Valerie Campos facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Valerie Campos
Born	Valerie Campos Maldonado (1983-12-25) December 25, 1983 (age 41) Mexico City, Mexico

Valerie Campos is an artist who taught herself how to paint. She was born in Mexico City in 1983 and grew up in Los Angeles, California. In Los Angeles, she first became interested in art by seeing street art and a style called Lowbrow.

Valerie gets ideas from many types of music. She creates paintings that feel like sound and nature. Her art mixes abstract shapes (things that don't look like real objects) with figurative elements (things that do look like real objects). She often breaks these elements apart and puts them back together, like looking through a kaleidoscope.

Valerie Campos' Art Journey

Since she started her art career, Valerie Campos has worked to bring together ideas from many different places. She wants to show how different ways of thinking and behaving connect people, communities, and society.

Her artwork often includes symbols that are known around the world. Sometimes these symbols are easy to see, and other times they are hidden. She blends ideas from ancient Mesoamerican cultures, like the pictures and writings from Mayan and Mixtec codices (old books), with modern cartoons. She uses cartoons because they are great at sharing a lot of meaning in a simple way.

Exhibitions Around the World

Valerie Campos has shown her art in many places. She has had her own shows and been part of group shows in Europe, North America, and Asia.

She has also won many awards and grants, both in Mexico and internationally. Some of these include:

• The National System of Art Creators in Mexico (2020)
• The Young Creators Program in Mexico (2014/15)
• Back to Basic in Finland (2019)
• The K.I.A.R Odisha program in India (2019)
• Glo Árt in Belgium (2017)
• The LAC in Kansas City, USA (2014/15)
• Xu Yuan Centre in Beijing, China (2013/14)
• Red Gate Gallery in Beijing, China (2013)
• Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada (2011)

Her art has also been chosen for important art events. These include the Film Festival KC (2015), the 1st International Biennial of Engraving José Guadalupe Posada (2013), and the International Festival of Contemporary Art Alpilles-Provence in France (2014).

Special Art Projects

Valerie Campos has also created projects that connect different cultures through art.

• In 2014, she started the Nao Now project. This project helps artists and cultures from Mexico, China, and the US share ideas. She got help from a famous artist named Francisco Toledo for this.
• In 2020, she started Vaivén Collectors. This is a group that doesn't make money. It creates short films, writes essays, and holds art events. Their goal is to share and talk about modern art in Mexico.

Today, Valerie Campos lives and works in Mexico City and New York. She has a special scholarship from the National System of Art Creators (SNCA). This award is given by the Mexican Ministry of Culture to artists who have achieved a lot in their careers.

Learning and Teaching

Valerie Campos has also focused on learning and sharing her knowledge.

Her Education

• 2019: She earned a Diploma in Cultural and Media Management. This helped her learn how to manage art and media projects.
• 2014: She took part in a cultural exchange program at the University of Kansas. This program focused on connecting China and Latin America.

Her Professional Roles

Valerie has also held important positions in the art world:

• 2021 – Present: She is a co-founder of Vaiven Collectors A.C. in Mexico City.
• 2015: She was a lecturer at the University of Kansas. She taught about cultural exchange between China and Latin America.
• 2014: She worked as an Associate Curator at the XU YUANG CENTER in Beijing, China. A curator helps organize and present art shows.

Art Awards and Recognition

Valerie Campos has received many awards and grants for her artistic talent.

