In an ancient book on El Greco, I came across a quote by José Ortega y Gasset in which he describes the painting, The Martyrdom of Saint Maurice, as “a bit of material burst into flames.” How could I not think about the sculptural portraits of Jaume Plensa and their effort to liberate themselves from the weight of the material from which they are made?

One of them, Minna–elongated like the ones in El Greco’s paintings–welcomes visitors into the exhibition about which this essay was written. Minna is sculpted in basalt, a particular type of volcanic rock created from magma. The molten material cools when in contact with air, but its surface, black and polished, retains a shimmer of light. Of course, Minna has her eyes closed but not looking skyward like those of the El Greco’s figures, so it may not be the flame of spiritual love that consumes her. But how can we tell what burning secret causes her eyelids to discretely droop?

Conversely, other pieces in the exhibition express more of their physicality: covered in white paint, Anna, Laura, Irma, Rui Rui and Lou retain the marks engraved into their surfaces from the mesh molds used when the objects were cast in bronze.

Standing in front of the five bronze heads placed on a large plinth, it is difficult to avoid recalling tragic images in our minds. The connection is made spontaneously to the severed heads exhibited in our museums, starting with that of Saint John the Baptist, of course, which rests on the plate that Salome proudly brandishes in a scene that we have contemplated so many times, animated by a combination of horror and fascination. In a sense, here is Salome subjected to the martyrdom of Saint John. We recognize the faces of these young girls because they have been the subject of other versions, they have become familiar to those who follow Plensa's work, and we always find them in the same peaceful expression. But it is precisely this expression that painters have represented often throughout history, and it surprises us every time: when the horror of the ordeal has since faded, then comes tranquillity or indifference, of death.

These personalized sculptures don't belong to the model as a whole as much as to who she is, who she was, at a specific time in her life. One day when I asked the artist about the choice of his models, his answer was: “Tradition is feminine, everything that is important and that marks our life is feminine. So, I decided to make portraits of girls between the ages of eight and fourteen. It's a time when beauty changes very quickly so that every time I do a portrait, soon after, the model, in a way, no longer exists.” The tragedy in Jaume Plensa’s work is not part of a brutal image, it is part of a soft portrait, an image witnessing the relationship to time that is the foundation of the tragic human condition. 

Eurydice, the nymph of the trees, comes to mind. In desperation after her death, Orpheus brings her back from the underworld. The gods, however, set one condition for her resurrection: that Orpheus does not look upon Eurydice during the journey. Alas, he failed, and the one he thought he could soon hold in his arms disappears immediately. Who would blame an artist for wanting to see? That is their role. Who better than a sculptor who captures matter to give shape to what we all want to see? Jaume Plensa is this very sculptor who communicates to us that the oldest wood, the hardest stone, the densest metal flows between the fingers like water, because we will never seize the spirit that inhabits them.

ARTIST BIO

Over the past thirty-five years, Spanish artist Jaume Plensa (b. 1955) 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. His celebrated public projects, such as the iconic Crown Fountain in Chicago and Echo in Seattle’s Olympic Sculpture Park, are landmarks in cities across the world, including in Calgary, Chicago, San Diego, Montréal, London, Paris, Dubai, Bangkok, Shanghai, and Tokyo. Most recently, installations of his monumental sculptures 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, Voices permanently installed at 30 Hudson Yards in New York City, and Dreaming in Toronto. His forthcoming projects include Laura to be unveiled in Century City, Los Angeles and Utopia at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, Michigan as well as the permanant installation of Behind the Walls at the University of Michigan Museum of Art in Ann Arbor.

The winner of many national and international awards including the Honorary Doctorate from Univeristat Aut’onoma de Barcelona in 2018 and the 2013 Velazquez Prize awarded by the Spanish Cultural Ministry, Jaume 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. He lives and works in Barcelona.