Jaume Plensa
Laura, 2012
Marble, lead, stainless steel
20 x 6 x 8 feet (6 x 1.8 x 2.4 m)
Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York
Jaume Plensa
The Poets in Bordeaux (Body Soul God, Country, Water Fire), 2012
Resin and stainless steel
26.25 x 5 x 4.3 feet (8 x 1.5 x 1.3 m) each
Installation view: Bordeaux, France, 2013
Jaume Plensa
Laura, Paula, Inés, 2013
Cast iron
Height: 23 feet (7 m)
Installation view: Millennium Park, Chicago, Illinois, 2014
Jaume Plensa
Looking Into My Dreams, Awilda, 2012
Fiberglass with marble dust
39.4 x 14.3 x 11.5 feet (12 x 4.4 x 3.5 m)
Installation view: Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2012
Jaume Plensa
Spiegel, 2010
Painted stainless steel
12.4 x 7.7 x 8 feet (4 x 2.4 x 2.5 m) each
Collection Toldeo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio
Installation view: Yorkshire Sculpture Park, West Bretton, England, 2011
Jaume Plensa
Spiegel, 2010
Alternate view
Jaume Plensa
Ogijima's Soul, 2010
Site-specific permanent installation: Ogijima, Seto Inland Sea, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan
Jaume Plensa
Dream, 2009
Concrete and Spanish Dolomite
Height: 65.6 feet (20m)
Site-specific permanent installation: Sutton Manors, St. Helens, Liverpool, United Kingdom
Commissioned by: St. Helens Council/Liverpool Biennial for Contemporary Art United Kingdom
Jaume Plensa
Conversation à Nice, 2007
Site-specific installation: Place Masséna, Nice, France
Commissioned by: Commuanuté d'Agglomération Nice Côte d'Azur, Nice, France
Jaume Plensa
The Crown Fountain, 2004
Glass, stainless steel, LED screens, light, wood, black granite and water
Height: 52.5 feet (16 m)
Site-specific permanent installation: Millennium Park, Chicago, Illinois
Jaume Plensa is internationally recognized as one of today’s leading contemporary portrait artists. Over the past 35 years, he has created sculptures and installations that unify individuals through connections of spirituality, the body, and collective memory. Literature, psychology, biology, language, and history have been key guiding elements throughout his career. Using a wide range of materials including steel, cast iron, resin, paraffin wax, glass, light, water, and sound, Plensa lends physical weight and volume to components of the human condition and the ephemeral.
Underlining Plensa’s practice is an ongoing pursuit to evoke the beauty in simplicity, encouraging points of convergence for viewers of the work, which range from architectural landmarks bridging local communities to intimate sculptures. Plensa’s long career with public-facing artworks—seen all over the world from Seoul to Dubai—originates from his belief in the ability of art in public spaces to create inclusive, transformative experiences for a diverse and extensive audience.
The artist’s celebrated works can be seen at The Shard, London, UK; Newport Pier Park, Jersey City, New Jersey; Hudson Yards, New York City; Bonaventure Gateway, Montreal, Canada; Millennium Park, Chicago, Illinois; Olympic Sculpture Park, Washington; Burj Khalifa, United Arab
Emirates; BBC Broadcasting Tower and St. Helens, England; Pearson International Airport, Canada; Daikanyama, Toranomon Hills, and Ogijima Japan; Shanghai IFC Mall, China; Albright Knox Art Gallery, New York; Rice University, Texas; Bastion Saint-Jaume, France; Raoul Wallenberg Square, Sweden; Pérez Art Museum Miami, Florida; among many other sites worldwide.
Solo museum exhibitions have been held at Musée d'Art Moderne de Céret, France; Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Russia; MACBA–Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona, Spain; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain; Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, Texas; Musée Picasso, France; Yorkshire Sculpture Park, England; and the Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Finland. Jaume Plensa: Together was presented at the Basilica San Giorgio Maggiore in Italy as a collateral event of the 56th Venice Biennale. The artist was honored at the Hirshhorn New York Gala in 2019 and received the Velázquez Prize for Plastic Arts from the Ministry of Education and Culture, Madrid, Spain, in 2013, among other accolades. A documentary feature of the artist’s life and work Jaume Plensa: Can You Hear Me? was released in 2020.
The artist was born in Barcelona, Spain in 1955, where he currently lives and works.
Musée Picasso
Antibes, France
June 10 – September 25, 2022
Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Wakefield, UK
June 18 – October 30, 2022
Parrish Art Museum
Water Mill, New York
On view through November 30, 2021
by Hilarie M. Sheets
by Carol Kino
by Emma Crichton-Miller