Description
JAUME PLENSA (Barcelona, 1955). Untitled, 1984. Mixed media on panel. Signed and dated in the upper area. Measurements: 86 x 64 cm; 90,5 x 68 cm (frame). In this work Plensa uses materials linked to tradition and constructs with them an image close to expressionism, easily recognizable as human but nevertheless disrupted, incomplete and in a certain metamorphic way, captured in full transformation. The artist combines a firm, sure stroke, enhanced by the white that outlines the figure, with a material treatment of the paper, burning and perforating it to reach the third dimension, thus breaking with the traditional two-dimensional aspect of painting, in an aesthetic line inherited from Informalism - with its appreciation of textures, materials and chance - but, at the same time, completely new and personal. 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 mold 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 in both material and formal terms, 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 in 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.
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