April 05, 2016

JAUME PLENSA: HUMAN LANDSCAPE AT TAMPA MUSEUM OF ART




JAUME PLENSA: HUMAN LANDSCAPE AT TAMPA MUSEUM OF ART
January 24, 2016 - May 15, 2016




JAUME PLENSA: HUMAN LANDSCAPE AT TAMPA MUSEUM OF ART
January 24, 2016 - May 15, 2016
Jaume Plensa: Human Landscape will feature indoor and outdoor sculpture installations as well as works on paper.
This exhibition is presented in Tampa by PNC Bank with additional support from the Arts Council of Hillsborough County and the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners, and is organized by Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art in Nashville, Tenn.
Jaume Plensa (Spain, b.1955) is one of the world's foremost sculptors, with over 30 projects spanning the globe in cities such as Chicago, New York, Dubai, London, Liverpool, Nice, Tokyo, Toronto and Vancouver.
Over the past 25 years, the artist has produced a rich body of work in the studio and the public realm. By combining conventional sculptural materials (glass, steel, bronze, aluminum) with more unconventional media (water, light, sound, video), and frequently incorporating text, Plensa creates hybrid works of intricate energy and psychology.  Plensa's work takes many forms and is invested in evoking emotion and stimulating intellectual engagement. By posing conceptual dualities in his work (inside/outside, front/back, light/dark), Plensa seeks to connect with his viewers on an intuitive level. Often, the viewer participation, or the object/viewer relationship, is what completes Plensa's work.
Seth Pevnick, Chief Curator and Richard E. Perry Curator of Greek and Roman Art, commented, “I am delighted to play a small part in bringing the work of Jaume Plensa to the Tampa Bay area. Plensa is one of the most exciting sculptors in the world today, coming off great success at the Venice Art Biennale as well as in Nashville, where the "Human Landscape" exhibition coming soon to Tampa originated at both Cheekwood and the Frist Center. His beautiful sculptures connect the human form to many different aspects of culture worldwide, and inspire confidence in the positive powers of art.
This exhibition is also particularly exciting for us because it will mark the first time that we display large exterior sculptures outside the Museum walls. This means that visitors to Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park will experience part of the exhibition even before they enter the Museum.”

http://tampamuseum.org/exhibition/jaume-plensa-human-landscape/




THE SOUL OF WORDS I AND II, 2014
Painted Stainless Steel + Marble Stones
Dimensions: 310 x 230 x 290 cm
Tampa Museum of Art ©Jaume Plensa




THOUGHTS, 2013
Stainless Steel and Stone
Dimensions: 310 x 200 x 270 cm
Tampa Museum of Art ©Jaume Plensa




THE HEART OF TREES, 2007
Bronze ( 7 Elements )
Dimensions: 99 x 66 x 99 cm (Each)
Tampa Museum of Art ©Jaume Plensa






THE HEART OF TREES
The Heart of Trees is probably the most specific and personal work. It's an installation of seven identical bronze self-portraits embracing seven foxtail palms. (It's informally called Tree Huggers.) Each figure bears names of Plensa's favorite 19th and 20th century composers. Created in 2007, it's one of the older works in the exhibition but represents a new sensibility dating from 2004, when his famous Crown Fountain debuted in Chicago's Millennium Park. It used 1,000 faces of Chicago residents projected onto a glass block wall. Each opens his mouth and, instead of words, water spouts out. It generated his interest in sculpting the human form, which he has been doing now for more that a decade. But he also loves music and literature, especially poetry, and his work, older and newer, embodies them, too. While The Heart of Trees references music, for example, it is silent because anything aural can be a distraction from the contemplative state Plensa hopes his works inspire.

http://www.tampabay.com/things-to-do/visualarts/review-plensa-sculptures-at-tampa-museum-of-art-much-deeper-than-face-value/2264817




THE HEART OF TREES, 2007
Bronze ( 7 Elements )
Dimensions: 99 x 66 x 99 cm (Each)
Tampa Museum of Art ©Jaume Plensa






SEE NO EVIL, HEAR NO EVIL,
SPEAK NO EVIL, 2010
Polyester Resin, Stainless Steel and Led Light
Dimensions: 122 x 148 x 205 cm (Each)
Tampa Museum of Art ©Jaume Plensa




SELF PORTRAIT, 2013
Stainless Steel
Dimensions: 325 x 350 x 350 cm
Tampa Museum of Art ©Jaume Plensa






