Utopia

Working in many different types of media, Spanish artist Jaume Plensa has garnered much international attention and critical acclaim for his outdoor sculptures—on display in countries around the world. His sculpture Crown Fountain, in Millennium Park in Chicago, has become one of the city’s landmarks.

Plensa, primarily a figurative artist, often uses ideas about language, communication, and connection in his sculptures and installations. The human face is the subject of his sculpture Utopia, encompassing the Garden Pavilion in the Welcome Center. A different face fills each wall of the expansive room. The faces of the diverse figures, wearing a calm, meditative expression, are universal symbols of the beauty inherent in humanity. Commissioned specifically for the Garden Pavilion, Utopia is Plensa's largest indoor work to date.

Jaume Plensa. Utopia, 2020. Marble, four walls each measuring 19 x 86 feet. Gift of Fred and Lena Meijer.Copyright ©2020 Jaume Plensa, courtesy of Richard Gray Gallery.