Jaume Plensa: NEST

NEST JAUME PLENSA

NEST Jaume Plensa 29 October, 2021 - 23 December, 2021 Opening on Friday, October 29, 6-8pm

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION Galerie Lelong & Co., New York, is pleased to present our solo exhibition with Jaume Plensa, featuring new sculptures by the artist, including the debut of the new nest series, that explore the innovation of figurative forms in his depictions of contemporary portraiture. The exhibition coincides with the opening of two monumental public-facing commissions: Plensa’s tallest sculpture to-date, Water’s Soul, at Newport Pier Park, Jersey City, and UTOPIA, a lobby of white marble relief located in the new welcome center for the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Plensa is internationally recognized as one of today’s leading contemporary portrait artists; harnessing the power of this approach to convey our relationship to the world and each other by emphasizing our shared humanity through portraits of individuals. In the nest series, reliefs of contemplative or dreaming faces emerge from alabaster, bridging the classical precept that the sculpture is already contained in the stone with a contemporary use of photography in their production. Plensa is known for seeking out the perfect material and technology for each individual work. In addition to the alabaster sculptures, a grouping of monumental sculptures rendered in stainless steel and marble is also on view. The marble sculpture, MARIA WHISPERING (2021) is divided in layers with lead interspersed, another reference to classical sculpture and architecture. Of particular note is LAMIN (2021), a rare portrait of a young man, among Plensa’s models.

Plensa’s portraits reveal a reflective inner world through the models’ expressions—eyes closed and face at ease—a thread of inquiry the artist continues in new and recent works. Historically, the depiction of faces as a point of contemplation has a long lineage in Eastern and Western iconography, from Buddhism to Catholicism, where devotees are invited to gaze upon the face of a figure to reach an emotional understanding and epiphany. Plensa expands that enquiry to the everyday, memorializing the people we encounter in our daily lives to highlight our lived, universal connection. Underlining Plensa’s practice is an ongoing pursuit to evoke the beauty in simplicity, encouraging points of convergence for viewers of the work, which range from architectural landmarks bridging local communities to intimate sculptures. Plensa’s long career with public-facing artworks— seen all over the world from Seoul to Dubai—originates from his belief in the ability of art in public spaces to create inclusive, transformative experiences for a diverse and extensive audience. This exhibition coincides with the unveiling of two public-facing commissions and a solo museum exhibition. Opening October 21, the artist has been commissioned for a monumental white resin head sculpture, Water’s Soul, Plensa’s tallest public sculpture to date measuring at 80 feet, to be installed in Newport Pier Park, New Jersey right across from Downtown Manhattan. In November, Plensa’s largest indoor work to date, UTOPIA, will be opened to the public, a lobby of white marble relief located in the new welcome center for the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan. A solo exhibition of works by Plensa will also open at the Musée d’Art Moderne de Céret, France in November 2021. Recently, on September 29, a permanent sculptural commission, WE (2021), was unveiled at The Shard, London, UK, marking the artist’s first public-facing sculpture in the city.

FLORA (nest), 2021, Alabaster, 59.1 x 41.8 x 21.3 inches (150 x 106 x 54 cm), 998kg, GL15061

Alternate view: FLORA (nest), 2021

Detail view: FLORA (nest), 2021

LUCIA (nest), 2021, Alabaster, 57.5 x 40.2 x 20.5 inches (146 x 102 x 52 cm), 874 kg, GL15060

Alternate view: LUCIA (nest), 2021

HORTENSIA (nest), 2021, Alabaster 58.6 x 45.3 x 20.5 inches (149 x 115 x 52 cm), 1076 kg, GL15062

Alternate view: HORTENSIA (nest), 2021

HORTENSE IN SLUMBERLAND, 2021, Bronze, 11.8 x 8.6 x 7.8 inches (30 x 22 x 20 cm), 7kg Edition 5 of 11, GP2736

Alternate views: HORTENSE IN SLUMBERLAND, 2021

CARLA, 2020, Stainless steel, 120.8 x 30.8 x 55.1 inches (307 x 78 x 140 cm), 796 kg, GL15063

Detail views: CARLA, 2021

LARA, 2020, Stainless steel, 121.7 x 30.8 x 54 inchs (309 x 78 x 137 cm), 842 kg, GL15064

Detail views: LARA, 2021

MARIA WHISPERING, 2021, Marble, 99.6 x 33.5 x 44.8 inches (253 x 85 x 114 cm) 2489 kg, GL15065

Detail views: MARIA WHISPERING, 2021

LAMIN , 2021, Alabaster, 53.1 x 18.1 x 22.1 inches (135 x 46 x 56 cm), 374 kg, GL15067

Detail views: LAMIN, 2021

RECENT PUBLIC

WORKS

WATER’S SOUL, JERSEY CITY, USA NURIA, PHILADELPHIA, USA WE, THE SHARD, LONDON, UK

WATER’S SOUL

Water’s Soul, 2021, Alabaster, 80 feet (24.4 meters) Permanent installation at Newport Pier, Jersey City, New Jersey, USA

Aeriel view of Water’s Soul

Previous page: Water’s Soul as seen from Jersey City, NJ All images of Water’s Soul by Timothy Schenck; Courtesy Gray Chicago/New York Artwork © Jaume Plensa Studio

Water’s Soul, as seen from the Hudson River, New York

NURIA

Nuria, 2017, Stainless steel, 138 x 165 3/8 x 118 inches (350 x 420 x 300 cm) Permanent installation at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania, USA

Alternate views: NURIA, 2017

WE

WE, 2021, Stainless steel, Two pieces Permanent installation at The Shard, London, United Kingdom

Detail view of first piece (501 x 283 x 293 cm) of WE, 2021

All images of WE by Jonty Wilde; Courtesy The Shard

Detail view of second piece (325 x 230 x 224 cm) of WE, 2021

JAUME PLENSA Born 1955 in Barcelona, Spain; Lives and works in Barcelona, Spain Jaume Plensa creates sculptures and installations that unify individuals through connections of spirituality, the body, and collective memory. Literature, psychology, biology, language, and history have been key guiding elements throughout his career. Using a wide range of materials including steel, cast iron, resin, paraffin wax, glass, light, water, and sound, Plensa lends physical weight and volume to components of the human condition and the ephemeral.

All artwork and images © Jaume Plensa and Galerie Lelong & Co Design and production by Mycroft Zimmerman Writing by Grace Hong

528 West 26th Street New York, NY 10001

212.315.0470 art@galerielelong.com

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