• 2020-23: She became a member of The National System of Art Creators (SNCA). This is a special fellowship for her project "Evocations, Resonances and Fantasies."
• 2017: She won the GLOART Foundation Visual Arts Award. This included an artist residency for her project "Spiritual Landscapes."
• 2014-15: She received an Artist in Residency Award from the Lawrence Arts Center in Kansas, USA, for her work "Natural Selection, The Pursuit of Happiness."
• 2014-15: She was part of the National Program of Young Artists (FONCA) in Mexico for "Natural Selection."
• 2014: She received an Intercultural Exchange Grant and was an Artist in Residence at the Xu Yuan Centre in Beijing, China.
• 2014: She won an award from the Museum of Oaxacan Painters in Oaxaca, Mexico, for "The 4th Elements."
• 2013: She won a Curator Grant from the Xu Yuan Centre in Beijing, China, for "NAO- NOW, LOST HORIZON."
• 2013: She received an Artist Grant from Red Gate Gallery in Beijing, China, for "Amazing Stories."
• 2013: She won the Leighton Colony Artist in Residence award, a program between Mexico and Canada (Fonca-Banff).

Selected Art Shows

Valerie Campos has had many exciting art shows. Here are some of them:

• "VÉRTIGO, 2024" at La Máquina Taller de gráfica, Oaxaca, México
• "VORTEX, 2024" at WEXLER GALLERY, Philadelphia, USA
• "OSMOSIS, 2024" at WEXLER GALLERY, New York, USA
• "ANALOGÍAS, 2024" at Galeria M5CONTEMPO, Oaxaca, México
• "ART FAIR CHICAGO, 2023" at WEXLER GALLERY, Chicago, USA
• "SALON ART+DESIGN, 2022" at Park Avenue, New York, USA
• "THE END, 2016" at Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de San Luis Potosí, México
• "THE JOURNEY, 2016" at Galeria Quetzalli, Oaxaca, México
• "NEVER ENDING STORIES, 2016" at Heart Ego Gallery, Monterrey N.L. México
• "CUENTOS SUBTERRÁNEOS DEL ETERNO RETORNO, 2016" at Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Oaxaca, México
• "NATURAL SELECTION –THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS, 2016" at Lawrence Arts Center Gallery, Lawrence Kansas, USA
• "EL PAÍS DEL NUNCA JAMÁS, 2015" at Polyforum Alfaro Siqueiros, México DF, México
• "LOS 4 ELEMENTOS, 2013" at Museo de los Pintores Oaxaqueños, Oaxaca, México
• "INTERVENCIONES DEL MUNDO FLOTANTE, 2013" at Instituto de Artes Gráficas de Oaxaca, México
• "AMAZING STORIES, LOS 4 ELEMENTOS, 2013" at Red Gate Gallery , Beijing, China
• "WHERE THE DREAMS COME TRUE, 2013" at Centro Cultural Jaime Sabiens , Tuxtla, Chiapas, México
• "WHERE THE DREAMS COME TRUE, 2012" at Galería Ramón Alva de la Cana, Xalapa, Veracruz, México
• "I WANT TO BELIEVE, 2011" at Van! Centre for the Arts, Canadá
• "WHERE THE DREAMS COME TRUE, 2011" at Museo de los Pintores Oaxaqueños, Oaxaca, México
• "NATURALEZA MUERTA, 2011" at Quetzalli, Oaxaca, México
• "IRREVERSIBLE, 2007" at Galería Quetzalli, Oaxaca, México

Art Commissions and Collections

Valerie Campos has created special artworks for people and organizations, and her art is part of important collections.

Art Commissions

• 2019: She was asked by the MINART FOUNDATION to create "The Last Supper," a large oil painting.
• 2020: She painted "Mutatio" and "Merge" for the DPF Collection.
• 2018: She created a large still life painting for Black Coffee in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Art Collections

Her artwork can be found in these collections:

• 2014: Graphic Arts Institute of Oaxaca (IAGO), Oaxaca, Mexico.
• 2018: National Museum of Prints, Mexico City (her "Nao Now Mexico-Beijing 2014" piece).
• 2021: Chirhart Collection, Baltimore, USA.
• 2020: David P.Feregrino Collection, Queretaro, Mexico.
• 2023: Solivagus Collection, Guadalajara, Mexico.
• 2017: MINART Foundation Collection, Guadalajara, Mexico.