Northern California artist Bryan Valenzuela has spent the last couple decades aiming to perfect a unique drawing technique involving the atomization of the figure by carving out shape, shadow and light with handwritten text. Paragraphs, sentences, phrases, and fragments are used simultaneously as both the form and content of each piece. As form, the text delineates figures and subjects layer upon layer as shading. Words varying in size from the minuscule and unreadable, to large and bold are used in a manner similar to crosshatching and stippling. Though virtually unnoticeable from afar, once the viewer steps closer to each work they are engulfed in a barrage of words intermingled with other mixed media elements such as acrylic paint, gel transfer, gold leaf, and collage. As content, the language provides a sense of the inherent information and associations, metaphors and meanings that act as a meditation on the image. In 2016 Valenzuela ventured into the public art sphere, garnering a $350,000 commission from the City of Sacramento. In October of that year, he completed a large suspended sculpture consisting of over 400 blown glass spheres in an abstract, aquarelle version of the American and Sacramento river confluence. The following year saw Valenzuela complete his first ever mural for the Wide Open Walls festival. Other mural commissions have followed in its wake including permanent works in San Francisco, Chicago, Napa, and Sacramento, as well as temporary works in New Orleans and New York. He has won First Place at the Crocker Kingsley Biennial, Best in Show at the California State Fair Fine Art Exhibition, received the Leff Davis Grant for Emerging Artists, and exhibited nationally in many group shows, most notably for Scope at Miami Art Basel and Moniker in London.
Artist Statement
We use language as an instrument to describe the world around us; to help convey an understanding of that world and formulate a bond through its expression. It helps us communicate our perceptions, our thoughts, our dreams. Yet however much we have defined the exterior and interior landscapes of our reality with its nuances, it has also helped define us, shaping us in a reciprocal relationship. Experiences become deeper with stories told about it. Emotions become richer in collaboration with narratives that expand them and allow them to bloom. Memories take on new life the more we weave a web of words around them. I take this relationship as the foundation of all my work, using a handwritten text drawing technique to carve shape, shadow, and light from ideas, from moments, from metaphors. All my work presents a visual chronicle in this manner, using mixed media drawings, paintings, and large scale murals that encapsulate a mood of metamorphosis, of histories hidden in detail.
CURRICULUM VITAE
Photo by Aniko Kiezel
EDUCATION
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, SACRAMENTO - Bachelor of Art in Art Studio - 2003
AWARDS, PUBLIC, and private PROJECTS
POINT OF ORIGIN (PRIVATE MURAL COMMISSION) - Maker Building by WeidnerCA - Sacramento, CA - 2024
MEMENTO MORI FOR JOAN DIDION (PRIVATE MURAL COMMISSION) - Canon - Sacramento, CA - 2023
BEST IN SHOW/FIRST PLACE - Crocker Kingsley Nationally Juried Exhibition - 2022
LABOR OF LOVE (CORPORATE COMMISSION) - Grigio Art Consulting & Kaiser Permanente Mother/Baby Unit - Walnut Creek, CA - 2022
THE MANY-COLORED THREADS THAT WEAVE THE COLLECTIVE DREAM (PUBLIC MURAL PROJECT) - UnchARTed at Arden Fair & UpperCloud Media - Sacramento, CA - 2021
THE HIGHER CALLING OF OUR CHEMISTRY (CORPORATE COMMISSION) - Grigio Art Consulting & Kaiser Permanente - Sacramento, CA - 2020
