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His artistic narrative

His work made an impact on the other side of the pond thanks to his interactive video sculpture «Crown Fountain», located in Chicago’s Millennium Park. This production managed to catapult his international fame, a clear example being the large number of Plensa‘s works housed in institutions and countries around the world such as «Endless» at the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art (USA), «Wonderland» in Calgary (Canada) or «Nomade» in Antibes (France). His sculptures and public art installations, for which he is mostly known, always invite to silent contemplation, to connect with spirituality, with the body and with the collective memory. His pieces incite deep reflection and establish a necessary dialogue between the individual and his critical spirit, in order to make visible social issues such as the violation of human rights, oppression, inequalities or injustices.

To convey all this narrative based on awareness, a common point that connects all his projects is the monumentality that surrounds all his works. Not only when talking about their dimensions, but rather when trying to understand the reason for this grandeur that makes us feel part of the social struggle. His faces with closed eyes, his sculptures of pensive bodies or his installations composed with letters of various alphabets, are the proof of a humanity that must activate the five senses, meditate on the context that surrounds it and dissolve borders to unite in the same language: that of harmony and peace.

Prizes and awards

For all these reasons, it is not strange to think that Jaume Plensa has been awarded on several occasions, both for his artistic and social work. Here in Spain he has been awarded nothing more and nothing less than the Premi Nacional d’Arts Plàstiques de la Generalitat de Catalunya (1997), the Premio Nacional de Artes Plásticas de España (2012) or the Medalla de Oro al Mérito en las Bellas Artes del Ministerio de Cultura (2021), along with other personalities from the art world such as the actor Javier Bardem or the musical group Amaral. However, in this blog we want to celebrate and congratulate Jaume Plensa on receiving his fourth honorary degree, this time from the University of Notre-Dame (Indiana, USA). Other doctorates Plensa has been awarded by the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2005), the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (2018) and the Universidad Internacional Méndez Pelayo (2022).

From Galeria SENDA we want to give a warm applause to this Catalan artist who has managed to break boundaries and expose an art designed to be shown to the world. So that his works continue to impact the lives of many people and urban scenarios in all countries of the world. So that the narratives of his projects and the impact they have on our society continue to be awarded.

The doors that the Catalan artist Jaume Plensa has designed for the entrance of the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona in homage to music, Antoni Gaudí, Joan Miró and the “diversity” of Las Ramblas in Barcelona, join the celebration of the 175th anniversary of the inauguration of the Liceu.

Plensa said that with the lobby doors he wanted to pay homage to Gaudí’s grilles and Miró’s constellations, which is why he has named them “Constel·lacions“, as well as to the “artery of diversity” of Barcelona, which for him is Las Ramblas. “Constel·lacions” will be installed in the three arcades of the main entrance of the theater and will be integrated without affecting other elements previously incorporated into the facade of Oriol Mestres of 1874 and recovered in 2019.

Photograph of the facade of the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona

Jaume Plensa’s doors to be incorporated at the entrance of the Liceu

Plensa stressed that the doors are a conglomerate of letters that grow, with the color of moonlight, and remarked that humanity is marked by language, and therefore, in his creation, he wanted to show “alphabets of many cultures“.

“You already know my world of texts and alphabets. I like to mix different cultures because I think we are very good when we are together, keeping our individuality and small differences, but how good we are when we are together! And I think these doors are a tribute to diversity, even more so in Las Ramblas, which is the artery of diversity in Barcelona“.
Jaume Plensa

Despite admitting that he hates doors, as well as everything that closes, the artist has remarked that the more he sees the design the more he likes it – the doors will open vertically – and believes that they have been a success. In addition, he has remarked that they will also serve to “dignify the area” in what he has defined as a gift from the Liceu to the city and become the new face of the theater. Asked if he fears that the doors may be damaged, he said that it will provide a finish that supports very well the restoration without complications.

These are “quite light” pieces, in the artist’s words, weighing some 500 kilograms each and with a thickness of 1 centimeter of steel, which gives them rigidity and lightness at the same time. The president of the Liceu, Salvador Alemany, and the theater’s artistic director, Víctor García de Gomar, are confident that the doors will be installed at the start of the 2022-2023 season, towards the end of September. They have cost about 750,000 euros – Plensa has not wanted to collect his fees -, of which 50% is assumed by ACS Foundation, 35% through Feder funds and the remaining 15% by the theater, as reported by Europa Press.

Excerpt from El Mundo

Image of the model of the doors of the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona

The model of Plensa’s work for the Liceu | Photograph by FERRAN NADEU

“The doors presented two extraordinary challenges” adds Plensa. “One is the building itself, which everyone says is horrifying, but I think that when horror accumulates, it ends up being wonderful. I wouldn’t touch a comma of this building. I love the chandeliers at the entrance. And the second is that we are looking at an extraordinary work by Miró on Las Ramblas that I think has strongly marked many things in the city, including the tragic moment of the attack in the city, which ended right in front of the building“.

“In these «Constel·lacions» I wanted to pay tribute to the Liceu, to music, but also to think of an architect who has given us many days of glory in the city, Gaudí, and I chose the title precisely because of this world of Miró’s constellations, who is the one I especially want to pay tribute to” he added.

Excerpt from La Vanguardia

Photograph of Jaume Plensa with his model of the doors of the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona.

Plensa, with the model of his work for the Liceu | Photograph by FERRAN NADEU

Jaume Plensa – ALCHIMISTES I

Jaume Plensa – SLUMBERLAND II

Jaume Plensa – Verdi

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Arte público

The new sculptural doors for the Liceu on its 175th anniversary by Jaume Plensa