Manolo Valdés

{{BLP sources|date=November 2013}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2019}} '''Manolo Valdés''' (born March 8, 1942) is a Spanish artist residing in New York, working in paint, sculpture, and mixed media. He introduced to Spain a form of expression that combined political and social obligations with humor and irony.

== Biography ==

Manolo Valdés was born in Valencia on March 8, 1942. He entered the Escuela de Bellas Artes de San Carlos in 1957, where he studied two years. In 1964 he established the artists' group Equipo Crónica with Joan Toledo and Rafael Solbes in which he remained until Solbes' death in 1981.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Manolo Valdés|url=https://www.landaufineart.ca/valdes|access-date=2021-07-20|website=landau-contemporary|language=en}}</ref> He now lives and works in New York City with a further residence in The Hamptons and Miami.

== Work ==

Influenced by Velázquez, Rembrandt, Rubens, Matisse, Picasso, and others 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. Valdés creates paintings, monumental sculptures, etchings, and collages.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-11-10|title="Manolo Valdes: The Legacy" Arrives To Doral|url=https://doralfamilyjournal.com/manolo-valdes-the-legacy-arrives-to-doral/|access-date=2021-07-20|website=Doral Family Journal|language=en-US}}</ref>

Along with the works he exhibited as a part of ''Equipo Crónicas,'' Valdés had over seventy expositions between 1965 and 1981, as many individual as collective. His work has been displayed at prestigious art galleries and museums, notably; Guggenheim in New York,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Manolo Valdés. Painting and Sculpture {{!}} Guggenheim Museum Bilbao|url=https://www.guggenheim-bilbao.eus/en/exhibitions/manolo-valdes|access-date=2021-07-20|website=Guggenheim Bilbao|language=en}}</ref> Opera Gallery New York,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Manolo Valdés {{!}} New Works at Opera Gallery|url=https://flaunt.com/content/manolo-valdes|access-date=2021-07-20|website=Flaunt Magazine|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Wild|first=Stephi|title=Opera Gallery's Manolo Valdés Exhibition Features Brand New Works|url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Opera-Gallerys-Manolo-Valds-Exhibition-Features-Brand-New-Works-20210506|access-date=2021-07-20|website=BroadwayWorld.com|language=en}}</ref> the Hirschhorn in Washington, DC, and multiple art capitals of the world such as London, Berlin, Paris, Milan, Rome, Seoul, Istanbul, The Hague, and Monaco etc.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Bello|first=Diana|date=2021-03-18|title='Manolo Valdés: The Legacy' Outdoor Exhibition in Doral Expands|url=https://doralfamilyjournal.com/manolo-valdes-the-legacy-outdoor-exhibition-in-doral-expands/|access-date=2021-07-20|website=Doral Family Journal|language=en-US}}</ref>

Valdés has received various awards, including the Lissone and Biella in Milan in 1965; the silver medal in the second International Prints Biennial in Tokyo; an award from the Bridgestone Art Museum in Lisbon; the Alfons Roig Award in Valencia; the National Award for Plastic Arts in Spain;<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://elpais.com/diario/1983/12/07/cultura/439599609_850215.html |title=El premio a Català Roca y el reconocimiento a la fotografía, novedad de los galardones nacionales de Artes Plásticas |trans-title=The Award to Català Roca and the Recognition of Photography, Release of the Nationals for Plastic Arts Winners |work=El País |location=Madrid |language=Spanish |date=1983-12-07 |access-date=2019-06-21}}</ref> a medal from the biennial International Festival of the Plastic Arts in Baghdad; and in 1993 the Medal of the Order of Andrés Bello in Venezuela.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Manolo Valdes Biography {{!}} Annex Galleries Fine Prints|url=https://www.annexgalleries.com/artists/biography/3909/Valdes/Manolo|access-date=2021-07-20|website=www.annexgalleries.com}}</ref>

The sociologist Zygmunt Bauman has qualified him as one of the most outstanding exponents of liquid art, in his work ''Liquid Life'', together with Herman Braun-Vega and Jacques Villeglé.<ref>{{cite book |last=Van den Bossche |first=Marc |date=2018 |title=Vreemde wereld |trans-title=Strange world |url= |language=nl |location=Brussels |publisher=ASP |page=145 |isbn=9 789057 187551}}</ref>

== Gallery ==

<gallery> File:Valladolid Manolo Valdes Expo 2006 01 lou.JPG File:Valladolid Manolo Valdes Expo 2006 07 lou.JPG File:Valladolid Manolo Valdes Expo 2006 04 lou.JPG File:Valladolid Manolo Valdes Expo 2006 05 lou.JPG File:Valladolid Manolo Valdes Expo 2006 03 lou.JPG File:Valladolid Manolo Valdes Expo 2006 08 lou.JPG File:Manolo Valdés Las Meninas.jpg File:Manolo Valdés Las Meninas Detail.jpg File:Escultura de la Menina en Alcobendas.jpg File:Perfil II.jpg </gallery>

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links == * [https://www.operagallery.com/artist/manolo-valdes Opera Gallery] * [http://www.reportajes.org/2005/12/31/biografia-de-manolo-valdes/ A Spanish biography] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20110707165402/http://www.arteseleccion.com/maestros-en/valdes-manolo-184 Manolo Valdés: Biography and critical analysis] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20110707164520/http://www.arteseleccion.com/maestros-en/equipo-cronica-58 Equipo Crónica]

Trained as a painter, Valdés grew up imbibing the works of Spanish masters like Diego Velázquez and Pablo Picasso, later becoming influenced by Pop Art.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valdes, Manolo}} Category:20th-century Spanish painters Category:20th-century Spanish male artists Category:Spanish male painters Category:21st-century Spanish painters Category:Spanish sculptors Category:Spanish male sculptors Category:1942 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century Spanish sculptors Category:Spanish contemporary artists Category:21st-century Spanish male artists