On the 19th of September, the exhibition entitled ‘Mirall’ will be inaugurated, with which the Catalan artist reflects on the dualities of the world: body and soul, matter and spirit, light and darkness.
The exhibition has been organised by the Govern Balear with the collaboration of the Ajuntament de Palma and the Stiftung für Kunst und Kultur e.V., whose president, Walter Smerlling, has curated the project.
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The work of Jaume Plensa comes to La Llotja de Palma
On the 19th of September, La Llotja de Palma will host the opening of Jaume Plensa’s exhibition entitled ‘Mirall’, in which the Catalan artist reflects on the dualities of the world: body and soul, matter and spirit, light and darkness, opacity and transparency, past and future. Inside La Llotja, two 7-metre-high stainless steel sculptures, ‘Invisible Laura’ and ‘Invisible Rui Rui’, will be installed, facing each other and with their backs to the main door. The exhibition has been organised by the Govern Balear with the collaboration of the Stiftung für Kunst und Kultur e.V. in Bonn – whose president, Walter Smerlling, is the curator of the show – and can be seen until 15 February. Jaume Plensa explains that ‘this is a project with which I reflect on the dualities of the world. The ancient tradition of classical Rome had Janus as one of its main gods.
It was a divinity with two faces: one looking to the past and the other to the future. The reflection of our face in him is one of the most renowned contemporary sculptors on the Spanish art scene and one of the most internationally renowned, especially known for his interventions in public spaces.
Plensa explains that ‘this is a project with which I reflect on the dualities of the world. The ancient tradition of classical Rome had Janus as one of its main gods. He was a divinity with two faces: one looking to the past and the other to the future. The reflection of our face in the mirror, in the faces of all others, lovers and friends, strangers and acquaintances. Men and women share their faces in the most generous of our acts. The duality of body and shadow, of day and night, of joy and pain. The duality of all our dreams that are still waiting to be born in the reflection of a mirror’.
This exhibition is part of the Balearic Government’s goal, with the collaboration of Palma City Council and the Consell de Mallorca, to position the island as a cultural destination and La Llotja as a space of international reference for showing exhibitions of the most outstanding contemporary artists on the world scene. Jaume Plensa’s exhibition will be the third that this building, a jewel of Mallorca’s civil Gothic architecture, has hosted since last June, following those of the Portuguese artist Pedro Cabrita and the British artist Julian Opie.
Jaume Plensa
Jaume Plensa (Barcelona, 1955) studied at the Llotja School of Arts and Crafts and the Sant Jordi School of Fine Arts. Since his first exhibition in 1980, he has lived and worked in Germany, Belgium, France and the United States, and currently lives in Barcelona.
He has taught at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris and collaborated with the Art Institute of Chicago. He has lectured at numerous universities and museums around the world. He has also received numerous awards, including the Medal of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres de France in 1993; the National Prize for Plastic Arts of Catalonia in 1997; and the Velázquez Prize for the Arts in 2013, among others. In 2018 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and, in 2024, by the University of Notre Dame in Indiana (USA).
His work has been exhibited in major galleries and museums in Europe, the United States and Asia, including major exhibitions at the Fundació Joan Miró, the Palacio de Velázquez at the Museo Reina Sofia and the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas. He has also created public installations in cities such as Chicago, New York and Barcelona, with the Crown Fountain in Millennium Park, Chicago, being one of his most iconic works. His work is regularly exhibited in galleries such as Galerie Lelong & Co in Paris and New York, and Richard Gray Gallery in Chicago and New York.
La Llotja
La Llotja de Palma was built between 1426 and 1447 as the headquarters of the Colegio de la Mercadería and is the most outstanding example of civil Gothic architecture in the Balearic Islands and one of the most important in Europe. Its architect is Guillem Sagrera – he was born in Felanitx (Mallorca) in 1380 and died in Naples in 1454 – and it was built between the 15th and 16th centuries. Today it is recognised as one of Mallorca’s most important architectural treasures and a destination not to be missed by lovers of history, architecture and art. The building has a rectangular floor plan, and the interior is made up of a single roof with a ribbed vault supported by six impressive helicoidal columns.
Stiftung für Kunst und Kultur e.V.
The foundation has been dedicated to the promotion of art and cultural diversity since 1986. With extensive international experience and completed projects, also in Mallorca, its focus is on the conception of exhibitions, the management of collections and the presentation of art in public spaces. His goal: was to promote art and culture as central elements of social discourse and to actively participate in shaping it, following the spirit of Joseph Beuys and his idea of being ‘co-creators of the collective’. Having ideas is good, but implementing them is even better.