Victor Maldonado
Continuing to work with images and ideas that balance humor with pointed cultural commentary Victor Maldonado presents Special Effects, a series of paintings modeled after television screens from his past. It is a manifestation of memory and cultural assimilation through the vehicle of shared broadcast culture. Born in Changuitiro, Michoacán, Mexico and raised in Central California, Maldonado grew up crossing the US Mexico border with his mother to join the rest of his working family. Through the border crossings, whether on the north or the south side, the aspect of the tv screen was a constant. It was a window, it was knowledge, it was his Northern Star that if captured would impart understanding, access and, ultimately, acceptance. Formally minimalist in appearance, each painting is made using a stamp on Chroma Key green paint, a staple of Hollywood special effects shops, to create a glittery, pixely surface reminiscent of TV static. The intensity of the color and the shimmer of the surface are mesmerizing to a point where the initial impression of minimalism slips away and the paintings become a foil for hope and expectation.
In addition to his work as a contemporary artist, Maldonado is a faculty member at the Pacific Northwest College of Art in the Intermedia, Thesis and Painting Departments, freelance curator, and writer. Maldonado’s work has most recently been acquired by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX. Maldonado is Represented by Froelick Gallery.
Victor Maldonado lives and works in Portland, OR.