Work collected in: Castro Cabero, Marina. Benjamín Menéndez: a vital artist. Avilés: CEAG, 2022.

The work Avilés by the artist Benjamín Menéndez (Avilés, 1963) is located on Paseo de la Ría on Avenida Conde de Guadalhorce. It is one of the largest works in Asturias and has become one of the icons of the city of Avilés because it manages to unite and tell visitors and citizens the history of the town.

The piece is made up of three Corten steel cones about 30 meters high that rest on a concrete base that enhances the piece, superimposing it on top of the promenade to dignify it and create a new space that does not invade that of pedestrians, but rather that coexists and manages to produce a sensation of a place of coexistence and rest. The cones have a different inclination, like their orientation, they point to the elements that constituted the town: the sea, the historic center and industry. Its monumental size makes an impact, but it does not give the sensation of usurpation of our environment, quite the contrary, the sculpture generates a new landscape, a new image that helps to give this space, previously without identity and without life.

Another of the key points to understand the importance of this work is the medium that has been used to express itself. The material itself speaks of the city itself and of the industry – metallurgy so important for the city of Avilés. The work, due to its large dimensions, is made in the facilities of the old ENSIDESA, by factory workers, in this way, the piece was already interspersed in society because it had been made by their own "countrymen" involving the whole citizenship as part of their being.

Benjamín once again uses a minimalist language of pure and straight geometric shapes, in this way, the work stands in space and achieves a union of earth and sky, but also participates in the environment in which it has been installed, rivaling the cranes and blast furnaces that are located on the other side of the estuary.

The cone shape is used by the artist from Aviles in different ways, always attending to the discourse in which the work is to be framed. This form usually appears in his art linked to a speech in defense of industrial heritage, since through these cones he recreates the landscapes of chimneys so present during his childhood and early youth. In the case of the 2005 work, the cones take over the environment so as not to lose the memory of the place, but at the same time the straight and perfect shapes create a dialogue with the future, with the new city and the new citizens.

Avilés It manages to gather all the points of a good public sculpture, in addition, it achieves the objectives that had been set at the time of its realization, which was to create a new image for the town. An image that draws on its context and the social and industrial history of the city and summarizes it in these three corten steel cones that rise above the estuary, transmitting values ​​of belonging to the place and identity for the citizens who had been dispossessed. of his story.

Menéndez, Benjamín. Avilés. Imprastur, 2005.

Castro Cabero, Marina. Benjamín Menéndez: a vital artist. Avilés: CEAG, 2022.