SELF PORTRAIT, 2013
Stainless Steel
Dimensions: 325 x 350 x 350 cm
Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, FL. Photo: Ryan Walsh 
©Jaume Plensa. Courtesy Gallerie Lelong, New York








ETERNITY IS IN LOVE, 2007
Mixed Media
Dimensions: 84 x 30 cm
Tampa Museum of Art ©Jaume Plensa




EXUBERANCE IS BEAUTY… 2007
Mixed Media
Dimensions: 84 x 30 cm
Tampa Museum of Art ©Jaume Plensa






L’AME DES MOTS X, 2009
Mixed Media
Dimensions: 211 x 140 cm
Tampa Museum of Art ©Jaume Plensa




Installation View From Tampa Museum of Art, 
Tampa, FL. Photo: Ryan Walsh
©Jaume Plensa. Courtesy Gallerie Lelong, New York








SOUL, 2005
Mixed Media
Dimensions: 160 x 112 cm
Tampa Museum of Art ©Jaume Plensa




SHADOW ( STUDY ) XLIII, 2011
Mixed Media
Dimensions: 158 x 112 cm
Tampa Museum of Art ©Jaume Plensa






MATTER-SPIRIT, 2005
Bronze, Rope, Wood and Wool
2 Elements of 130 cm in Diameter 40 Kg Each
Tampa Museum of Art ©Jaume Plensa












TAMPA MUSEUM OF ART




TAMPA MUSEUM OF ART
The Tampa Museum of Art opened its award-winning new home in 2010 with a commitment to providing innovative public programs with a strong focus on classical, modern, and contemporary art. The Museum balances a growing collection, including one of the largest Greek and Roman antiquities collections in the southeastern United States, with a dynamic annual schedule of special exhibitions. It is the region’s largest museum devoted to art of our time and has built a reputation for embracing contemporary photography and new media; most notably, Leo Villareal’s Sky (Tampa), the 14,000-square-foot LED installation on the Museum’s south façade, has become an iconic image for Tampa. Since its founding in 1979, the Museum has been dedicated to providing quality education to students and adults, with more than half of its programs offered free of charge. The Museum is home to Sono Café, a Slow Food movement café overlooking the Hillsborough River, and has emerged as Tampa’s premier venue for special events.
You may visit Archdaily web page to have more architectural information about Tampa Museum of Art Design by Stanley Saitowitz I Natoma Architects. 
Photographs: Richard Barnes 

http://www.archdaily.com/52247/tampa-museum-of-art-stanley-saitowitz-natoma-architects




Photograph © Richard Barnes 




Photograph © Richard Barnes 




Photograph © Richard Barnes 




Photograph © Richard Barnes 




Photograph © Richard Barnes 




Photograph © Richard Barnes 




Photograph © Richard Barnes 




Photograph © Richard Barnes 




Photograph © Richard Barnes 




Photograph © Richard Barnes 




Photograph © Richard Barnes 






TAMPA MUSEUM OF ART




Photograph © Richard Barnes 










THE SOUL OF WORDS I AND II, 2014
Painted Stainless Steel + Marble Stones
Dimensions: 310 x 230 x 290 cm
Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, FL. Photo: Ryan Walsh
©Jaume Plensa. Courtesy Gallerie Lelong, New York




THE SOUL OF WORDS I, 2014
Painted Stainless Steel + Marble Stones
Dimensions: 310 x 230 x 290 cm
Tampa Museum of Art ©Jaume Plensa






THE SOUL OF WORDS II, 2014
Painted Stainless Steel + Marble Stones
Dimensions: 310 x 230 x 290 cm
Tampa Museum of Art ©Jaume Plensa




THE SOUL OF WORDS I AND II
The Soul of Words I and II uses eight alphabets to shape two men sitting, facing each other. Language is a communicator unique to humans, yet, as Plensa might be saying with his Tower of Babel jumble, it can create more barriers than bonds. Or the openness of these sculptures may be a metaphor for open-mindedness.

http://www.tampabay.com/things-to-do/visualarts/review-plensa-sculptures-at-tampa-museum-of-art-much-deeper-than-face-value/2264817




SILENT MUSIC II, 2013
Stainless Steel and Stone
Dimensions: 310 x 230 x 290 cm
Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa ©Jaume Plensa




