The title of the exhibition anticipates the personal reflection, silence and contemplation to which the viewer is invited. The frenetic pace of the day and the visual overstimulation of the screens often deprive us of this much-needed and little-practiced exercise of introspection. Jaume Plensa, artist and sculptor of Catalan origin, closes the eyes of his sculptures to open the door to a personal inner path; towards a meeting
Considered one of the most recognized sculptors on the current artistic scene, he is inaugurating, after more than two decades, his monographic exhibition at the Telefónica Foundation. The exhibition hosts a total of 15 pieces, taking a tour of the artist's career, from the nineties to the present day.
This exhibition, as a whole, is an itinerary through the conceptual universe on which Plensa's work is articulated. His abstract and figurative representations appeal to recurring themes in his artistic career, such as silence, contemplation, ephemerality, identity or language.
'Invisibles' (2016) i 'Who are you? I-VIII' (2016)
For Plensa, the true materials of his sculptures are ideas. His work could be analyzed from a philosophical point of view, as it invites everyone who contemplates it to ask questions about the human condition. 'Who are you? I - VIII' refers to that noise of hyperactivity that deprives the human being of finding the meaning of his existence; a recurring theme that contemporary philosophers, such as Byung-Chul Han, reflect on. Through the beauty and harmony of 'Rui Rui's Words' and 'María', silence is appealed to as a fundamental condition for achieving contemplation.
In general, the works are distributed in individual spaces where the viewer can delve into the discourse they propose. All the pieces invite the immersion of the visitor, although, without a doubt, the most outstanding in this sense is 'Il suono del sangue parla la stessa lingua'. With this work - composed of light, smoke and sound - reference is made to the importance of language as a vehicle of connection between human beings. For Plensa, another fundamental theme of his work is the feeling of community. In 'Silence', he invites reflection on human identity based on the recognition of the individual as part of a whole.
In the exhibition, only part of Jaume Plensa's career is perceived, since the true aesthetic experience comes from the monumentality that characterizes him so much. 'Water's Soul' in New Jersey; 'Julia' in Plaza de Colón in Madrid; 'Awilda' in Rio de Janeiro; these are some examples of visual poetry that—outside the "decontextualizing" white cube—generates a harmonious dialogue with the environment in which it is inserted. However, Pedro Ballesteros' documentary ¿Puedes oírme? (2020), at the beginning of the exhibition, care is taken to show the creative process of Plensa's monumental sculpture, which cannot be shown in the room.
For those who do not know Jaume Plensa's career, this exhibition, available from Thursday 17 October to 4 May, is a perfect opportunity to learn about the conceptual universe that articulates his work. However, I invite all those who go there to visit the urban spaces enriched by the artist's monumental sculpture.
'María (2018)'
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