Fotos cortesía de la Galería Contini

Sculptures by the Valencian artist Manolo Valdés are on display in Venice through 15 June 2024. St. Mark’s Square is graced by twelve Reina Mariana pieces and a monumental Infanta Margherita, iconic bronze reinterpretations of famous portraits of Maria Anna and Margaret Theresa of Spain. In his works, Valdés decontextualizes themes of famous Velázquez, Picasso, and Matisse paintings to give them three-dimensional form, and with this, a new identity. He has repeatedly returned to Las Meninas, experimenting with different materials and techniques.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the city, are Mariposas, a stylized head around which a multitude of butterflies hover, and Diadema, with monumental volutes framing a stylized face at the center. Accompanying the exhibition ‘Las Meninas a San Marco’ is a catalog with a text by Kosme de Barañano.