International artist Jaume Plensa discusses his poignant public art works with Chief Curator Alicia Longwell in an online live-stream. The never-before-seen sculpture, on view in the Parrish Art Museum’s outdoor exhibition Field of Dreams, evokes silence and stillness in a complex world.

Sculptor Jaume Plensa (Spanish, born 1955) will discuss his four bronze portraits—making their international debut in Field of Dreams at the Parrish Art Museum—with Alicia G. Longwell, Ph.D., The Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Chief Curator. In Carlota (oak), Julia (oak), Laura Asia (oak), and Wilsis (oak), 2019—totemic portraits originally carved from oak that stand over nine feet tall—Plensa captures a moment of quiet reflection, evoking silence and stillness in a bustling world. The artist explores the connection between humanity and nature in his work. For 35 years, Plensa has produced a multifaceted body of work creating sculpture that speaks to the capacity and beauty of humanity, often bringing people together through the activation of public spaces

Arriving at the Museum directly from Plensa’s studio in Barcelona, the four sculptures explore the idea of memory and the passage of time. “Every time I do a portrait, soon after, the model no longer exists,” Plensa states. The artist captures his female sitters with their eyes closed in a moment of quiet reflection, a concept central in his practice. The works are the first in a new series of portraits carved directly into tree trunks, with the trunks remaining part of the sculpture in the subsequent casting in bronze. The innate connection between humanity and nature resonates deeply in this body of work: the wood acts as both the medium and the subject of the sculpture itself while the irregular surfaces and scattered splinters and cracks in the wood are captured in bronze.

About Jaume Plensa
Jaume Plensa (b.1955) is one of the world’s foremost sculptors in the public realm with projects worldwide in Calgary, Chicago, San Diego, Montréal, London, Paris, Dubai, Bangkok, Shanghai, and Tokyo. Most recently, installations of his monumental sculptures in the public realm include Behind the Walls at historic Rockefeller Center in New York City and the Museo Nacional de Arte in Mexico City, Julia in Plaza de Colón in Madrid, and Voices permanently installed at 30 Hudson Yards in New York City.

Plensa has had solo museum exhibitions at the MACBA: Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, Spain; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid Spain; MAMC–Musée d’art moderne et contemporain Saint-Étienne Métropole, Saint-Étienne, France; Max Ernst Museum Brühl des LVR, Brühl, Germany; The Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio; Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Yorkshire, England; and Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, Texas. International awards include the Honorary Doctorate from Univeristat Aut’onoma de Barcelona in 2018; 2013 Velazquez Prize awarded by the Spanish Cultural Ministry. He lives and works in Barcelona.

Friday Nights at the Parrish are made possible, in part, by Presenting Sponsor:Additional support provided by Sandy and Stephen Perlbinder.