Spanish artist Jaume Plensa on art in the era of NFTs: the celebrity sculptor demands his public works be important, democratic, beautiful ... and he invites us to look AND touch

Jaume Plensa has no concerns about appearing unfashionable when it comes to his view of what art is really all about.

“I think beauty is the soul of art,” he says, unequivocally. “Art has this tremendous importance, especially in the sense of introducing [beauty] to people’s everyday life. Of course, we can discuss what beauty means and that may be different for you than for me – but I think everyone has some conception of beauty in the back of their brain … and when you’re in front of it, you know it.

“There’s this idea [in the art world] that to talk about beauty is anachronistic – that it belongs to the past – an idea that I completely disagree with,” he adds.

The Spanish artist’s philosophy is clearly expounded in his sculptural works in a variety of materials – alabaster, stone, glass and steel – but also unconventional ones like water, light and sound. His work can be delicate and intimate, as with his collection of drawings, now on show at the UK’s Yorkshire Sculpture Park and the Picasso Museum in Antibes, France, but he is best known for his large-scale, poetic public works.

Spot them in Singapore – that’s his Soul at the Ocean Financial Centre; in Seoul, with his Possibilities; or in Shanghai with his House of Memory. He’s also had major pieces displayed in New York, Chicago, London, Paris, Dubai, Toronto, Nice and Tokyo. His pieces are hard to miss – indeed, one characteristic of many of his best known works is their sheer scale.

Last October he unveiled Water’s Soul in Newport, Jersey City, right on the Hudson River. The piece is 22 metres tall but, as he points out, with Manhattan as its backdrop, that’s not so big. Setting them within the urban environment makes the scale of his public artworks all the more important, he argues. Not that he uses the term “public art”.

“When city councils and critics and the like speak of ‘public art’ to me it sounds like they’re suggesting it’s in some way second league, or not strong intellectually – because ‘public art’ is strongly related with the kind of works you find on roundabouts,” he laughs.

“I prefer ‘art in public spaces’ because when you place a piece in that context you have to have a dialogue with the space, with the community and public areas, which are incredible places to develop art in a more democratic way. There is also an incredibly important return to society [through art in public places], because I think people have a hunger for beauty where they live.”