Jaume Plensa

JAUME PLENSA (Barcelona, 1955)
"Freud's children", 2002.
Mixed media on paper.
Signed.
Provenance: Galerie Alice Pauli, Lausanne.
Measurements: 58 x 41 cm; 66 x 49 cm (frame).

This work by Jaume Plensa is a delicate work on paper that explores themes of psychology, language and the human condition through an ethereal and almost spectral aesthetic. On a translucent paper background, which presents subtle stains and glazes, Plensa distributes several textual elements and a central organic form. At the top, the word "Freud's" and at the bottom, "children", are written in cursive calligraphy. These words stand out for their materiality; they seem to be created with a material adhered to the paper and heat-treated. This process leaves a dark outline, and an embossed texture that contrasts with the delicacy of the support. Between the two main words, other texts ("heart" and "mental") appear in a pale, almost faded tone. Their legibility is reduced, suggesting thoughts, memories or concepts that are less defined or are in the subconscious. In the center of the work, we find an oval shape reminiscent of a cloud, a brain or a cell. It is outlined with the same glazing technique as the main words, while its interior contains a network of finer and more chaotic lines, evoking the complexity of thought or the structure of the mind. The use of such delicate paper and the evanescent appearance of some words allude to the fragile and ephemeral nature of memory and thoughts. What we remember clearly (the dark words) contrasts with what fades or remains latent (the pale words).

Jaume Plensa studied at the Escuela de La Llotja and the Superior de Bellas Artes de Sant Jordi, both in Barcelona. He excelled in sculpture, drawing and engraving. His work focuses on the relationship between man and his environment, often questioning the role of art in society and the position of the artist. He currently lives in Paris, and has recently been awarded an honorary doctorate degree by the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Plensa began his career working with wrought iron mixed with polyester. Between 1983 and 1984 he began to mold iron with the casting technique, and developed a sculptural concept based on zoomorphic elements. His work evolved gradually, and he is now considered a precursor of Spanish neo-expressionism. In the nineties he introduced modifications in his work, both materially and formally, and began to use different materials such as scrap metal, polyester and resins. During these years he elaborated series of walls, doors and architectural constructions, seeking to give space an absolute protagonism. Between 1999 and 2003 Plensa became one of the pillars of world scenography, reinterpreting with "La Fura dels Baus" four classical operas by Falla, Debussy, Berlioz and Mozart, and alone a contemporary theatrical production, "La pareti della solitudine", by Ben Jelloun. He has had solo and group exhibitions all over the world, including a retrospective at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in 2000. In June 2008 he inaugurated in London, at the BBC headquarters, his work "Breathing", a monument dedicated to journalists killed in the exercise of their profession. Throughout his career he has received numerous distinctions, such as the Medal of the Knights of Arts and Letters in 1993, awarded by the French Ministry of Culture, or the National Prize for Plastic Arts in 1997, from the Generalitat of Catalonia. Considered one of the leading representatives of the new Spanish art of expressionist tendency, his work is present in the best national and international galleries and art fairs, as well as in the main museums of Europe and the United States, such as the MOMA in New York, the Kemper in Kansas, the Museo Patio Herreriano in Valladolid, the Palazzo Forti in Verona, the MACBA or the Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid.