by Sherif Awad
Diego Valdez is originally from Colombia and resides in the San Francisco Bay area, splitting his time between Los Angeles and New York. Diego is an actor, model, artist, activist, and brand representative.
Diego “knew” early on that he was destined for the arts. He started as a theatre actor in Colombia and then transitioned into television where he was a recurring character in numerous South American Soap Operas including “Retratos,” “Padres E Hijos,” “Un Angel Llamado Azul”,
and “Ama La Academia,” to name a few. Additionally, Diego’s handsome good looks and exotic, physical attributes soon caught the eye of the fashion industry where he achieved tremendous success representing some of the most iconic fashion brands in Europe and Latin America – Diesel, Levi’s, Gibaud, Chevignon, Calvin Klein, and many more. While living in the United States, Valdez worked as an artist for major corporations and designed artwork and images for “Animal Planet,” The Discovery Channel, Diageo, Tequila Don Julio Brand, and more. Diego’s artwork has also graced multiple billboards In New York Times Square
“I adore entertainers like: Enrique Buenaventura, TV and Cinema Roberto Benigni, Federico Fellini, Pedro Almodovar, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. From arts: Sandro Botticelli, Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall. From literature: Pablo Neruda, Mario Benedetti. From fashion: “Photographers” Steven Meisel, David Lachapelle, Mario Testino. My favorite Fashion Designers: Stefano Gabbana and Tom Ford.”, he says.
– Art is a passion and like every other passion is also a huge risk, it’s like jumping to the cold water from day one, there is nothing more important than the commitment and determination to pursue the dream of becoming an artist, i’s important to adapt your art to the trends and possibilities of the moment, if we are living in the digital age. “do digital art”. If you are going for acting or modeling you have to understand that basically there is not difference between being an actor and a model. at the end you are playing a character
that requires, expression, self confidence and that neutral vibe that will increase credibility. yes in acting you have to learn a script but in fashion your eyes have to talk loud because
the expression in your eyes is basically replacing the words.
-The biggest satisfaction is to get things done and get things done at the top of the capacity we have. “do your best” then whatever happens next is plain and simple a consequence, so let the market decide what’s next, take everything as part of the process and move forward trying to achieve a new goal.. success is rented and the lease is due every day and that’s just real. whatever you achieve today will be a past event once you achieved, so keep going..
-The fashion industry is an industry dominated for the beauty of a woman so as a male model you have to know that your role is a secondary and if you join the industry you do it for the art, for the experience, because you like it and because the industry likes you. “that’s so important” women are very important in my life basically 98% of my fans and friends are women and I really adore them all.
-With the explosion of social media, there are many opportunities for everybody, basically you can start as a model via Instagram but the traditional way is never going to disappear and it’s important to win an audition, fight for it etc. in arts 10 years ago a painter had to walk the streets with the artwork, visit museums, curators etc. today by using social media a good artist can be easily discovered and can easily approach thousands if not millions of possibilities, by the way creating art now is cheaper. do it digital so “the talent is the same” the exposure is the same and you can massively create art that will showcase your talent. then once you get a contract work on details and adapt your art to client needs and do it, that means if the client requires an oil painting collection. so promote yourself digitally and adapt your art to client needs when you get the assignment.
-For TV, acting and cinema: the explosion of Netflix allows thousands to become actors and the social media allows millions to become famous. so those who are going to last in the mind of consumers and those who are going to be relevant are gonna be the hard workers of the room. there are many chances to accomplish the goal but to really stay there and have a career you have to work harder.
-I see everything like an opportunity, we are artists and there is nothing small in the world of art, everything has to be done with respect, passion and discipline the smaller and the biggest projects all of them are extremely important
Private life professional practice balance: this is a good question: I don’t allow things go to my mind. the good and the bad are always part of the process. that’s the first thing. second I don’t try to dress or look like a celebrity in real life, normally I dress very simple and I just act like a personality when is required during events, red carpets, TV interviews etc. I never talk about my life with strangers. when people in normal life ask me what do you do for a living I just answer that I am trying to follow my passion and work hard every day. that’s one of the reasons why I don’t live in LA. When I go to LA, I know I have to be “Diego Valdez” but in my hometown in the bay area I am just me a quiet, creative mind.
-My current project as an artist is to continue doing art for Defending the endangered movement a movement started for one of my best friends in Hollywood also I run two companies
one my art and creative studio “voilartists” design agency and the other it’s a huge media celebrity company started by the biggest Hollywood publicist Doris Bergman and I had the honor to be part of the company.. actually I am co- founder of the company and really I don’t know when that happened .. Anyways I love Doris Bergman
Diego Valdez social media:
