Sculpted by Spanish artist, Manolo Valdes
DUBAI 23 March 2018: The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) has established itself as a singular landmark in the city, blending business, architecture, gastronomy and the arts in perfect harmony.
What started as a visionary insight has bloomed to become a world-renowned destination. The DIFC has been home to Opera Gallery since 2008. To celebrate the 10-year milestone, Opera Gallery Dubai, in collaboration with DIFC, has installed five monumental sculptures by Spanish artist, Manolo Valdes around the DIFC.
Valdes’ aim is for all his works to embrace the life of their location, integrating with each unique environment to become greater than the sum of their parts. This oasis is the perfect setting for his body of work.
Manolo Valdes’ works have a life of their own and exist independently of any theoretical explanations that can be made of them and these monumental sculptures have been displayed in symbolic locations around the world such as Place Vendôme in Paris, the New York Botanical Garden, Château de Chambord in Loire valley, the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, on Orchard Road in Singapore and in New York’s Park Avenue; all demonstrating how exciting it is for Dubai to now be home to the works of one of the most internationally acclaimed contemporary artists.
Manolo explains, “the distinctive thing about these sculptures is that, as they are exhibited in places that are all so different, you end up seeing them in very different ways. Seeing them in Chambord for example is very different to seeing them on Broadway. Either way its beautiful to see how the same sculpture speaks to you in different ways, depending on the different locations and how the environment influences them.”
Valdes encourages people to get up-close and personal to the sculptures and says “I don’t want people to be afraid to touch and feel them, it’s all part of the experience and is what makes them so exciting. I hope to see them one day photographed in a sandstorm, that would really show them integrated into this uniquely beautiful environment and show them in yet another light.”
The five monumental sculptures can be enjoyed around DIFC for the next year as well as his solo-exhibition at Opera Gallery Dubai in Gate Village 3 until April 15th, 2018.
The sculptures are available for sale and carry prices ranging from US$1.6 million to $2.1 million.