Venue:
Peggy Guggenheim Collection.

Artist:
Manolo Valdés.

Exhibition description:
Las Meninas, a print portfolio with ten etchings by Manolo Valdés, also containing an essay ‘Dancing notes on Las Meninas’ (an imaginary interview with Pablo Picasso, with ten drawings by Valdés) by Josep Palau i Fabre, was presented by Germano Celant at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection on September 2, 2000. Both Valdés and Josep Palau i Fabre were present on this occasion. These ten large etchings on Eskulan handmade paper represent variations on the theme of the Infanta in Velazquez’s famous painting, Las Meninas (Madrid, Museo del Prado), filtered through Picasso’s interpretations of the same figure.
Valdés belongs to the generation of matiére artists after Tapiés and was a member of the Equipo Crónaca group in 1964. In 1999 he represented Spain at the Venice Biennale (together with Esther Ferrer and Carles Santos). The portfolio, printed by Taller Mayor 28, Madrid, is uniquely inscribed PGC 1/1. The edition consists of a hundred proofs, as well as artist’s and printer’s proofs (ten each). The ten figures combine contour lines, collage, color, and effects of scribbling and staining that recreate the matiére character of the artist’s sculpture.

Partnerships:
Organized by Sandro Rumney and Art of This Century.