1004 Portraits
Millennium Park, Chicago
June 17, 2014 - December 22, 2015

This new public art installation of works by the artist in Millennium Park on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Plensa’s acclaimed Crown Fountain, coincides with the  exhibition of recent sculpture by Jaume Plensa in a new range of media, currently on view at Richard Gray Gallery in Chicago. Both projects continue Plensa’s ongoing focus on the human figure, specifically the head as a sanctuary for dreams and hope.

Millennium Park, Chicago
Plensa’s solo exhibition 1004 Portraits, celebrating the 10th anniversary of Millennium Park, will be on view through December 2015 in two locations in the park. The four sculptural portraits, ranging from 21 to 36 feet tall, continue the story of Plensa’s original 1000 video portraits of local Chicago residents that have illuminated the Crown Fountain since 2004.

Looking Into My Dreams, Awilda, stands at the entrance to Millennium Park (Madison Street at Michigan Avenue); its surreal and majestic presence bridging the frenetic energy and distractions of city life with the tranquility of the park. Magnificent in scale, Awilda’s beauty, power, and serenity encourages people to stop and join the moment of quiet contemplation.

In the tree-lined outdoor South Boeing Gallery, located behind the Crown Fountain, three new cast iron heads Laura, Paula, and Ines will be exhibited. Despite their great materiality, the sculptures appear like a hologram, with shifting perspectives and illusion rendering the work in perpetual visual motion. Plensa’s serene portraits provide a peaceful counterbalance to the children’s boisterous play in the Crown Fountain.

The installation of the works, which are on loan from the artist, is co-presented by Millennium Park Foundation with the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, and is sponsored by The Boeing Company, with support from the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation.

The Artist
Jaume Plensa (Spanish, b.1955), one of the world's foremost sculptors working in the studio and public realm over the past 30 years, has presented over 30 projects spanning the world in such cities as Chicago, Dubai, London, Liverpool, Nice, Tokyo, Toronto, and Vancouver. The winner of many national and international awards, including the 2013 Velazquez Price awarded by the Spanish Cultural Ministry, Jaume Plensa has had solo exhibitions at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid; Galerie National du Jeu de Paume, Paris; Yorkshire Sculpture Park, West Bretton, UK; Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas; the Musée Picasso, Antibes, France; and Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Helsinki, Finkland among many others. The artist lives and works in Barcelona.