They did not go through the stairs, the elevator or the patios of La Pedrera, so a crane of more than 30 meters was necessary to lift them up to the roof of Casa Milà. The Jaume Plensa exhibition. Possessed of silence dedicated to the Barcelona sculptor that the Fundació Catalunya-La Pedrera plans to inaugurate on March 31 began its preparations this Saturday, on a radiant and sunny morning in which the absence of wind has been a blessing for the workers. Under the luxurious Barcelona sky, the nine transporters have first made Silent Music IV fly, a human figure formed from musical notes and made in 2019 in Corten steel that measures more than three meters high and weighs more than 200 kilos.
The unique moment in which the silent man of Plensa has come face to face with Gaudí's sentinel chimneys has been captured not only by the cameras of the numerous media summoned but also by the mass of tourists who visited the iconic building. This was the first of a hundred works with which Plensa will occupy La Pedrera over the next few months, until July 23. Immediately afterwards, the 410 kilos that Day-Night (2012) weighs, a figure from the Silent Poets series that is made of polyester resin, stainless steel and light, and that will light up at night, has been raised. The artist presents it as a tribute to the poet Vicent Andrés Estellés.
"He always thought that the poet was awake and did not sleep in the long night of his people. Somehow he is someone who is aware of us and protects us in the dark. And that work, illuminated at night, will be like a lighthouse", Plensa stated before the deployment of cameras.
Jaume Plensa is already an omnipresence in Barcelona. If any of the very international artist felt that his city ignored him, he is currently making up for it and enjoying the reunion with his place. "In any case, it has been a very beautiful coincidence. For a thousand reasons the 175th anniversary of the Liceu, for which I made the doors, has coincided; Macbeth has premiered and now we are beginning to prepare the exhibition in this magnificent setting that is La Pedrera "If at the Liceu I pay homage to Miró, in front of his mosaic, here I want to do it to Gaudí. One and the other are the two great references of our city", added the sculptor.
"For someone who is a son of this city, it is exciting to have a sculpture flying over all of Gaudí's imaginary. All the friends and gallery owners who have come with me were freaking out, because if any image is iconic in this city, it is those chimneys. I was moved to see a sculpture of me conversing with them".
The show is a broad compilation of very old work that "is less known or little seen," he says, combined with very current works. In fact, one of them is finalizing it right now. "We thought it opportune for it to go beyond the same exhibition hall, having as we have a unique building in the world -explains the director of the Fundació's Culture area, Marga Viza-. It was opportune that one of our most international artists could display his artistic proposal and creativity throughout the building.
There will be 8 pieces arranged around the house: the aforementioned two on the roof, three in the attic, one in each courtyard and a large head characteristic of his work on the façade. “I think that per se they already create unique iconic postcards in the city and in the world imagination. We are talking about a unique building, a World Heritage Site, and the fact that Plensa's pieces enter into collusion and dialogue with Gaudí's architecture brings a unique beauty, and beauty is a key theme in Jaume's work", Viza assured.
Regarding Silent Music IV, the sculptor recalled that he is part of the world of alphabets. "Music is also an alphabet, like mathematics. And this piece, which is made of musical fragments, pays homage to humanity, because when we speak we are interpreting the music of our body and when we write we are making the score of this music. This is a body made of notes because we are the memory of a sound, of a music", he concluded.
