This will be ‘La Puerta del Alma’ by Jaume Plensa for the Basilica of Vera Cruz in Caravaca

‘La Puerta del Alma’ is the project that the prestigious artist Jaume Plensa (Barcelona, ​​1955) has in his hands, recognized for his impressive sculptures and installations in public spaces, for the recently restored Baroque façade of the Basilica of Vera Cruz in Caravaca . A project commissioned by the Brotherhood of Vera Cruz que Plensa, winner of the Velázquez Prize in 2013 and the National Prize for Plastic Arts in 2012, was unveiled this Monday at a ceremony in the old church of the Compañía de la Ciudad Santa.

After its recent tribute to the Liceu, to music, to Gaudí’s railings and to Miró’s constellations at the new doors of the Gran Teatro del Liceo in Barcelona, ​​on the occasion of its 175th anniversary, Plensa has been working for the last year on the project for Caravaca de la Cruz, and, in fact, he visited the city in December 2021 to get to know the place and take his soul with him.

A moment of the presentation of the project ‘La Puerta del Alma’, this Monday in Caravaca. /

Nacho Garcia / agm

What Plensa proposes for the Basilica of Vera Cruz when imagining the new door, the main access to the building designed by the Carmelite architect Fray Alberto de la Madre de Dios, are the hands of a Blessed Christ. «I wanted to complete the image of Christ associated with the Cross, with the other representation of him as Salvatori Mundi, Pantocrator, the Blessed Christ. This dialogue between the Cross (the sacrifice of Christ) and the image of his blessing right hand (Cristo Maiestatico) creates the perfect duality in the complete representation of Christ: Sacrifice and Love », the artist collects in his project. «The posture of the blessing hand is rooted in the most ancient of the iconographic tradition of Christ: the Master who guides us. The Father who loves us. El Salvador turned into the door of our Souls”, explains Plensa, about the philosophy and the concept.

Jaume Plensa, on the left, on his last visit to Caravaca de la Cruz in December 2021.

The Plensa project is based on this idea, that the new doors for the Basilica of Vera Cruz in Caravaca are “an invitation to enter, they do not reject or choose, they unite us in their spirituality. When opened, the sculpted hand expands, becoming the Christ of generous love that protects and embraces all Humanity. Let us remember the words of John: ‘I am the door: enter me, and you will be saved’».

The art historian and gallery owner Nacho Ruiz (T20 Proyectos) is convinced that this door by Jaume Plensa, his first work in the Region of Murcia, will be “a sculptural milestone that must be visited, that must be known and that it will be the door of this region. According to Ruiz, Plensa is “one of the great artists in the world, with an ambition equal to his universal greatness” and he is convinced that this door is “the greatest tribute we can pay to Vera Cruz.”

The artist himself took part in the public act in Caravaca, along with his older brother, Luis Melgarejo, and the rector of the basilica, Emilio Sánchez. Currently, the main door of the temple is covered by an impersonal and irrelevant metal plate, repainted on different occasions and with damage repaired over time.

The Brotherhood of Vera Cruz will have to pronounce on the project, as well as address the question of its financing. Caravaca, in this way, joins an extensive list of cities around the world that boast of having a piece by Plensa in their territory, possibly the Spanish artist with the greatest international projection at the moment.

The Giant Girl from New Jersey

The latest work that has given Plensa international projection is the gigantic sculpture of a girl in New Jersey, on the banks of the Hudson River, opposite New York, a 24-meter-high work called ‘El alma del agua’, which represents the face of a young woman with her finger on her lips.

The sculpture recently installed on the banks of the Hudson River, in New Jersey, facing Manhattan. /

REUTERS

When he won the National Prize for Plastic Arts in 2012, the Ministry of Culture valued the Barcelona artist for his impeccable career in the recovery of materials, his sculptures in cast iron and the incorporation of light, texts written in relief, etc. He has also worked with synthetic resin, cast glass, alabaster, stainless steel, marble, plastic, light, video and sound. In addition, he has abundant work on paper and graphic work, and has collaborated on theater and opera projects with set and costume design.