Although MANOLI enjoyed being with his friends and discussing art with them, his work was created in solitude. His working methods and his experiments remained very personal.
He invented new techniques but remained outside any current trend. ‘ Extremely reticent, one of the finest talents, one of the most individual too, of his generaton of sculptors.’ Roger Bouillot (Tout Prévoir 1991).
In his early career MANOLI worked in clay and plaster following classical methods. From1956, movement becomes an essential element of his work, energising his clean volumes. His mobiles – acrobats and dancers - created much interest.
In the Sixties he gave up modelling in favour of working with an oxyacetylene torch on metal, earthenware or granite. Nicknamed ‘Manoli the flame’ by Pascal Bonafoux, he worked in his studio, kitted out in goggles or a safety helmet.
‘This upsetter of forms loves playing with fire and appreciates in equal measure its angers and its sudden sparkling displays,’ Jean-Marc Campagne. Blow torch in hand, MANOLI breaks new ground by modelling granite or drawing on sheets of earthenware. With irisation he incorporates light into brass and stainless steel; light is fixed in warm and golden tones.
At this time MANOLI is also interested in working with recycled materials. Kitchen utensils, scrap metal, discarded tools are so many treasures for the sculptor. Used as single parts or reassembled , or soldered together, these objects keep their identity; ennobled by the artist they are metamorphosed into unexpected compositions, both figurative and abstract.. The Mainsail at the Gare Montparnasse, 1992 is one of the culminating points of this research.
Art lovers are also familiar with his mechanical compositions formed from umbrella frames and a concealed motor. The best known is The Eye (1971). ‘Open to the world , in rhythm with the flow of the sea or the breathing of the man who stores up images and ponders them later. This eye marks the interior journey of the artist.’ Daquin (Voix du Nord 1978)
In 1962 MANOLI is the pioneer of metal smelting in water from which he creates twisted animal or vegetable forms.
His greatest invention remains his work with granite made molten with an oxyacetelene torch at 2000 degrees. From 1963 this technique extracts from the granite powerful forms of deepest black. The granite is altered in its very nature, metamorphosised into Birds, Discs, Suns.
These motifs, themes and techniques were refined and mastered by MANOLI during almost fifty years of creation.