The Lago Martiánez sculptures, all created by the Lanzarote artist César Manrique, turn the complex into an authentic museum in the sun that can be enjoyed in many different ways, since some of the works are designed for the little ones. In this way, in a tour of the facilities we can find the elements that we detail below.
Los Alisios, from 1971. It is a mobile sculpture from the Toys of the Wind series, plates of heavy laminated iron that the wind impulse rotates around a steel shaft supported on the ground by large volcanic stones that serve as bases. .
This enormously solid and heavy structure becomes light, almost weightless when moved by the breeze, establishing a rotary motion. This series of sculptures have clear influences from the old windmills of the Conejero landscape and which serve as inspiration for Manrique for his Wind Toys.
Los Alisios is located in the central part of the complex, between the two main pools of the same name, with a prominent role in the complex.
Barlovento from 1977, it is another of the wind toys, on this occasion, a tree trunk serves as the bases for some metallic cones that move in the breeze around a vertical axis. The Barlovento sculpture is very close to one of the ticket offices and can be admired without entering the complex.
La Jibia (The Cuttlefish) from 1971 is a sculpture and a playground at the same time, it is located in the children’s pool of the Los Alisios pool complex in the central part of the complex, the sculpture imitates with the softness of its curves a huge octopus of red and white color with large and striking green eyes.
The work is drilled and dotted with nooks and crannies that delight children. It is made of concrete covered with a layer of mortar and painted with striking colors, the eyes are made from the “asses” of a glass bottle.
El homenaje al mar (tribute to the sea) from 1977 is an immense sculpture, 30 m x 24 m x 12 m, located at the eastern end of the complex, in the children’s pool adjacent to the large lake. It is made of shredded lava, wood and covered with concrete. Its curves are reminiscent of the Atlantic waves that can be seen a few meters away. The sculpture is also perforated and can be walked through, which makes it another attraction for the most children who enjoy the children’s pool.
The sculpture Raíces la cielo (Roots to the sky) from 1977 is located in the solarium of the great lake, it is a group of eucalyptus trunks which the author has turned and planted in the ground, thus leaving the roots at the top In this case, César Manrique’s intervention is more conceptual than technical since it is limited to the choice of material and its placement.
The sculpture Homenaje a Wilhelm Reich (Tribute to Wilhelm Reich) from 1977 is dedicated to the doctor, psychoanalyst and inventor of the same name, famous for his commitment to sexual liberation and postulator of the orgone theory in relation to the universal life force. It is, like Raíces al cielo, an upside-down trunk, this time thicker and stockier, with the roots exposed.
The sculptures are scattered throughout the Martiánez Leisure Complex, thus from west to east (from left to right we find) Los Alisios, La Jibia, Barlovento, Raíces al Cielo, Tribute to William Reich and Tribute to the sea.
In mid-December 2020, the daily Diario de Avisos published the discovery of an unpublished mural by César Manrique painted on the walls of an underground service corridor that connects Avenida de Colón with the Sala Andrómeda located in the largest of the islands of the great lake.
The newspaper points out that the mural was the result of improvisation, genius and the way of acting of the Lanzarote artist, who admired the solution devised by the engineers Amigó and Olcina to solve the access of staff and merchandise to the party room without That he had to walk through the solarium, he decided to give warmth to the narrow corridor with a large mural that seems unfinished because he is not painting in its entirety.
The mural is Manrique’s homage to “high engineering”, full of improvised mathematical formulas, recognizes the technical ingenuity of this particular English Channel devised by the couple of engineers.
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