Jaume Plensa has unveiled a new solo exhibition of drawings, sculptures and installations at Richard Gray Gallery (GRAY) in Chicago. Globally recognized for his signature portrait heads of young girls, the Spanish visual artist has travelled quite extensively over the years, having recently installed a monumental artwork along the Hudson River Waterfront. For his latest show, however, Plensa opts the viewer to travel within the limitless expanses of their own mind to unearth Forgotten Dreams.
For the exhibition, GRAY has been transformed into a dimly lit stage where a row of heads entitled Where Are You? (2022) are surrounded by a series of 21 sculptural doors. On each of the latter, Plensa has inscribed all 30 articles of the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights”, which was adopted by the newly formed United Nations in 1948, shortly after the end of World War II. Described by the artist as “the most beautiful poem in the world”, the declaration set out, for the first time, to grant fundamental human rights that were to be universally protected by the international community.
With the rise in nationalist agendas across the world, Forgotten Dreams (2020) serves as a reminder for humankind to question what we can do better as a race, and if “we repeat the mistakes of history,” wrote a release, “we have not only forgotten our dreams but also the nightmares of our past.”
The exhibition will be on view at GRAY Chicago until June 3.
For more on art, Fondazione Prada and David Cronenberg join forces on Anatomical Waxes.
GRAY
2044 W Carroll Ave
Chicago, Il 60612
