Blow the whistle on 'em

The first thing I noticed with Jaume Plensa's work was how fragile and delicate some of his figure sculptures seemed from afar as opposed to the solidity and strong look of sculptures from artists such as Antony Gormley and Henry Moore who use solid blocks of metals like copper or steel to create some of there pieces.

I think Jaume Plensa likes people to be able to see more then what meet the eye at first glance for example the 'Nomad' sculpture at the entrance to the Yorkshire Sculpture park, I first thought it was just two figures in a sitting position but when you get closer you can see the figures are not complete shapes and they are not made from random metal pieces, they are created by metal characters from all different languages and you are able to step inside it's cage like structure and get a different view, looking out of the sculpture rather then in.  His sculptures are not one sided and as simple as what you see is what it is, you can run your fingers over the lettering and textures of the metals and each side you stand at gives a different perspective of the figures. The lettering looks like it is floating and not all connected this is done by the seemless welding and the subtle connections of the metals. I like how he uses light to enhance his work and how shadows cast by the spaces between the scattered letters and steel metal mesh are all an addition to the overall sculpture in pieces like 'Irma Nuria' and the 'Nomad'.

Plensa is different and also similar to artists like Antony Gormley, Henry Moore and Mimmo Paladino. I see similarities in sculptures such as Heart of trees (2007), Porta d'Oriente (2005), One & Other (2000) and Draped Seated Woman (1957-8). The sculptors used strong metallic materials such as bronze, copper and steel and some have a worn aged look about them this is also to do with the colours of the dull metals used, Plensa seemed to be the only sculpture out of this group to use fresh clean white coloured sculptures and a lot of his work was enhanced by the brightness and reflections of the light. Its quite bizarre to see figures with no real pose or action and they all seem to be cold and emotionless. I find it interesting that each artist has chosen to create something that looks out of place and with no real explanation about the simple figure shapes, I think this is so the purpose and meaning of the pieces is open to interpretation.