Jaume Plensa

Spanish, b. 1957

Lives and works in Paris, France and Barcelona, Spain

Jaume Plensa is one of the world’s foremost sculptors working in the public space, with over 30 projects spanning the globe in such cities as Chicago, Dubai, London, Liverpool, Nice, Tokyo, Toronto, and Vancouver.

Over the past 25 years, the artist has produced a rich body of work in the studio and the public realm. By combining conventional sculptural materials (glass, steel, bronze, aluminum) with more unconventional media (water, light, sound, video), and frequently incorporating text, Plensa creates hybrid works of intricate energy and psychology. From his delicately textured, intimate works on paper — like his 2005-06 series of ethnographic portraits that resemble worn, 19th century photographs — to monumental outdoor sculptures like Nomade (2007) and a range of cityscapealtering public projects like the Crown Fountain in Chicago (2000-05), Plensa’s work takes many forms.

Plensa’s work is invested in evoking emotion and stimulating intellectual engagement. By posing conceptual dualities in his work (inside/outside, front/back, light/dark), he seeks to connect with his viewers on an intuitive level. Often, the viewer participation, or the object/viewer relationship, is what completes his work. The winner of many national and international awards, Plensa has had solo exhibitions at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, West Bretton, UK; Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, TX; Institut Valencia d’Art Modern, Spain; Musée Picasso, Antibes, France; Arts Club of Chicago, IL; Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, MI; Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain; Galerie National du Jeu de Paume, Paris, France; and Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art, Spain.

Artist CV (PDF)
Exhibitions
- Exhibitions
  Jaume Plensa: Silent Faces
  September 10 - October 31, 2015
  Haines Gallery is pleased to present Silent Faces , a carefully curated selection of celebrated artist Jaume Plensa’s recent sculptures and works on paper. This is Plensa’s first solo exhibition...
News
- News
  Jaume Plensa
  Solo Exhibition
  Jaume Plensa: A New Humanism
  Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, MI
  October 24, 2025 - March 15, 2026
  Jaume Plensa: A New Humanism explores Jaume Plensa ’s career-long engagement with themes common to our shared humanity such as dreams, desire, justice and mortality. While Plensa’s oeuvre is marked...
- News
  Jaume Plensa
  Museum Exhibition
  FRAGILE - A Selection of Glasstress
  MUSE, Trento, Italy
  July 5 - October 26, 2025
  Created in collaboration with the Berengo Studio in Murano, FRAGILE – A Selection of Glasstress features a curated selection of glass sculptures by internationally renowned contemporary artists, such as Ai...
Press
Joseph Antenucci Becherer, "Jaume Plensa: Timely and Timeless," Sculpture, July/August Issue, 2025

Blaire Dessent, "Jaume Plensa: Mirall," View Mallorca, October 1, 2024

"Renowned Catalan artist Jaume Plensa opens new solo exhibition in Venice," Catalan News, April 19, 2024

"Distinguished leaders to receive Notre Dame honorary degrees, Laetare Medal," Notre Dame News, April 8, 2024

Tokunbo Salako, “Spanish artist Jaume Plensa prepares to take Macbeth opera beyond Barcelona,” EuroNews, February 23, 2023

David J Markham, “In The Red Corner Robert Indiana. And In The Blue Corner - Jaume Plensa….,” Yorkshire Times, October 8, 2022

Andrea Rodés, “New sculptural doors by Jaume Plensa at the Liceu de Opera in Barcelona,” Al Día News, September 6, 2022

“New Installation by multi-award-winning sculpture Jaume Plensa,” The Shard, September 28, 2021

Steve Johnson, “Sculptor Jaume Plensa on why he’ll never replicate Crown Fountain and how it led to his current Chicago gallery show,” Chicago Tribune, December 10, 2020

Devorah Lauter, “Big Heads, Big Heart: Q & A With Artist Jaume Plensa,” Blouin ArtInfo, July 9, 2018

Lisa Kocay, “Inside The Donum Estate: A Vineyard Merging Art And Wine,” Forbes, June 6, 2018

Timothy A. Schuler, “Face Time,” Landscape Architecture Project, June 13, 2017

Nel-Olivia Waga, "Art Basel 2017: Ruinart's Message In A Bottle And Jaume Plensa's Artistic Message To The World," Forbes, March 30, 2017

Ayana Malaika Crichlow, "Jaume Plensa: Artist and Visionary," The Huffington Post, March 22, 2017

David Bennett, “Crown Fountain Artist Jaume Plensa Brings Giant Sculpture to Museum Park,” Miami New Times, March 16, 2017

“Toasting to Jaume Plensa’s Sculpture for Ruinart,” Whitewall, March 10, 2017

Laila Pedro, “Jaume Plensa with Laila Pedro,” The Brooklyn Rail, February 1, 2017

Sarah Rose Sharp, “Jaume Plensa’s Human Landscapes @ Toledo Museum of Art,” Detroit Art Review, July 18, 2016

Marcelle Sussman Fischler, "How This Iconic Chicago Sculpture Ended Up in Miami," Ocean Drive, April 15, 2016

Jessica Zack, "Plensa's 'Silent Faces' Speak Volumes," SFGATE September 30, 2015

Jenni Frankenberg Veal, "Field Excursions: Enchanting Human Landscape Exhibit at Cheekwood in Nashville," Nooga, June 5, 2015

Skip Anderson, "Dramatic Sculptures Coming to Nashville," Nashville Arts Magazine, May 22, 2015

Karen Wright, "Jaume Plensa, Sculptor: 'A Stone can Represent the Universe. A Boulder that Nature has Created,'" The Independent, May 14, 2015

Harry Mount, "Artist Jaume Plensa Brings Majestic Installations to the Venice Art Biennale," Newsweek, May 8, 2015

Sugar Rautbord, "Jaume Plensa's Four New Sculptures for Chicago's Millennium Park," The Huffington Post, July 22, 2014

Karen Berkowitz, "Renowned Sculptor Unveils Pieces at Ravinia, Millennium Park," Chicago Tonight, June 17, 2014

Erik Lacitis, "Head-turning Echo Sculpture in Seattle Raises Eyebrows," The Seattle Times, May 14, 2014

Joel Henning, "The Man With a Thousand Faces," The Wall Street Journal, January 1, 2011

Hilarie M. Sheets, "Man of a Thousand Faces," ARTnews, March 1, 2010