Vincent Valdez is an American artist born in San Antonio, Texas, who focuses on painting, drawing, and printmaking. His artwork often emphasizes themes of social justice, memory, and ignored or under-examined historical narratives. Valdez completed his B.F.A. at the Rhode Island School of Design in 2000.

The Strangest Fruit (2013) Oil Painting Series by Vincent Valdez

"The Strangest Fruit is a series of paintings inspired by the lost—and often erased—history of lynched Mexicans and Mexican Americans in the United States from the late 1800s well into the 1930s. Although a specific history inspires this subject, my focus was to identify and create images that speak to the present. Like the erased bodies of the past, these paintings depict present-day individuals who face the threat of a similar fate in America; the more that they struggle to break free, the tighter the noose will choke."