SILENT MUSIC II, 2013
Stainless Steel and Stone
Dimensions: 310 x 230 x 290 cm
Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, FL. Photo: Ryan Walsh. 
©Jaume Plensa. Courtesy Gallerie Lelong, New York




SEVEN TO?, 1993
Etching
Dimensions: 31,5 x 42,5 cm
Tampa Museum of Art ©Jaume Plensa




BELA BÁRTOK, 2008
Mixed Media
Dimensions: 45 x 33 cm
Tampa Museum of Art ©Jaume Plensa




MAHLER, 2008
Mixed Media
Dimensions: 45 x 33 cm
Tampa Museum of Art ©Jaume Plensa




INTERIORS III, 1991
Etching
Dimensions: 75 x 55,5 cm
Tampa Museum of Art ©Jaume Plensa




SILENT RAIN
The only nonfigurative work in the exhibition is Silent Rain, which is also an older one, created in 2003. It employs language and sound and is interactive. Metal letters are strung on cords hanging from the ceiling in what seems like random order. But they are lines from some of his favorite poets, and a diverse group they are, including Dante, Shakespeare, Goethe, Blake, William Carlos Williams and Allen Ginsberg. The quotes are arranged vertically rather than horizontally, so reading them requires concentration. As you decipher the lines, you walk through this "curtain," creating a melodic tinkling.
If you are ever fortunate enough to have a conversation with Jaume Plensa, as I did several weeks ago, you will understand more deeply that he most of all wants us to enjoy his art, find a sense of serenity, however temporary, in it and not stretch for cosmic truths. Everything we need is already inside us, he might say, and his sculptures might help as conduits.

http://www.tampabay.com/things-to-do/visualarts/review-plensa-sculptures-at-tampa-museum-of-art-much-deeper-than-face-value/2264817




SILENT RAIN, 2003
Iron
Dimensions: High 296 x Variable Dimension
Tampa Museum of Art ©Jaume Plensa






PAULA, 2013; AWILDA, 2012; MARIANNA, 2013
Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, FL. Photo: Ryan Walsh. ©Jaume Plensa.
Courtesy Gallerie Lelong, New York




AWILDA, 2012
 Bronze
Dimensions: 190 x 61 x 62 cm
Tampa Museum of Art ©Jaume Plensa




PAULA, 2013
Bronze
Dimensions: 179 x 63 x 63 cm
Tampa Museum of Art ©Jaume Plensa




MARIANNA, 2013
Bronze
Dimensions: 186 x 69 x 64 cm
Tampa Museum of Art ©Jaume Plensa






THE SOUL OF WORDS I AND II, 2014
Painted Stainless Steel + Marble Stones
Dimensions: 310 x 230 x 290 cm
Tampa Museum of Art ©Jaume Plensa




DELL’ARTE, 1990
Etching
Dimensions: 123 x 123 cm
Tampa Museum of Art ©Jaume Plensa




THOUGHTS, 2013
Stainless Steel and Stone
Dimensions: 310 x 200 x 270 cm
Tampa Museum of Art ©Jaume Plensa




SEE NO EVIL, HEAR NO EVIL,
SPEAK NO EVIL, 2010
Polyester Resin, Stainless Steel and Led Light
Dimensions: 122 x 148 x 205 cm (Each)
Tampa Museum of Art ©Jaume Plensa




LAURA WITH BUN, 2014
Cast Iron
Dimensions: 703 x 99 x 310 cm
Tampa Museum of Art ©Jaume Plensa




WHEN?, 2005
Mixed Media
160 x 112 cm
Tampa Museum of Art ©Jaume Plensa




SELF-PORTRAIT XXII, 2005
Mixed Media
Dimensions: 41 x 30 cm
Tampa Museum of Art ©Jaume Plensa




LAURA WITH A BUN
Though made of cast iron and looming over us at more than 20 feet, Laura With a Bun has a similar delicacy. It adds grace to a graceless corner of the museum, next to the railroad tracks but with a decent view of the Hillsborough River. The head is elongated and flattened so that, from certain angles, it looks like a flat plane instead of a dimensional piece. The dark iron suggests a shadow. You will notice that the eyes, as in all of Plensa's sculptures, are not just closed, they are worked to suggest a recession into the head, looking inward instead of outward. Plensa speaks a lot about trying to picture the soul, and his sculptures could be seen as representing "an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace" as some Christian denominations word the concept. The clean, serene lines, the sightless eyes, belie an intentional contradiction in much of Plensa's work: that our eyes are needed to access this form of soul-searching.
The artist has called his works "bottles where you can find the message." In the full-body sculptures, the messages are more direct. The forms are sometimes made using letters, numbers and symbols. 

