Beck & Eggeling is pleased to present the fourth solo-exhibition by the Spanish painter und sculptor Manolo Valdés. On show are sculptures, paintings, collages and works on paper which are in parts inspired by an African cultural context. As often in his works the treatment of traditional fine materials, notably wood, plays an important role.

Manolo Valdés, born 1942 in Valencia, together with Rafael Solbes and Joan Toledo founded the group „Equipo Cronica“, which during the 1960s developed into one of Spain's most influential pop art-movements. The group, well known for its tendency to work in a series and make many references to art history, broke up after the early death of Solbes in 1981. Hereafter, Valdés startet to follow his own artistic path. His great respect for old masters ranging from van Eyck and Velázques to Picasso and Lichtenstein is always reflected in his work.

The typical inclusion of motifs and elements from art history even becomes his working principle, which he takes as point of origin „como pretexto“ to create his own new aesthetical compositions. Furthermore, his choice of materials and their unique interaction are notable: with regards to his paintings it is mainly the pastose oil paint with which he constructs and forms. However, he also uses burlap, jute, thread, linseed oil or rabbitskin and all kinds of pigments which are worked into the surface of the painting. A working method influenced and based largely on materials which also reminds one of Valdés' compatriot and great idol Antoni Tapiès.

Valdés' works are not only presented in important international museums such as the Reina Sofia, Madrid, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the National Museum of China, Beijing, or the Centre Goerges Pompidou, Paris; his monumental sculptures are placed in prominent public spaces such as the Jardins du Palais Royal, Paris, or presently at Botanical Garden in New York.

Valdés is also well-known in the city of Düsseldorf, where, during the artistic festival „Quadriennale 2006“ 21 of his Meninas sculptures, inspired by Velázques' portrait of the Spanish Royal Family (Las Meninas, 1656), were presented right in the city-centre of Düsseldorf. Three of them found a permanent place at the Hofgarten, the large municipal garden. Valdés lives and works in Madrid and New York.

For additional information and high-res data, please contact:
Dr. Antonia Lehmann-Tolkmitt
antonia@beck-eggeling.de
Tel: +49 (0)211 210 79 10 or +49 (0)151 270 96 232

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