CHICAGO — World-renowned sculptor Jaume Plensa, who created the uber-popular Crown Fountain in Millennium Park, will soon be adding more of his work to the park to celebrate its 10th anniversary.
The project "Jaume Plensa: 1004 Portraits" features four "sculptural portraits" of young women — between 18 and 28 feet tall — positioned around the park. The sculptures are designed to "complement" and "expand upon" the 1,000 LED portraits of Chicago residents that illuminate the Crown Fountain, according to a statement about the project.
“We are tremendously grateful to Mr. Plensa for allowing Chicago to host these pieces; we can think of no better way to celebrate our 10th anniversary than by hosting such an impressive array of works by one of the artists whose contributions to Millennium Park have made it a model for public spaces worldwide," said Donna La Pietra, chairwoman of the Millennium Park Foundation.
The largest sculpture, made of resin, will be at Michigan Avenue and Madison Street and is called, "Looking into My Dreams, Awilda." Three cast iron sculptures will also be installed in the South Boeing Gallery immediately east of the Crown Fountain. All three have a "hologram-like quality," the statement said.
“These four portraits are each individually awe-inspiring, but in this configuration also perfectly extend the powerful grandeur of Mr. Plensa’s Crown Fountain into the surrounding areas of Millennium Park,” La Pietra said.
The installation will open to the public starting June 18 and will remain on display through December 2015.
Plensa will host a public discussion on his work on June 16 from 6-7 p.m. in the Fullerton Hall at the Art Institute of Chicago, 111 S. Michigan Ave.
Millennium Park opened in 2004. The Crown Fountain quickly became one of its most popular attractions that some described as a "mini-water park."
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