DICHOTOMY - Spectra Vino Old Vine Zinfandel (Wine Label) - Lodi, CA - 2020
ON THE CUSP OF THE WILD FEVERED THRUST OF SPRING (PRIVATE COMMISSION) - Malibu, CA - 2020
MOIRAI TRIPTYCH (CORPORATE COMMISSION) - California Medical Association - Sacramento, CA - 2019
EMBLEM (PRIVATE MURAL PROJECT) - Pulse by Marriott Vacation Club - San Francisco, CA - 2019
BLACK BOX CATHEDRAL (PUBLIC/CORPORATE PROJECT) - Verizon sponsored Artists & Engineers Collaboration - Sacramento, CA - 2019
COOL WATER (PRIVATE MURAL PROJECT) - CORE Commercial - Sacramento, CA - 2018
HANNAH READING (PUBLIC/CORPORATE LIBRARY COMMISSION)- MINI & Little Black Pearl - Chicago, IL - 2018
CLOTHED IN A CLOUD OF MEMORY SMOKE (PRIVATE MURAL PROJECT) - BOZAL Mezcal Brand - New Orleans, LA - 2018
VERNACULAR - Spectra Vino Cabernet Sauvignon (Wine Label) - Paso Robles, CA - 2018
DAISY CHAIN (PRIVATE MURAL PROJECT) - Napa Railyards Arts District - Napa, CA - 2018
SHAPE SHIFT (UTILITY BOX PROJECT) - Napa Railyards Arts District- Napa, CA - 2018
NEST (PRIVATE MURAL PROJECT) - Covered California commission- Golden Valley Health Center, Modesto, CA - 2017
THE OTHER ART FAIR NYC -Dell Studio Booth Artist-in-Residence Live Drawing- Brooklyn Expo Center, Brooklyn, NY - 2017
KUMBAYA MOMENT (PUBLIC MURAL PROJECT) - Wide Open Walls (Mural Festival), Sacramento, CA - 2017
MULTITUDES CONVERGE (PUBLIC ART PROJECT) - Golden One Center, City of Sacramento, & Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission - 2016
BEST IN SHOW - California State Fair Fine Art Competition - 2015
UTILITY BOX PUBLIC ART PROJECT - CADA and Sacramento Metropolitan Art Commission - 2014
LEFF-DAVIS GRANT - Emerging Artist Award Grant - 2014
AWARD OF MERIT - California State Fair Fine Art Competition - 2009
2ND PLACE, MIXED MEDIA - University Art Open Competition - 2008
AWARD OF MERIT - California State Fair Fine Art Competition - 2007
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
FORM LORE - Beatnik Studios, Sacramento CA - 2016
NEW WORK - Deep Gallery, Sacramento CA - 2009
WORD MADE FLESH II - Deep Gallery, Sacramento CA - 2008
WORD MADE FLESH - Momo Lounge, Sacramento CA - 2006
LANGUAGE OF FACES - Senses Salon and Gallery, Sacramento CA - 2006
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
CROCKER KINGSLEY NATIONALLY JURIED EXHIBITION - Blue Line Gallery - Roseville, CA - 2022-23
ART AUCTION - Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA - 2023
SNEAK PEEK (LA Location Grand Opening)- Mirus Gallery - Los Angeles, CA - 2022
ART AUCTION - Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA - 2022
CELEBRATION 2 - Twisted Track Gallery - Sacramento, CA - 2022
ALKALOID - Groundswell Gallery - Sacramento, CA - 2021
THE ART AUCTION - Verge Center for the Arts, Sacramento CA - 2021
ART AUCTION - Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA - 2021
SMALL VICTORIES - Thinkspace Projects Group Show - Museum of Art and History, Lancaster CA - 2020
THE ART AUCTION - Verge Center for the Arts, Sacramento CA - 2020
ART AUCTION - Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA - 2020
MOTHER EARTH: WE ARE ALL ONE - Thinkspace Projects Group Show - Los Angeles, CA - 2020
MONIKER ART FAIR - Thinkspace Projects Group Show - London, UK - 2019
THE ART AUCTION - Verge Center for the Arts, Sacramento CA - 2019
LAX/ORD II - Thinkspace Projects Group Show - Vertical Gallery, Chicago, IL - 2019
LAX/SFO - Thinkspace Projects Group Show - Heron Arts, San Francisco, CA - 2019
ART AUCTION - Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA - 2019
SURREAL SALON 11 - Baton Rouge Gallery Center for Contemporary Art, Baton Rouge, LA - 2019
