David Valentine

David Valentine

Born and raised in New Zealand, David Valentine initially studied at Auckland’s nascent film schools of the mid 1980s. Deeply impacted by the social and cultural changes in New Zealand at that time, David turned his attention from film to political activism. After extensive travel throughout Asia, he settled in San Francisco, where he found inspiration in the early 1990s underground dance and DJ culture and began producing rave flyers, club promotions, and magazine spreads in his own distinct and instantly recognizable style. He co-founded the design/activism collective Shimako-Dominguez and has also worked independently as a graphic designer for a range of clients including Sony, Showtime, Chronicle Books, London’s Globe Center, and the MadCat International Film Festival. In his artwork, he fuses themes of myth and magic with an urban state of mind. His focus is often small, fleeting moments drawn from folklore and fairytales that are relocated to more contemporary settings. This meeting of the fantastical and the real is emphasized through his use of everyday materials like particle board, varnish, and glue alongside more painterly elements.