Gran Canaria for 
Art
Architecture
Most of the monuments that you can see in Gran Canaria date from the period after the conquest, although it has been possible to preserve certain archaeological sites that relate to the earlier inhabitants of the island.
The Gothic architectural style was the first to be introduced into Gran Canaria (in the 15th century), the cathedral of Santa Ana in the capital being an example of the style in question. Gothic-Mudéjar influences can also be found in constructions that date from the 16th century, such as in the church of San Juan Bautista in Telde. The 17th and 18th centuries represented the golden age of the Baroque period, which was also marked by Mudéjar influences. The churches of Santo Domingo and San Telmo in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria are examples of this style.
The island’s architecture shows the breath of fresh air blown in by the 19th century, courtesy of bourgeois free thinking and the aristocracy. This is clearly shown on what today is the Gabinete Literario in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Modernism was implanted with the arrival of the 20th century. This style gave way to Rationalism in the 1930s when the architect Miguel Martín Fernández de la Torre transformed the city, with works such as the Cabildo Insular façade or the Parador at Tejeda. The end of the 20th century brought new modern projects to the island such as the interior of the Atlantic Modern Art Centre by Sáenz de Oiza, the Alfredo Kraus Auditorium by Óscar Tusquets or the Woermann tower by Iñaki Ábalos and Juan Herreros. They became the new icons of the island’s ever changing capital.
Sculpture
The church of San Juan in Telde is one of the major points of reference when in comes to analysing sculpture in Gran Canaria between the 16th and 18th centuries. Some of these sculptures can be found outdoors such as the crucifix (Crucificado), which was sculptured in Mexico or the carved altarpiece both of which are housed in the basilica of the aforementioned municipality of Gran Canaria.
In the era influenced by the Baroque movement, importations from the Indies prevailed. José Luján Pérez (1756-1815) lent his name to the school of the same name (1918), which produced great authors of this century and which gave rise to Canarian identity. From this trend were born terms such as Indigenismo (indigenous movement), used by Felo Monzón who was later to become the school’s greatest ideological exponent.
The figures based on abstract concepts, which were carefully elaborated with scrap iron and industrial scrap by Tony Gallardo, opened a new stage in the decade of the sixties in the 20th century, an era that precedes contemporary creators such as Martín Chirino, who replaced abstract art with public sculpture and who created the Lady Harimaguada in the capital city of Gran Canaria.
Painting
The acquisition of Flemish pieces was popular in the 15th and 18th centuries and these can now be admired in the shrine of Las Nieves in Agaete or in the church of San Juan Bautista in Arucas where the Virgin of Guadalupe can be found.
In the 19th century, Manuel Ponce de León was an important figure as was Néstor de la Torre (1887-1938) at the beginning of the 20th century. De la Torre was the island’s best exponent of island symbolism, which he captured in his work, Poema del Atlántico (Poem of The Atlantic). The museum named after him was officially opened in 1956.
In the early decades of the century, many Canarian creators such as Nicolás Massieu y Matos followed the path of the previous century. The Luján Pérez school produced important artists like Jorge Oramas, Santiago Santana and the aforementioned Felo Monzón, who participated with Lola Massieu in the foundation of the Ladac group.
Well into the decade of the seventies a wide range of artists emerged that were influenced by the new art with American abstraction, eclecticism and figuration with performances and the use of different materials.
