Manolo Valdés: Teasing Concept
Posted in Exhibitions on August 27 2012, by Karen Daubmann
Ed. Note: While Monet’s Garden continues to enamor thousands of visitors to the NYBG through the fall, we’re always preparing for new and intriguing exhibitions. This includes our latest artistic explorations, which will culminate with a long-awaited unveiling in late September: the renowned sculptures of Manolo Valdés. As our Director of Exhibitions and Seasonal Displays, Karen Daubmann offers an advance glimpse into the artist’s creative process.
A few of us were lucky enough to have the opportunity to visit the New York studio of artist Manolo Valdés a few weeks back. We were working on a plan for exhibiting his maquettes in the Orchid Rotunda of the Library Building during the course of his exhibition, Manolo Valdés: Monumental Sculpture. Though the exhibit on the grounds opens on September 22, the maquette display will open on November 3.
Maquettes are small-scale models of artworks which help an artist to develop an idea. You can think of it as a rough draft, or a sort of “sketch” of a sculpture, which helps the artist to visualize and test shapes and ideas without incurring the costs and effort necessary to produce the full-sized piece. You can see from the photos below the variety of ways in which Valdés has explored the butterfly motif in his work.
In our display of the sculptor’s maquettes, you will be able to compare the small alabaster, plaster, and aluminum models to the largest sculpture of the exhibition, “Butterflies,” which will be installed just outside of the Library Building. Its head emerges from the ground without a pedestal, while many fluttering butterflies form an active, almost living headdress that extends to nearly 50 feet long. The use of reflective aluminum lends a feeling of lightness and airiness to the sculpture, which enhances the appearance of movement in the delicate butterflies.
“In Spain, we say that when a person has a vivid imagination or is particularly jolly, he has a head full of butterflies,” says Valdés. This beautiful site on the grand lawn outside the Library Building was chosen because it reminded the artist of the day he saw a swarm of Monarch butterflies in New York’s Central Park, fluttering around the heads of sunbathers on the Great Lawn.
Stay tuned to Plant Talk for more on Manolo Valdés: Monumental Sculpture as we draw nearer to the September unveiling.
Manolo Valdés — what a splendid choice to compliment Mother Nature’s works at your grounds. His work is marvelous! It will surely become admired by both art-lovers as well as those who adore the garden(s). I hope this proves to be a huge success in many ways…
If I lived on the East coast, I would not want to live NEAR your garden but WITHIN it! A few years ago, we spent hours there wandering and whispering about the beauty and occasionally, felt like breaking into song because everything was so wonderful! Congrad. to the people who chose this man’s work to adorn the place. The grasses, trees, flowers and bushes must be smiling. It is perfection!