The exhibition Jaume Plensa: Water's Soul, curated by Jean Blanchaert and organized by FAI in collaboration with Fondazione Berengo, retraces the evolution of Plensa's glass creations, exploring his growing personal dialogue with the material to create contemplative portraits that inspire profound reflection.
Jaume Plensa has always explored the relationship between body, word, and spirit through works that combine monumentality and poetic lightness. Glass, a living and ever-changing material, reflects the light and fluidity of Venetian water, evoking an intimate dialogue with the surrounding environment. Visitors are greeted by Laguna, a unique work conceived as a tribute to the city of Venice: a sheet the color of Venetian water with two heads in conversation, evocatively placed alongside Alberto Viani's Nudo al sole, which rests on a slab of black marble bathed in a veil of water, once again evoking Venice's characteristic element. The work that gives the exhibition its title, Water's Soul, is another clear homage to the soul of the city.
The seventeen sculptures, set up in dialogue with the spaces of the Olivetti Store designed by Carlo Scarpa, were created in the Murano forges using the casting technique: the molten glass is poured into a mold, first in wax – modeled by hand by master glassmakers and the artist himself – and then in plaster, and once solidified, after about two months, it takes on the desired shape.
The exhibition is on view through January 6, 2026, at Negozio Olivetti, FAI Fondo per l’Ambiente Italiano, Piazza San Marco, Venezia.