Manolo Valdes

If you’ve walked down Orchard Road recently, you would’ve noticed a line of nine massive head sculptures adorned with motifs such as butterflies and flowers, and a row of eight bronze sculptures of a woman in a frock at Ion2.

They are the masterpieces of award-winning Spanish artist Manolo Valdes, whose sculptures are in town in his first exhibition in Asia, supported by The Singapore Tourism Board. The exhibition will move to Gardens by the Bay after Oct 15.

Born in Spain in 1942, Manolo first discovered his passion for the arts when he attended the Fine Arts Academy of San Carlos in Valencia. He, along with two artist friends – Rafael Solbes and Joan Toledo – formed the art collective Equipo Cronica in 1965 that produced often politically motivated pop art to criticise the tyrannous rule of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco.

After the death of Rafael in 1981, Manolo embarked on a solo career focusing on Spanish historical motifs, and has been based in New York for the last 25 years.

We speak to the warm and sprightly artist through his wife, Rosa, his translator for this interview.

How has Spain and your birth city of Valencia influenced you as an artist?

It is not just Valencia that has influenced me, but also the rest of Spain and greater Europe, especially France. When I was growing up in Valencia, it was very much a provincial city, so what it could offer on its own was limited.