Faces :: Manolo Valdes

Whilst in Istanbul I visited the Manolo Valdés exhibition in the Pera Museum. He is one of the most famous contemporary artists of Spain and in addition to his monumental sculptures (the butterflies are perfection), there were also many large size canvases created using mixed media, combining fabric such as hessian with paint and epoxy to create strengthened texture. Described as a pop-artist Valdés is known for extracting works of art from their original context and reinterpreting them into oversized works such as the the face of one of Matisse’s female figures. Alongside Matisse he is also influenced by Picasso, Rembrandt and Lichtenstein. His use of colour was also of interest to me as initially he used a controlled palette based on Spanish earth tones of siena, ochres, blacks and white. Later in his career he when inspired by the renaissance he used intense hues of violet, indigo and pinks by sprinkling pure pigment across the paintings. Just beautiful!

Tags: Art, Artist, Butterflies, Colour, Europe, Istanbul, Lichtenstein, Manolo Valdes, Mixed Media, Painting, Pera Museum, Picasso, Rembrandt, Sculpture, Spain, Turkey