Art Outdoors - Swarms of Butterflies at the New York Botanical Garden

Did you see the inspiring story about the work of Spanish artist Manolo Valdes in the New York Times this morning? The New York Botanical Garden will host an exhibit of his huge, fantastical metal sculptures - I can't imagine a better venue for these immense and magical pieces.

Rendering of "Butterflies" courtesy of Marlborough Gallery, New York

This 50 foot wide silvery swarm of butterflies around a woman's head is one of seven Valdes sculptures on display - aren't the shadows cast on the grass beautiful?

The piece was inspired when the artist saw a swarm of Monarch butterflies around a man in Central Park, and also by a Spanish saying that describes people with lots of ideas as having butterflies in their heads.

"Manolo Valdes: Monumental Sculpture" opens September 22 in the Bronx, with works in aluminum, steel and bronze. Can you imagine a better place to display such nature-inspired art than outdoors at a world famous botanical garden?

I love this quote from Gregory Long, NYBG president, "“We’re always looking for big work that will enable us to bring new people to the garden but also inspire people to look at the garden in new ways. “The trees are 120 feet tall. Small works of art don’t make any impact.” Not a problem with Vadles's work - some of the pieces are 17 feet high and weigh as much as 20 tons. Read the whole story here.