Jaume Plensa
Encyclopedia
Jaime Plensa is an Spanish artist
and sculptor.
. Plensa studied art in his home city, in the "Llotja" School and in the Escuela Superior de Bellas Artes de San Jorge.
His works include the Crown Fountain
at Millennium Park
in Chicago, Illinois in the United States
. It opened in July 2004. The fountain is composed of a black granite
reflecting pool
placed between a pair of glass brick
towers. The towers are 50 feet (15.2 m) tall, and they use light-emitting diode
s (LEDs) to display digital videos on the inward faces.
Another work is Blake in Gateshead, in North East England
, a laser beam that on special occasions shines high into the night sky over Gateshead
's Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art
. In the summer of 2007 he participated in the Chicago
Public Art
exhibit, Cool Globes: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet
.
In 2007, working closely with a group of local ex-miners, he was also commissioned to create a new work on the landmark site of a former colliery near St Helens, Merseyside
, as part of the Big Art Project, a major national public art
initiative linked to Channel 4
.
Unveiled in spring 2009, the Dream
consists of an elongated white structure 20 metres (66 ft) tall, weighing 500 tons, which has been carved to resemble the head and neck of a young woman with her eyes closed in meditation
. The structure is coated in sparkling white Spanish dolomite
, as a contrast to the coal which used to be mined there.http://ronniesoo.com/photography-art/dream/
On 16 June 2008 Jaime's sculpture of a listening glass entitled Breathing
was dedicated by the incumbent Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon
, as a memorial to journalists killed whilst undertaking their work. The sculpture in steel and glass sits atop a new wing of Broadcasting House
in London. At 22:00 GMT each evening a beam of light will be projected from the sculpture extending 1 km into the sky for 30 minutes to coincide with the BBC News at Ten.
El alma del Ebro (see photo) was created for the International Exposition in Zaragoza
, the theme of which was "Water and Sustainable Development". It is eleven meters high, the sculpted letters representing cells of the human body which is over 60% water. Its white letters and hollow structure invite the view to look inside and reflect on the relationship between human beings and water.
From May to mid-August 2011 the work Echo is being displayed in Madison Square Park.
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
and sculptor.
Biography
Plensa was born at BarcelonaBarcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
. Plensa studied art in his home city, in the "Llotja" School and in the Escuela Superior de Bellas Artes de San Jorge.
His works include the Crown Fountain
Crown Fountain
Crown Fountain is an interactive work of public art and video sculpture featured in Chicago's Millennium Park, which is located in the Loop community area. Designed by Catalan artist Jaume Plensa and executed by Krueck and Sexton Architects, it opened in July 2004. The fountain is composed of a...
at Millennium Park
Millennium Park
Millennium Park is a public park located in the Loop community area of Chicago in Illinois, USA and originally intended to celebrate the millennium. It is a prominent civic center near the city's Lake Michigan shoreline that covers a section of northwestern Grant Park. The area was previously...
in Chicago, Illinois in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It opened in July 2004. The fountain is composed of a black granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
reflecting pool
Reflecting pool
A reflecting pool or reflection pool is a water feature found in gardens, parks, and at memorial sites. It usually consists of a shallow pool of water, undisturbed by fountain jets, for a calm reflective...
placed between a pair of glass brick
Glass brick
Glass brick, also known as glass block, is an architectural element made from glass. Glass bricks provide visual obscuration while admitting light...
towers. The towers are 50 feet (15.2 m) tall, and they use light-emitting diode
Light-emitting diode
A light-emitting diode is a semiconductor light source. LEDs are used as indicator lamps in many devices and are increasingly used for other lighting...
s (LEDs) to display digital videos on the inward faces.
Another work is Blake in Gateshead, in North East England
North East England
North East England is one of the nine official regions of England. It covers Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear, and Teesside . The only cities in the region are Durham, Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland...
, a laser beam that on special occasions shines high into the night sky over Gateshead
Gateshead
Gateshead is a town in Tyne and Wear, England and is the main settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead. Historically a part of County Durham, it lies on the southern bank of the River Tyne opposite Newcastle upon Tyne and together they form the urban core of Tyneside...
's Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art
BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art
The Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art is an international centre for contemporary art located on the south bank of the River Tyne alongside the Gateshead Millennium Bridge in Gateshead, North East England, United Kingdom...
