Jaume Plensa, best known for monumental sculptures in public spaces across international destinations from Chicago to Venice, Italy, has unveiled the rendering of his first Downtown San Diego public installation entitled Pacific Soul that will be on display in the public plaza at Pacific Gate by Bosa luxury residences.
Scheduled to be installed in late 2017, the sculpture will be hallmark Plensa.
Pacific Soul and Pacific Gate will be located at the emerging gateway to Downtown at the corner of Pacific and Broadway. The skyline-changing architecture of Pacific Gate coupled with the size and relevance of Plensa’s installation mark a dramatic and memorable welcome to the world.
Nat Bosa, president of Bosa Development, says, “We are passionate about elevating Downtown San Diego onto the international stage. Plensa’s Pacific Soul will be the third public installation we have commissioned Downtown. We are confident that Plensa’s international presence in the fine arts, and the millions of people his sculptures have touched, will bring attention and visitors from the around the world.”
Says Plensa, “Pacific Soul is inspired by the ocean, our greatest public space and a bridge which connects the world. The ocean is always in movement, always changing; we never know precisely where a drop of water will go, or where it has been before. It is filled with potential. That idea also holds true for the community of San Diego. I hope my sculpture will be an icon for the city, embracing the diverse community which is always changing yet always intrinsically connected to the ocean.”
Approximately 25 feet tall, Pacific Soul (2017) is the Jaume Plensa’s most ambitious sculpture in California to date. Composed of the characters from eight different alphabets including Latin, Hebrew, Greek, Cyrillic, Arabic, Japanese, Chinese, and Hindi, Pacific Soul draws its inspiration from the roots of rainforest trees, as the sculpture grows from organic, wrapping, root-like ribbons which create the shape of the human body made from language. Plensa believes language to be the self portrait of a culture; he utilizes alphabets as a metaphor, joining together humanity through art. Letters and language have been part of the artist’s practice for several years. Pacific Soul is the first public work in the US that incorporates the artist’s use of root-like ribbons at the base, out of which the form organically develops.
Plensa’s West Coast public installations include Endless V (2012) in the Beverly Gardens Park in Beverly Hills, Laura and Awilda (2014) in the collection of the Palm Springs Art Museum and Echo, a monumental portrait, in the collection of the Seattle Art Museum and installed at the Olympic Sculpture Park.
Plensa’s work will join two other Bosa-commissioned public art installations, one at The Grand Building by New York-based Spencer Finch and the other at Bayside by London-based Shirazch Houshiary.