I first became aware of the work of Jaume Plensa on a trip to France earlier this year. His illuminated figures tower over the ‘Place Masséna’ in the centre of Nice.

Titled “Conversation à Nice”, the seven figures represent the seven continents and alludes to cultural unification.

Plensa is, in fact, prolific – his works assuming a grand sense of scale, layered with universal themes that convey love, memory, language and despair. The series shown here is, for me, his most captivating.  Hollow and broken, made up of interconnecting letterforms, these sculptures seem to be trying to communicate silently. Some are autobiographical in content others mix letters and symbols from different languages seemingly trying to unite different cultures together (this seems to be a common theme in his work). Their physical form to the intangible, using the body as a way of exploring what it means to be human.

The following captivating time-lapse video taken by Nick Potter shows work from his first major UK exhibition and cleverly shows how Plensa’s sculptures integrate with their surroundings. The exhibition is at the magnificent Yorkshire Sculpture Park which has been hailed “probably the finest exhibition site for sculpture in the world”.

The exhibition runs until 22 January 2012, admission is free.

Author: Russell Hardingham, Design Director