Oil, thread and burlap collage on burlap
78,4 x 51,6 in (199,2 x 131 cm)

Born in Valencia, Spain, Valdés is one of the few artists who have mastered multiple mediums including drawing, painting, sculpture and printmaking. In each form he is considered highly original, technically sound and constantly provocative. Valdés began training as a painter at the age of fifteen in the Fine Arts Academy of San Carlos, Valencia. In 1964, with fellow artists Rafael Solbes and Juan Antonio Toledo, Valdés formed the Equipo Crónica, utilizing the aesthetics of Pop Art to criticize the political climate under Spanish dictator Francisco Franco. After 1981, Valdés embarked on a solo career focusing on art historical motifs. Valdés’s work often quotes figures from well-known pieces of art, revitalizing the image through a change of context. Manolo Valdés moved away from linear irony to interpret the image as a symbol and a vehicle for contact between the work of Art and the spectator. He has continued to seek inspiration in the creations of the grand masters of the History of Art such as Velázquez, Rembrandt or Goya. Influenced by Rembrandt, Rubens and Matisse, Valdés creates large works in which the lighting and colors express a sensation of tactility. His work is forceful and decorated with historical art symbols. The timelessness of the image as the axis of the visual experience is the determining factor in his creations. For Valdés’s works, image and matter are fused in a body of work that wanders between Pop Art and material art, between social and political commitment and a continuous search for reinvention. The artist takes the familiar image and transfigures the work through inflating the figure’s size, minimizing detail and utilizing various materials thus creating a seamless dialogue with the original artwork. It is through this unique artistic style of Valdés that confirms his position as a leading artist in the international art arena. Throughout his long career, Valdés has never stopped investigating and reinventing Art, with an insatiable appetite for conceptual and plastic experimentation. The result is unanimous critical acclaim and recognition from a growing public for his works that can be found in the great museums of the world. Manolo’s works is included in numerous public and private collections including, but not limited to the de Young Museum of San Francisco; Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, Italy; Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany; Menil Foundation, Houston, Texas; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Modern Museet Art, Stockholm, Sweden; Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France; Museo Nacional Centre de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts. Manolo’s iconic sculptures are exhibited outdoors in the parks and gardens of major cities such as the New York Botanical Gardens, Hofgarten, Dusseldorf and Chatsworth House, UK.