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Jaume Plensa: NEST
Galerie Lelong Exhibitions, 29 October - 23 December 2021

Jaume Plensa: NEST

Past exhibition
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  • Press Release
    Opening Friday, October 29, 2021, 6:00pm – 8:00pm

    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 explores 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. 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. On November 29, 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. 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.

    中文

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  • Installation Shots
  • Works
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  • Artist
    • Jaume Plensa

      Jaume Plensa

  • News
    • Jaume Plensa

      Jaume Plensa

      Utopia, 2021 November 30, 2021

      Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park
      Grand Rapids, Michigan

      View More
    • Jaume Plensa

      Jaume Plensa

      Water's Soul, 2020 October 21, 2021

      Newport pier
      Jersey City, New Jersey
      Opens October 21, 2021

      View More
    • Jaume Plensa

      Jaume Plensa

      WE, 2021 September 29, 2021

      The Shard Quarter
      London, UK
      Opened September 29, 2021

      View More
    • Jaume Plensa

      Jaume Plensa

      Field of Dreams August 20, 2020

      Parrish Art Museum
      Water Mill, New York
      On view through November 30, 2021

      View More
  • Press
    • Bloomberg CityLab + Pursuits

      The Meaning Behind the New Statue Towering Over New York’s Hudson River, October 22, 2021
    • Designboom

      interview with jaume plensa as monumental white resin head unveiled in newport pier park, October 20, 2021
    • Reuters

      'Water's Soul': Massive white sculpture makes a statement in New York harbor, October 19, 2021
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Galerie Lelong, New York

528 West 26th Street

New York, NY 10001

T +1 212 315 0470

F +1 212 262 0624

art@galerielelong.com

Galerie Lelong, Paris

13, rue de Téhéran

75008 Paris France

T +33 1 45 63 13 19

F +33 1 42 89 34 33

info@galerie-lelong.com

Galerie Lelong, Paris

38, avenue Matignon

75008 Paris France

T +33 1 45 63 13 19

F +33 1 42 89 34 33
info@galerie-lelong.com

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