In Freedom Park, a new sculpture by Jaume Plensa poses questions about humanity and missed connections.
On October 23, 2023 Plensa was in attendance for an unveiling ceremony where he was honored by Atlanta District 2 City Councilmember Amir Farokhi and the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs. In the lead up to the event, Councilmember Farokhi used office funds and worked with Plensa’s U.S. based agent, the GRAY Gallery, to coordinate with the City of Atlanta and ensure that Plensa could be present for a dedication in the park.
Fortunately, Plensa was already headed to the states to attend an opening of the Raclin Murphey Museum of Art at Notre Dame University where one of his public artworks is now installed outside of the museum.
To welcome the artist to Atlanta, Farokhi also hosted an informal reception at the Trolley Barn in Inman Park, where attendees included staff from the High Museum of Art, the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, board members from the Freedom Park Conservancy, and officers from surrounding Poncey-Highland and Inman Park neighborhood associations.
Credit: Stephen Dennis
Credit: Stephen Dennis
Plensa, who was born in 1955 in Spain, is one of the world’s premier sculptors working today. His works can be found in prominent and noteworthy locations across the globe including Barcelona, Montréal, London, Dubai, Nice, Shanghai, Jerusalem, Liverpool, Rio, Tokyo, Toronto, Singapore, Frankfort, Vancouver, Chicago, Houston, Miami, and now also Atlanta. Though his works often utilize a variety of media, they share an emphasis on humanity, the human body, and spirituality.
Self Portrait III was installed in Freedom Park over the weekend. The installation was first set in motion back in 2017 when Mayor Kasim Reed set aside $4.4 million in infrastructure bond funds for the acquisition of world-class public artworks. A selection jury then identified and purchased said works, and Self Portrait III was among them.
The Freedom Park location was chosen due to the park’s status as Atlanta’s designated Art Park and the favorable conditions for public access. The density of surrounding neighborhoods, the park’s linear nature that connects communities from the MLK Center to Emory University, and the visibility of the site for the whopping 45,000 commuters who pass by the site each day make the park a prime location for a sculpture of such importance.
The sculpture was acquired through Renew Atlanta Infrastructure Bond’s Landmark Public Art Initiative which aims to secure public sculptures by artists from Atlanta and abroad and display them in accessible locations across the city. This effort serves to honor the city’s global diversity, ambitions, and helps to secure Atlanta as an international destination for art. Self Portrait III was one of nine artworks acquired through the initiative and is the third to be installed in Freedom Park.
Credit: Stephen Dennis
Credit: Stephen Dennis
“Jaume Plensa’s installation is a wonderful moment for the fabric of our city,” said Councilmember Amir Farokhi. “Art like this creates moments of wonder, joy, and reflection. Something all great cities should aspire to do if they want people to feel seen and connected to a place.”
Self Portrait III is a 10-foot-tall stainless steel sphere encircling the seated figure of a man, both of which are composed of lettering from nine languages including Hindi, Chinese, Hebrew, Japanese, Arabic, Cyrillic, Tamil, and Greek. The composition of this work positions humanity at the center of a global conversation and inspires conversation about the nature of art as a means of communication that is not limited to spoken language.
The acquisition of such an internationally important symbol of unity is particularly poignant now, given the state of discord around the world, and further cements Atlanta as a city of artistic merit on an international scale. Bravo!
Credit: Rough Draft Atlanta
Credit: Rough Draft Atlanta
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