Belen Picornell

Updated Saturday, February 17, 2024-15:18

  • Royal House The sculptures of the King and Queen that decorate the gardens of Zarzuela

  • Queen Letizia's family shows one of the unknown corners of the Zarzuela palace

Not much has been revealed about the creator of the sculptures that reside in the gardens of the Zarzuela Palace:

Lolo Garner

is from Mallorca and works with steel. But this is actually just his pseudonym. His real name is

Manuel Granero

and since 1992 he has been the manager of the company Noise Kontrol, dedicated to soundproofing premises and

located in the municipality of Calvia

(Balearic Islands). He intercuts both versions of himself.

The figures that have made him famous this week date back to 2021, when it all began.

The first was that of the King, 2.20 meters high, 2 meters wide and weighing 400 kilos. "I wanted to make a relevant work that

was fresh and with a different perspective

," he explained at the time. Garden did not hesitate to give it to

Felipe VI

. It was not the first time that the kings knew of his existence: he is one of the artists invited every summer to the reception of the Royal Household at the Marivent Palace, according to

Diario de Mallorca

.

The figure of King Felipe in ZarzuelaGtres

Initially, the figure of the King passed into the hands of National Heritage, as the usual protocol governs. The place they chose for the figure was

the gardens of the Zarzuela Palace

, next to the mast where the Spanish flag is, the landscape where official photos are usually taken. It was these images that revealed the presence of a new sculpture: that of

Queen Letizia

. When the son of the kings Juan Carlos and Sofía came out from presiding over an audience with the new officials of the Superior Corps of Commercial Technicians and State Economists,

he went to perform the required posing

and the photographers realized that the figure of the King was already I was accompanied.

The sculpture of Queen LetiziaGtres

Letizia's face in steel format was delivered last August, before the

King's Cup trophy ceremony at the Club Náutico de Mallorca

. According to the magazine ¡Hola! the artist wanted to joke with the King. "Your Majesty, the sculpture of his wife suited me better and I think she has surpassed yours." To which the Monarch replied:

"It is more interesting to both of us that you like it

. "

He himself highlights that his works change depending on how you look at them, that there are even four ways to look at them. "From within the work and becoming part of it."

'BURNING MAN'

He defines himself as

a tech sculptor

and in his few public interviews he wants to highlight his intention:

he creates, literally, for the love of art

. In the specialized magazine

Sped In

he revealed that his works are donated to different spaces, organizations or individuals. "I could mass produce pieces and repeat commercial pieces if I wanted, but they would be worthless," he explained. The only ones who benefit from his signature are not the Monarchs,

he has also donated one of his works to

Pope Francis

, through Father Ángel. He also decorated Burning Man last year, one of the most explosive electronic music festivals that did not stop playing on television the day Iñigo Onieva's infidelity to Tamara Falcó was discovered, it was his crime scene.

In this annual seven-day event in a territory of Nevada "that has no government nor is it a municipality," Garner placed a large turtle installation in collaboration with another creator,

the North American Abram Santa Cruz

. He titled it

Sea Souls

, as a manifesto for the protection of oceans that are deteriorating due to human action, a nod to what his land suffers. He takes into account that his figures are as free as they can be. "What I like most about working with steel is that it is a material that evolves a lot. To ensure

that this evolution is natural and free

, I do not use any finish or treatment for my sculptures. The oxidation of this steel itself gives a lot of character to the sculptures. works," Garner said in

Sped In

.

See this post on Instagram

In October of last year, the Mallorcan went to the Chinese city of Xi'an, declared a world historic city by UNESCO,

invited by the government's Ministry of Culture

, as the Spanish representative at the Silk Road International Art Festival world exhibition. He traveled to China with some Asian businessmen from Mallorca. According to the Círculo de Bellas Artes de Mallorca, he "does not rule out carrying out an action in East Asia."

Although in the art world, as LOC has learned from specialized sources, Lolo Garner -Manuel Granero-

is not very well known beyond Mallorca

. On his Instagram profile he has 1,798 followers.