Martin Chirino

MARTÍN CHIRINO LÓPEZ (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 1925).
"Oöloggy", 1973.
Polished bronze. Exemplary 52/100.
Attached certificate of authenticity issued by the Serie Gallery (Magisa).
Work reproduced in the catalog raisonné.
Signed and justified.
Measurements: 30 x 20 x 9 cm.
Oölogy, clearly reflects the formal and symbolic constants that defined Chirino's artistic career. Cast in bronze, the artist gives all the prominence to the use of the spiral, a central motif in his work. This form not only provides visual dynamism, but also embodies concepts such as energy, movement and the force of the wind, elements deeply rooted in his creative imagery. The spiral thus becomes a symbol loaded with meaning, which refers both to the origin and to a constant search, connecting with ancestral references such as the vestiges of the Guanche culture. The sculpture demonstrates Chirino's technical mastery, capable of transforming a heavy material into an organic structure.
The sculptor Martín Chirino developed his training at the Escuela de San Fernando in Madrid and at the School of Fine Arts in London. After a first sculptural series "Reinas Negras" (Black Queens), and exhibitions such as the group show at the Museo Canario, Chirino moved to Madrid in 1955, accompanied by his friends Manolo Millares, Elvireta Escobio, Manuel Padrono and Alejandro Reino. He also spent a month in London, where he got to know first-hand the Sumerian and Egyptian sculptures in the British Museum. Only one year later, in 1956, the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Madrid acquired two of his works. He then held his first solo exhibition at the Ateneo de Madrid, after which he became a member of the recently founded El Paso group. His recognition grew, and only two years later he was given a special room in the Spanish pavilion at the São Paulo Biennial. In 1960 he took part in a group exhibition at the MOMA in New York, where he presented four pieces, one of which already featured the spiral, the most recurrent theme in his work since those years. The gallerist Grace Borgenicht, impressed by these four pieces, made a trip to Madrid to hire Chirino exclusively for the United States, a contract that remained in force until Borgenicht's death in 1994. Since his participation in the MOMA collective, and after the dissolution of El Paso in 1960, Chirino developed his solo career and showed his work all over the world, an abstract production characterized by the lack of narrative elements and by formal and symbolic richness. He is currently represented in museums all over the world, including the Guggenheim in New York, the MACBA in Barcelona, the Juan March Foundation, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, the Museo de Bellas Artes in Caracas, etc.