Jaume Plensa

JAUME PLENSA (Barcelona, 1955).
Untitled, 2003.
Mixed media on paper.
The reverse side features information labels from the LLucià Homs Gallery (Barcelona) and the Nicholas Gallery (Ireland)
Signed and dated in pencil.
Measurements: 41 x 27 cm; 57.5 x 44.5 cm (frame).
This work belongs to Jaume Plensa’s body of work on paper from the early 2000s, a period in which the artist explored the relationship between the body, matter, language, and space, translating some of the concerns he was simultaneously developing in his sculptural work into the small format on paper.
The composition consists of three organic forms created through accumulations of white silicone, which physically protrude from the surface of the paper. Small colored elements appear within them, introducing a corporeal and almost anatomical dimension. The use of silicone transforms the drawing into an object with a physical presence, establishing a direct relationship between painting, relief, and sculpture. This work can be linked to *Heure*, 2003, and *Self-portrait II*, 2003, both of which are listed in Jaume Plensa’s catalog of works. The three pieces belong to the same creative period and share an exploration of the representation of the body through reduced, elemental forms devoid of conventional anatomical detail. The white of the silicone blends with that of the paper, making the forms appear to emerge from the surface, while the small chromatic elements introduce points of visual tension. This formal and material economy is characteristic of Plensa’s exploration of the body and perception during this period.
Jaume Plensa is one of the Spanish artists with the greatest international prominence in recent decades. He trained at the Escola de la Llotja and later at the Escola Superior de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi in Barcelona. Since the 1980s, Plensa has lived and worked in Berlin, Brussels, England, France, and the United States, as well as in Barcelona. He has also been actively involved in teaching: he was a professor at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris and has regularly served as a visiting professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Notable among his institutional exhibitions are those held at the Fundació Joan Miró, the Musée du Jeu de Paume in Paris, the Museo Reina Sofía, the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas, the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, and the MACBA.His major awards include the National Prize for Visual Arts of Catalonia, the National Prize for Visual Arts of Spain (2012), the Velázquez Prize for the Visual Arts (2013), and the Gold Medal for Merit in the Fine Arts (2021).
His work is included in major international collections, including those of the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid, MoMA in New York, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, the Art Institute of Chicago, and MACBA in Barcelona.