Jaume Plensa

JAUME PLENSA (Barcelona, 1955)
"Rice", 1995.
Bronze and canvas, copy 1/6.
Signed and numbered.
Measurements: 20 cm. diameter (bronze ball); 26 x 27 x 18 cm. (total).
"Rice" is one of a series of works that Plensa made in 1995, in which he contrasted the rigidity of bronze with the ductility of materials such as fabric or rope. The titles of all of them contained gastronomic references: Milk, Beans, Noodles, Chop-suey, Hot-Dog, Rice, Roast-Beef, Eggs, Bread, Salt.... Carrying cryptic meanings, they can be linked to a certain degree with desire and the unconscious, while the combination of the bronze ball and the cloth that envelops it suggests the idea of explosion or muffled violence.
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 was recently awarded an honorary doctorate 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 mould iron using the casting technique, and developed a sculptural concept based on zoomorphic elements. His work gradually evolved, and he is now considered a precursor of Spanish neo-expressionism. In the nineties he introduced modifications in his work both in terms of material and form, and began to use different materials such as metal scraps, polyester and resins. During these years he produced series of walls, doors and architectural constructions, seeking to give space an absolute protagonist role. Between 1999 and 2003 Plensa became one of the pillars of world scenography, reinterpreting four classical operas by Falla, Debussy, Berlioz and Mozart with "La Fura dels Baus", and alone in a contemporary theatrical production, "La pareti della solitudine", by Ben Jelloun. He has held 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 unveiled his work "Breathing", a memorial to journalists killed in the line of duty, at the BBC headquarters in London. 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, and the National Prize for Plastic Arts in 1997, awarded by 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 and the Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid.