Atis Tirma

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria · Category: Art · Subcategory: Sculpture · Year: 1981 · Authors: Manuel Bethencourt

[...] one of the finest examples might be Atis Tirma, an impressive monument located in the Doramas Park in the capital, which was made in 1981. This was quite an unusual project of its kind. This structure was boldly put together in which figures were even put upside down. Atis Tirma reflects quite a non-traditional concept in monument terms. The theme expresses freedom, and is an allegory to the loud cry of Atis Tirma. It highlights the dynamism of the figures with tiny support points, despite their great weight (each one weighing some 600 kilos) and huge size (between 2 and 3 metres in height) The shapes are fighting and struggling for space, before being subjected to death against the almighty conqueror. It is a really dynamic structure, highlighting the very real sense of aggression: defence, struggle and ultimate resignation. 

It is an open composition, with its four figures maintaining somewhat isolated poses, and despite their daring postures, each one of them, and as a whole, maintains a careful sense of composition. The figures are fused together and stand on a common base. For this, volcanic basalt rock from Tejeda was chosen, as the sculptor himself, against other traditional styles, had made it clear he wished to round off the structure with a natural base, in line with active movemente. The monument, and all of its figures, can be viewed from a multitude of angles without this compositive aspect being at all compromised. In this sense its very location plays a key role, although it was the San Telmo Park in Las Palmas that had been originally chosen as the site for it.

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