Take a trip to the Nasher Sculpture Center to see new work from Oak Cliff-based artist Giovanni Valderas.
“Grit/Grind,” on view as part of the museum’s yearlong Nasher Public series, is a “full-scale replica of the 1986 Nissan Sentra that was the first car his Guatemalan mother bought and in which she learned to drive.”
The work “offers reflections as well upon the more sobering consequences of life among working poor families. For these communities, a car may be emblematic of a transitory life of frequent moves when the rent becomes too high or may even serve as a possible dwelling itself when other options are exhausted.”
His previous work, “Casita Triste,” drew attention to gentrification and housing inequality, and Valderas ran for City Council in 2018 with a focus on those issues.
“I’m in a position of privilege now. I got my education. and I work in the arts, and so I feel there’s a certain obligation we all have as people of privilege to continue to voice our dissent when we see things aren’t as equitable as they should be,” he says in an audio clip about the work. “If I can use art to start that conversation, then why not?”
“Grit/Grind” is on display through Dec. 6.
By the way, Valderas also made an enormous orange puppet for Día de los Muertos (see below).
