‘Domesticity’ offers a comprehensive exploration of Valdés’ vision, focused exclusively on sculptures of a more modest scale, offering viewers the opportunity to appreciate intricate details, personal touches, and subtleties characteristic of Valdés’ three-dimensional works.
Renowned for his ability to transform familiar forms and classical references into contemporary masterpieces, Valdés’ work is characterised by a profound sensitivity to material and form. His meticulous craftsmanship and artistic vision uses light, color, and subject matter to recontextualise idioms from the art historical canon.
Drawing a parallel between the sculptures exhibited in the gallery and the much larger installations on display throughout the Royal Atlantis property, this exhibition presents a dynamic interplay of material and scale. While the monumental works command public spaces with their imposing grandeur, the smaller sculptures engage viewers in a more personal and reflective dialogueallowing for a closer examination of their intricate details, textures and the implicit emotional impact that characterise Valdés’ works.
Valdés’ artistic practice is marked by his dynamic use of materials, ranging from wood and resin to aluminum and bronze, creating striking contrasts and textures that breathe life into his depictions of nature, art historical icons, and everyday subjects, often evoking a sense of nostalgia while also presenting a bold and modern take on classical forms. Through his exploration of form and material, Valdés offers a compelling aesthetic dialogue between the past and the present.
“It’s a great honour to host ‘Domesticity,’ Manolo Valdés’ second solo exhibition in Dubai.” said Sylvain P. Gaillard, Director of Opera Gallery Dubai. “The way Manolo’s work seamlessly shifts from familiar to unfamiliar and realistic to abstract, depending on the viewer’s distance and perspective, never ceases to amaze me. With this exhibition, we’re thrilled to present this collection of smaller sculptures that showcase the artist’s oeuvre and aesthetic range on a different scale.”
About Manolo Valdés
Born in Valencia, Spain in 1942, Manolo Valdés attended the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Carlos de Valencia and began his career in the 1960s. He was a founding members of Equipo Cronica, a group of artists who took inspiration from Pop Art to challenge the Spanish dictatorship of Franco. When the movement ended in 1981, Valdés continued his own artistic exploration centered on the appropriation and reinterpretation of masterpieces. He currently lives and work between Madrid, Spain and New York City, USA.
Valdés has received numerous 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, the Medal of the Order of Andrés Bello in Venezuela.
He has had numerous solo and group shows internationally in galleries and museums alike and his work is part of prestigious private and public collections, notably the de Young Museum of San Francisco; the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, Italy; the Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany; the Menil Foundation, Houston, Texas; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Modern Museet Art, Stockholm, Sweden; the Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France; the Museo Nacional Centre de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts just to name a few. 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.
About Opera Gallery
Founded in Singapore in 1994, Opera Gallery has forged, over its 30 years, a network of 16 galleries worldwide including London, Paris, New York, Geneva, Hong Kong, and Seoul, establishing itself as one of the leading global players within the international art market.
Headed by Gilles Dyan, Opera Gallery specialises in post-war French art, and in Modern and Contemporary European, American, and Asian art. In addition, the gallery represents international emerging artists such as Andy Denzler, Anthony James and Gustavo Nazareno, and more established contemporary artists such as Ron Arad, Manolo Valdés, and Anselm Reyle.
2024 marks Opera Gallery’s 30th Anniversary and over the gallery’s three decades, Opera Gallery’s mission is to showcase the dynamic, innovative, and diverse expressions of modern and contemporary art through its ambitious yearly exhibition programming as well as to bring together institutions that shape the cultural landscape, often supporting private collections and leading public institutions.