SCOPE ART FAIR - Thinkspace Projects Group Show, Miami, FL - 2018
THE ART AUCTION - Verge Center for the Arts, Sacramento CA - 2018
OFF THE WALL - Groundswell Gallery, Sacramento CA - 2017
ART AUCTION - Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA - 2018
THE OTHER ART FAIR NYC (May) - Brooklyn Expo Center, Brooklyn, NY - 2018
THE OTHER ART FAIR DTLA - Majestic Theater, Los Angeles, CA - 2018
SURREAL SALON 10 - Baton Rouge Gallery Center for Contemporary Art, Baton Rouge LA - 2018
THE ART AUCTION - Verge Center for the Arts, Sacramento CA - 2017
THE OTHER ART FAIR NYC (November)- Brooklyn Expo Center, Brooklyn, NY - 2017
CONDENSED - Beatnik Studios, Sacramento, CA - 2017
THE OTHER ART FAIR NYC (June)- Brooklyn Expo Center, Brooklyn, NY - 2017
THE LIVING MARK- Verum Ultimum Gallery, Portland OR - 2017
OF, BY AND WITH WOMEN- Latino Center for Arts and Culture, Sacramento CA - 2017
ART STREET- M5 Arts Exhibition, Sacramento CA - 2017
PATTERNS OF DISORDER- Retrograde Collective Exhibition, Sacramento CA - 2017
SURREAL SALON 9 - Baton Rouge Gallery Center for Contemporary Art, Baton Rouge LA - 2017
THE ART AUCTION - Verge Center for the Arts, Sacramento CA - 2016
IF YOU DO ME, I'LL DO YOU - WAL Public Market , Sacramento CA - 2016
DUEL/DUAL (A two person show with Benjamin Hunt) - Blue Line Arts, Roseville CA - 2016
FINE ART COMPETITION EXHIBIT - California State Fair, Sacramento CA - 2015
A MORSEL FROM THE MAGISPHERE - Shimo Center for the Arts, Sacramento CA - 2013
SALON DE MYSTERE ET FUNK - T Street Retreat Pop Up Gallery, Sacramento CA - 2013
TAROT CARD SHOW - Bows and Arrows, Sacramento CA - 2013
BIG NAMES SMALL ART AUCTION - Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento CA - 2012
ARTIST IN RESIDENCE (6 MONTHS) - Beatnik Studios, Sacramento CA - 2011
BIG NAMES SMALL ART AUCTION - Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento CA - 2011
FINE ART COMPETITION EXHIBIT - California State Fair, Sacramento CA - 2009
MONTHLY MOSAIC - Sacramento News and Review Headquarters, Sacramento CA - 2009
UA ART COMPETITION - University Art Store, Sacramento CA - 2008
FINE ART COMPETITION EXHIBIT - California State Fair, Sacramento CA - 2007
ALTER EGOS: SELF PORTRAITS FROM ANOTHER LIFE - Cool Cat Gallery, Sacramento CA - 2007
VALENTINES SHOW - Deep Gallery, Sacramento CA - 2007
PRELUDE EXHIBITION - Else Gallery, Sacramento CA - 2003
WHAT IS BEAUTY? - Witt Gallery, Sacramento CA - 2002
REINVENTING THE MANIFESTO - California State University, Sacramento Library Gallery - 2001
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
INSIDE MAGAZINE - Front Cover Image, Inside Publications, 03/2017
400 GLASS SPHERES ENLIVEN SACRAMENTO LOBBY- Interior Design Magazine, 11/21/2016
TWO BECOME ONE - Submerge Magazine, Issue #226 11/11/2016
FOURTEEN HILLS - San Francisco State University Literary Review, Front/Back Cover and Centerpiece, Issue 23.1 2016
ART FORMS CONVERGE AT SACRAMENTO ARENA- Comstock's Magazine, 9/27/2016
SACRAMENTO ARENA ARTWORK IS A ‘CONVERGENCE’ - Sacramento Bee, City Beat - 4.17.16 Issue
CALL IT 'ARTCO ARENA'? - Sacramento News and Review - 2.18.16 Issue
WORDS OF ART - Cover Image and Article - Inside Publications - February 2016 Issue
BRIGHT, STRONG WORK HIGHLIGHTS STATE FAIR SHOW - Sacramento Bee, Ticket Section - 7.15.15 Issue
RIGHT BRAIN - Sacramento News and Review - 7.11.13 Issue
WORDS SHADE HIS WORK - Sacramento Bee, City Section - 2.07.08 Issue
40 UNDER 40 - Sacramento Magazine - January Issue
A SELF PORTRAIT OF WORDS - Senses Magazine - Fall/Winter Issue 2007/08
LYRA & THE NEW MOON - Call me Ishmael Album Artwork, ASCAP - 2005