valverde obtained a BA in Fine Arts at the University Art Center College of Design in
Pasadena, CA. He has participated in numerous domestic and international solo and group
exhibitions, and has been included in the 2004 Rufino Tamayo Biennial where he recently was
awarded with the first prize in the 2016 edition and now part of the permanent collection of the
Museum of Contemporary Art Rufino Tamayo in Mexico City.

Francisco currently lives in Mexico and has strong ties to the San Francisco Bay Area.

EDUCATION
Bachelor in Fine Arts, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA. USA

AWARDS & GRANTS
2016​ First Prize, Beinal Rufino Tamayo
2015 ​Bienal de Artes Visuales de Yucatán.
2014​ Bienal de Artes Visuales de Yucatán.
2009 ​FOECA, Instituto de Cultura de Morelos, Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes.
2004​ Bienal Rufino Tamayo
2004​ Jóvenes Creadores, Instituto de Cultura de Morelos, FONCA.

EXHIBITIONS
2017:
Art Market & Design Hampton, Evan Lurie Gallery, Bridgehampton, NY
Simulacrum, JLS Gallery, Mexico City, Mexico
Drip n Dry, Slate Contemporary, San Francisco, CA
Art Wynwood, Oliver Cole Gallery. Miami, FL

2016:
Art Palm Beach, Evan Lurie Gallery. Palm Beach, FL
Scope Miami, Evan Lurie Gallery. Miami, FL
Red Dot, Evan Lurie Gallery. Miami, FL
Art Hamptons, Evan Lurie Gallery. Bridgehampton, NY
Market Art+Design, Bridgehampton Museum. Bridgehampton, NY
Affordable Art Fair, Evan Lurie Gallery. New York, NY
Art Boca, Evan Lurie Gallery. Boca Raton, FL

2015:
Francisco Valverde, JLS Gallery, Valle de Bravo, Estado de Mexico, Mexico
Gravita, El Laberinto de los Sentidos Art Gallery, Jardínes de Mexico, Jojutla, Morelos, Mexico
Alter Pop Explosion, NM Art Gallery, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico
SMART Art Festival, San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico

2014:
Entramados, Alfredo Ginochio Art Gallery, Mexico City, Mexico

2013:
Arte Sana, Museo Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City, Mexico
Art Wynwood, Alfredo Ginocchio Art Gallery. Miami, FL

2012:
Art Wynwood, Alfredo Ginocchio Art Gallery. Miami, FL

2009:
No Toxico, Fundidora Park. Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexic

2007:
Lovely Creatures, Mexican Consulate, San Francisco, CA

2005:
Icono-Hombres, Centro Morelense de las Artes, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico
Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico
Museo de Arte de Queretaro, Queretaro,Mexico