Martín Chirino. Crónica del siglo

Martín Chirino

Martín Chirino (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 1 March 1925 – Madrid, 11 March 2019) was, without doubt, one of the most important Spanish sculptors and one with an extraordinary international profile. His work was exhibited in prestigious museums and galleries and featured in reference collections. Together with his visual work, he was also greatly passionate about the cultural milieu, which saw him lead projects like the restoration of the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid and be a driving force behind the founding of the Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

In Martín Chirino’s aesthetics, the spiral form, which evokes the wind, is fundamental. A symbol as an allegory of the wind, but also life breath and the creative drive, an embodiment of the power of chaos and its resolution in intense moments of suspension. Martín Chirino’s extraordinary sculptures break dichotomies, evoking both air and water, a sense of solitude and a desire to strengthen communal bonds, an obsession with Canarian identity and a lucid cosmopolitanism. Through his work, we immerse ourselves in the radical experience of modernity, contemplating an impressive spatial projection, with folds and creases of a beautiful modulation that turns the heavy light, in search of the origin that maintains hope alive. Commemorating Martín Chirino’s poetics of space means daring to think about the destiny of our age, attempting to trace itineraries, in spiral shape perhaps, and ultimately towards self-knowledge, bringing about a good life in which beauty is not a forbidden territory.

Fernando Castro Flórez
Curator