Añate Street It has a steep climb. Especially at the end of it when it forks into two. There are only about 400 meters in which most of the public buildings of La Victoria de Acentejo are concentrated: the Casa de la Chestnut and Pottery, the Municipal Library, the Sports Pavilion, the socio-sanitary residence, the Nursery School, the Terrero de Lucha Canaria and the health center. But it is also a kind of blank canvas on which the sculptor Julio Nieto has captured several works commissioned by the City Council, making it the municipality in Spain with the largest number of creations by this artist, close to a dozen.
The first piece that the City Council bought was the door of the Senior Day Center, exactly 20 years ago. From that moment on, and beyond the political color of the different governments, there was a kind of “falling in love” with the work of the Biscayan artist that took shape little by little with the aim of providing aesthetic solutions in municipal buildings that took shape in different doors and some sculptures to which it is impossible to remain indifferent.
In this process, there are some more artistic works and others that have more content behind them. An example is the closure of the Santo Domingo cultural center, in which two hands “of a supposed saint” are closed but when they open they invite people to enter. “They come to say that something is going to happen there today. The game there was one of the most fun,” recalls an artist who, above all things, enjoys his work.
His intervention in the municipal cemetery also captures the attention of those people who do not know that the cemetery has a strategic location in the town, between the street above and the one that connects with the Town Hall, and therefore, it turns out to be a very frequented by local residents.
In this case, Julio Nieto started from another perspective, one that reflects that visiting a cemetery does not have to be sad and therefore, there can be a beauty there that breaks with this feeling. And in fact there is, not only because of the colored angel that watches over the door but because of the “natural way that the neighbors cross it because it is practical, not because they are going to visit their deceased relatives, but because there are people who walk by there.” while he talks about his things,” he says.
That’s why he decided to use colors, whose light filters through the glass, an idea that caught on very well at that time, far from the gloomy image of a cemetery, and that combines with the railings that protect the ramps, also created by him.
These artistic solutions are interspersed with her sculptures, among which is Evolution, a metal woman, empowered, with her chest forward, which stands out in the Plaza de La Castaña, between the municipal pavilion and the calisthenics park. The same goes for a large fig leaf located on Vista Alegre Street. It is the last piece that the City Council acquired and it pays tribute to the municipality’s wine-growing identity, while at the same time it serves as a container for storing plastic caps.
The idea of the government group is to design an open exhibition of the artist’s works, which are part of the heritage treasure of La Victoria, and at the same time these serve to disseminate the riches that the municipality has “which are unique and exclusive.” Thus, through a QR code that can be scanned with the mobile phone, people will be able to discover what inspired them in each work, the materials used and the year in which it was created, confirms the mayor, Juan Antonio García Abreu.
Nieto is delighted with a proposal that is consistent with his philosophy of art, which is to share it, although this is not always possible through traditional channels such as museums or galleries. “The works are there, in the street, people walk and see them. It can be organized so that it reaches more people, but the truth is that the exhibition is a reality,” he declares.
“We live in a time in which we make everything visible, from internal thoughts, points of view, feelings and artistic expressions, and organizing a kind of route that allows you to discover a series of things in a municipality is a fantastic initiative,” Julio Nieto emphasizes.
However, the municipal government intends to expand this route and submitted a project to the Tenerife Cabildo to obtain financing. At the same time, he is working together with the sculptor on two new proposals, another door on Añate Street, and a sculpture that will be in the upper part of the municipality.
Just as he has always done, Julio Nieto is dedicated to giving shape to these two commissions that will surely be made of steel and metal, two materials with which he makes almost all of his sculptures because they are more resistant. And while he does it he has fun and enjoys a job that he is passionate about and whose results are visible to everyone.
