The monumental sculptures 'Silvia' and 'María' by Jaume Plensa are already in Benidorm

From today until September 26, those who visit El Castell de Benidorm will meet 'Silvia' and 'María' on their tour, two monumental sculptures by the artist Jaume Plensa owned by the Hortensia Herraro Foundation and which have been temporarily ceded to the City Council by the entity to be exhibited in the Plaza de Santa Ana. After several days of assembly, both sculptures already shine with their 7 meters high in the anteroom of El Castell, capturing the first glances and photographs of the hundreds of thousands who will receive them up to the end of summer.

The mayor, Toni Pérez; the Councilor for Historical and Cultural Heritage, Ana Pellicer; and the president of the Foundation, Hortensia Herrero herself, have welcomed 'Silvia' and 'María' to what will be her home for the next six months.

Toni Pérez has assured that "there is no better milestone to open Holy Week in Benidorm than this magnificent exhibition" by Jaume Plensa, the result of the "wonderful alliance" drawn up between the Hortensia Herrero Foundation and the City Council, who have "in art in the street” a common “reference”.

The mayor remarked that "thanks to the generosity" of the Foundation "we are very lucky and have the enormous opportunity to have 'Silvia' and 'María' greet and say goodbye to the day" from a "unique location", which makes both monumental sculptures "are visible both from the East and from the West".

After stressing that Benidorm once again bets on configuring itself as an open-air museum, he thanked Hortensia Herrero for "wanting to share this day with us". A woman of whom he has stated that she is "a leading businesswoman and reference in Spain" whom "we permanently applaud for this work and business risk and also for this philanthropy", this action "in favor of culture and art" and that it "is available to everyone".

During the presentation of this exhibition, which in its first hours aroused much expectation, Javier Molins, the Foundation's artistic advisor, detailed Jaume Plensa's creative process and outlined the most significant characteristics of his work. In this case, 'Silvia' and 'María' arise from two photographs taken by the author himself and processed on the computer to lengthen their figure “as artists such as El Greco, Modigliani, and Giacometti did in their day” since Plensa also considers that “distortion can be beautiful”.

Molins detailed that both present themselves with "closed eyes" because they "look inside" and invite the viewer to "find moments of reflection" among "the noise that surrounds us" and to "look inside ourselves to find ourselves. ”. With both sculptures, of more than 7 tons, Jaume Plensa also follows "the tradition of monumental art".

The artistic advisor of the Hortensia Herrero Foundation indicated that Jaume Plensa "has always been characterized by taking sculpture to the street", this time at a square where both sculptures "can dialogue" and " have your space” with “the most iconic image of Benidorm in the background: its 'skyline'”.

Molins recalled that "the idea of the Foundation" is to "share these sculptures" with the public and that they "travel through the Valencian Community". This journey has previously taken them to Valencia, Elche, Vila-Real, and Gandía, stopping “now in Benidorm as the culmination of this trip” through the region.