Reina Mariana

"In his sculptures ... Valdés reconverts a genre and makes the portrait into a thing. On abandoning sackcloth and canvas, on taking the meaning of these heads, these large portraits, and putting it into bronze, Valdés decontextualizes the act of the portrait and converts it into still life. The heads are also made from wooden slats, later cast in bronze thickly enough so that curves may be raised or depressed. Depending on their position, the holes that are made leave a thin or thick plate. When casting them, Valdés plays with their imperfections, like Donatello, to emphasize the nature of the material itself. However, what distinguishes and characterizes Valdés is his personal language made up of visual allusions and a morphology of its own based on texture. This is achieved thanks to the use of certain specific materials and also to the way he combines them. Valdés uses 'welding' and joining elements, glues, etc. as false appearances in his sculpture. This of course is also the tradition of Julio González, in his use of welding as an expressive element. Valdés's workmanship is perfect, even when it serves to give an impression of rupture or breaking. And in that 'impression' of handling the support, of breaking its forms, of his deconstruction, resides the core and root of his style" (K. de Barañano, "Valdés, Material and Memory", in Manolo Valdés: Recent Work, exh. cat., London, Marlborough Fine Art, 2005, p. 3).