. In the summer of 2007 he participated in the Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
Public Art
Public art
The term public art properly refers to works of art in any media that have been planned and executed with the specific intention of being sited or staged in the physical public domain, usually outside and accessible to all...
exhibit, Cool Globes: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet
Cool Globes: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet
Cool Globes: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet is a public art project dedicated to increasing awareness of global warming.A nonprofit corporation, "Cool Globes: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet" sponsored a Chicago public art exhibit of 125 globes decorated with solutions to global warming, placed in...
.
In 2007, working closely with a group of local ex-miners, he was also commissioned to create a new work on the landmark site of a former colliery near St Helens, Merseyside
St Helens, Merseyside
St Helens is a large town in Merseyside, England. It is the largest settlement and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens with a population of just over 100,000, part of an urban area with a total population of 176,843 at the time of the 2001 Census...
, as part of the Big Art Project, a major national public art
Public art
The term public art properly refers to works of art in any media that have been planned and executed with the specific intention of being sited or staged in the physical public domain, usually outside and accessible to all...
initiative linked to Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
.
Unveiled in spring 2009, the Dream
Dream (sculpture)
Dream is a sculpture and a piece of public art by Jaume Plensa in Sutton, St Helens, Merseyside. Costing approximately £1.8m the funds were secured through The Big Art Project in coordination with the Arts Council England, The Art Fund and Channel 4....
consists of an elongated white structure 20 metres (66 ft) tall, weighing 500 tons, which has been carved to resemble the head and neck of a young woman with her eyes closed in meditation
Meditation
Meditation is any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit....
. The structure is coated in sparkling white Spanish dolomite
Dolomite
Dolomite is a carbonate mineral composed of calcium magnesium carbonate CaMg2. The term is also used to describe the sedimentary carbonate rock dolostone....
, as a contrast to the coal which used to be mined there.http://ronniesoo.com/photography-art/dream/
On 16 June 2008 Jaime's sculpture of a listening glass entitled Breathing
Breathing (memorial sculpture)
Breathing is the name of a memorial sculpture situated on the roof of the Egton Wing of BBC Broadcasting House, in London. The sculpture commemorates journalists and associated staff who have been killed whilst carrying out their work as war correspondents for the BBC...
was dedicated by the incumbent Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon
Ban Ki-moon
Ban Ki-moon is the eighth and current Secretary-General of the United Nations, after succeeding Kofi Annan in 2007. Before going on to be Secretary-General, Ban was a career diplomat in South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the United Nations. He entered diplomatic service the year he...
, as a memorial to journalists killed whilst undertaking their work. The sculpture in steel and glass sits atop a new wing of Broadcasting House
Broadcasting House
Broadcasting House is the headquarters and registered office of the BBC in Portland Place and Langham Place, London.The building includes the BBC Radio Theatre from where music and speech programmes are recorded in front of a studio audience...
in London. At 22:00 GMT each evening a beam of light will be projected from the sculpture extending 1 km into the sky for 30 minutes to coincide with the BBC News at Ten.
El alma del Ebro (see photo) was created for the International Exposition in Zaragoza
Zaragoza
Zaragoza , also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain...
, the theme of which was "Water and Sustainable Development". It is eleven meters high, the sculpted letters representing cells of the human body which is over 60% water. Its white letters and hollow structure invite the view to look inside and reflect on the relationship between human beings and water.
From May to mid-August 2011 the work Echo is being displayed in Madison Square Park.
Awards
- 1993: Medaille des Chevaliers des Arts et LettresOrdre des Arts et des LettresThe Ordre des Arts et des Lettres is an Order of France, established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture, and confirmed as part of the Ordre national du Mérite by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963...
by the French Minister of CultureMinister of Culture (France)The Minister of Culture is, in the Government of France, the cabinet member in charge of national museums and monuments; promoting and protecting the arts in France and abroad; and managing the national archives and regional "maisons de culture"...
. - 1996: Awarded by the Fondation Atelier Calder
- 1997: National Award of Arts by the Government of CataloniaGeneralitat de CatalunyaThe Generalitat of Catalonia is the institution under which the autonomous community of Catalonia is politically organised. It consists of the Parliament, the President of the Generalitat of Catalonia and the Government of Catalonia....
.
External links
- Galerie Lelong, Paris
- More about Jaime Plensa and the St.Helens Big Art Project
- Richard Gray Gallery
- Jaime Plensa resumé
- Jaime Plensa and the Big Art Project
- A radio programme about Jaime Plensa, his sculpture "House of Knowledge" and his visit to Russia (in Russian)
- "Sho" by Jaime Plensa - Meadows Museum - Dallas, Texas | Clouds 365 Project