Manolo Valdès: The Spanish Parade

Charming installation at Museo Archaeologico Nationale de Napoli of works by Manoli Valdès.

The works were life sized sculptures based on the Spanish Infanta in Las Meninas by Velazquez. Picasso was also influenced by the painting and did a series of works riffing on it so this complimented another exhibition about him in the museum.

They looked beautiful in the space but would have had more effect if there had been less information boards in the impressive space, the Meridian Hall, to detract from them.

I loved this quote in the explanation “Does Valdés cite these "old masters" as a reference or a memo, or does he regard them as a battlefield for his own pictorial exploration?”. What an interesting idea!

Again there is nothing on the museum’s website about this show despite lots of advertising of it within the building.

Closes 6 January 2024

 

 

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