http://www.tampabay.com/things-to-do/visualarts/review-plensa-sculptures-at-tampa-museum-of-art-much-deeper-than-face-value/2264817




AWILDA & IRMA, 2014
Stainless Steel
Dimensions: 400 x 400 x 300 cm (each)
Tampa Museum of Art ©Jaume Plensa




THE SOUL OF WORDS I AND II, 2014
Painted Stainless Steel + Marble Stones
Dimensions: 310 x 230 x 290 cm
Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, FL. Photo: Ryan Walsh
©Jaume Plensa. Courtesy Gallerie Lelong, New York


















JAUME PLENSA
Jaume Plensa, born is Barcelona in 1955. From 1980 with his first exhibition in Barcelona until today, he has lived and worked in Berlin, Brussels, England, France, USA, and he currently shares his residence between Paris and Barcelona.
He has been a teacher at the École Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris and has also been a lecturer at many universities and art institutions. He collaborates as professor invited at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Since 1992 he has obtained various distinctions and awards, both national and international, notably his investiture as a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture (Paris, 1993), the National Culture Award for Plastic Arts of the Government of Catalonia (Barcelona, 1997), Honorary Doctorate from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago, 2005), the Mash Award for Public Sculpture (London, 2009), the National Award for Plastic Arts (Madrid, 2012), and most recently, the National Award for Graphic Arts 2013 (Madrid, 2013)
His sculptural work has gone through several stages developed largely with recuperation materials, iron, bronze, cooper, … In 1986, he started a series of cast iron sculptures, then he incorporated light and relief written text. Recently his melting materials have been synthetic resin, glass, alabaster, plastic, light, video and sound. He also has a large production of works on paper and etchings.
Beside his sculptural oeuvre he is collaborating often working on stage design and costumes for opera and theatre productions.
A significant part of Plensa’s production is set in the context of public sculpture, a sphere in which he has works installed in Spain, France, Japan, the United Kingdom, Korea, Germany, Canada, the USA, etc. The Crown Fountain, 2004, in Chicago’s Millennium Park, is one of his biggest project, and undoubtedly one of his most brilliant. In 2005 he finished Breathing, which is installed in the new BBC building in London, in 2007 Conversation à Nice for the place Masséna in Nice, (France), El Alma del Ebro for the Expo Zaragoza, 2008, in Zaragoza, (Spain) and in 2009 Dream for St Helens, Liverpool, (UK) and World Voices in Dubai in 2009 (UAE), Ogijima’s Soul in Ogijima, 2010, Japan, Awilda in Salzburg, 2010, Austria,Tolerance, for the city of Houston, in 2011 (USA), and Echo for Madison Square Park, 2011, in New York, Mirror, 2012for the University of Houston, and Olhar nos meus Sonhos in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2012 and most recently, Wonderland in the city of Calgary, Canada. Currently he is exhibiting in the city of Bordeaux.
His work has been exhibited in numerous galleries and museums in Europe, the United States and Japan: Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona (Spain); Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume, Paris (France); Henry Moore Sculpture Trust, Halifax (United Kingdom); Malmö Konsthall, Malmö (Sweden); Städtische Kunsthalle, Mannheim (Germany); Musée d’Art Contemporain, Lyon (France); Museo Luigi Pecci, Prato (Italy); Kestner Gesellschaft, Hannover (Germany); Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Vienna (Austria); Palacio de Velázquez - Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid; BALTIC The Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead (United Kingdom); the Arts Club Center for Contemporary Art, Chicago (USA); Musée des Beaux-Arts, Caen (France); Wilhelm-Lehmbruck-Museum, Duisburg (Germany), Kunsthalle Mannheim Museum (Germany), Centro de Arte Comtemporáneo, (Málaga); Musée d’Art Contemporain,  Nice (France); IVAM Institut Valencià d’Art Modern, Valencia, (Spain); The Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, Michigan, (USA), The Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, (USA); Picasso Museum, Antibes (France), The Yorkshire Sculpture Park, (United Kingdom), Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Helsinki etc.
He regularly shows his art works at Galerie Lelong in Paris, Galerie Lelong, New York and Richard Gray Gallery in Chicago and New York.