Julia – Jaume Plensa´s Madrid Landmark

Standing 12 metres high in Madrid´s Plaza de Colón is Julia, a sculpture by one of Spain´s greatest artists,  Jaume Plensa.

Since her arrival in December 2018, she has become a Madrid landmark, as well as joining her many sisters in other public sculptures found in major cities around the world.

Madrid´s addition is sponsored by the María Cristina Masaveu Peterson Foundation and stands on the plinth that used to be occupied by Christopher Columbus from whom the square is named.

Julia is in fact made from polyester resin and white marble dust and in the words of the artist is “conceived of as a work to inspire personal, intimate, reflection in the hectic rhythm of the public space.”

Jaume Plensa was born in Barcelona in 1955 and where he also studied. He works with materials, ideas and emotions, as well as with references to literature and poetry, music, or the history of thought.

He is a hugely respected international artist with a long pedigree of exhibitions and awards.

A very significant part of Plensa’s work is in the field of sculpture in public spaces and landmark works exist in other cities in Spain as well as France, Japan, England, Korea, Germany, Canada abd the United States.

These include the Crown Fountain, which was unveiled in Chicago’s Millennium Park in 2004, London´s Shard Quarter, and the Water’s Soul in Newport, facing Manhattan.

Since 2011, a large selection of Plensa’s sculptures has been exhibited at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park in West Bretton, England

In 2022 the Constel·lacions was unveiled at Gran Teatre del Liceu, in his native Barcelona, as part of its 175th anniversary.

Julia is expected to remain on her plinth  until the end of 2023 though it hoped that Madrid´s City Council will want to keep her as a much admired symbol of the capital´s creativity.

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