Jaume Plensa

JAUME PLENSA (Barcelona, 1955).
“Frozen Memories: XIX to XXXVIII,” 1992.
Collage and mixed media on tracing paper mounted on cardboard.
Signed with a monogram and dated “P92” in the lower left corner.
Exhibited in the solo exhibition Jaume Plensa, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, 1992.
Bears a label on the reverse from Turske Hue-Williams Ltd., London, identifying the work and referencing the exhibition.
Measurements: 60 x 53 cm; 60.5 x 54.5 x 4 cm (frame).

Exhibited in 1992 at the solo exhibition that the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh dedicated to Jaume Plensa, this work belongs to the “Frozen Memories” series, one of the best-documented groups of his early 1990s production. The exhibition is listed in the artist’s official record, and works from this same series, bearing the identical reference numbers XIX through XXXVIII, are documented as having come from the same London exhibition and provenance.

Plensa incorporates everyday objects into previously treated translucent paper surfaces, giving the collage a physical presence that extends beyond the plane. In this piece, the small three-dimensional element situated in the center has hallmarks of fragility and luminosity, as well as imprints, glazes, and deliberate alterations to the material. Memory thus ceases to be conceived solely as an image and acquires a material dimension—an issue closely linked to his explorations during this period.

The significance of the series was reinforced shortly thereafter by a dedicated publication, *Jaume Plensa: Frozen Memories* (1992), published by Estudio Artizar in 1993 with text by José Carlos Cataño. The preservation of the label from Turske Hue-Williams Ltd., which was then in business on Old Bond Street, further attests to the work’s early circulation in Britain.

Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, Jaume Plensa gained increasing international recognition, combining sculpture, works on paper, and collage around concepts such as the body, memory, and material presence. In 1992, he held solo exhibitions at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh, the Galeria Carles Taché in Barcelona, and the Galleria Gentili in Florence; the following year, he was honored as a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in France. His career would later achieve widespread international recognition, culminating in Spain with the National Prize for Plastic Arts in 2012 and the Velázquez Prize in 2013. Her work is represented in institutions such as the Reina Sofía Museum, the MACBA, the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas, the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, and the Pérez Art Museum Miami.