ENDLESS, 2023
Raclin Murphy Museum of Art, Notre Dame, IN, USA
Unveiled on October 27, 2023
University of Notre Dame, IN, USA
Based in Barcelona, Jaume Plensa is among the most distinguished international artists working today. He has produced a multifaceted repertoire, frequently creating sculpture that speaks of the depth and beauty of the human experience. Heavily influenced by language and the power of communication, broadly, and on specific occasions, literature and beloved authors, Plensa frequently incorporates linguistic elements into his work. Here, he has incorporated characters from Arabic, Chinese, Cyrillic, Greek, Hindi, Japanese, and Latin alphabets that combine to create a tower that seems to join earth and sky. Deeply inspired by his visits to the University of Notre Dame and its mission, he sees the quest for knowledge, for truth, as a noble, ongoing endeavor across time and around the world. Plensa sees Endless not as a monument, but as a celebration of life - "a portrait of humanity in the absence of the human figure." The sculpture recalls the impact of monumentality and power of repetition from antiquity to Postmodernism.
Gift of Charles S. Hayes, ND ‘65
In honor of Museum Council and staff, present and past
