Doors of Jerusalem I, II, & III
Artist
Jaume Plensa
Spanish, born 1955
Date2006
MediumResin, stainless steel, and light
Dimensions(each) 47 1/4 x 62 3/16 x 80 11/16 in. (120 x 158 x 205 cm)
ClassificationsTime Based Media
Credit LineGift of James Goodmon and Capitol Broadcasting Company
Object number2008.1/a-c
On View
Not on viewThe embossed text that covers the three figures of Jaume Plensa’s Doors of Jerusalem like tattoos are excerpts from the Song of Solomon (or Song of Songs) from the Bible, a collection of poems that have been interpreted on many levels, both spiritually and romantically. The eyes and mouths of the figures are covered by the names of the eight gates to the walled city of Jerusalem: New, Herod, Damascus, Golden (two doors: Gate of Repentance and Gate of Mercy), Lions, Jaffa, Zion, and Dung.
“In the Song of Songs,” says Plensa, “a woman tirelessly crosses this wall looking for her love. She dreams and imagines love is like a door in the wall. Perhaps this wall is another metaphor of the body and the doors another metaphor of the soul. Dream and desire are fused in the prison of the heart.”
[L. Dougherty, 2010]ProvenanceCreated 2006; collection of the artist; [Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago]; sold to NCMA, 2008.
Published ReferencesJaume Plensa (exhibition catalogue) (Nice, France: Musée d'Art Moderne et d'Art Contemporain, 2007), illus. (color) 242-43.
Linda Johnson Dougherty, "Jaume Plensa's Doors of Jerusalem," in North Carolina Museum of Art Preview (Fall 2010), discussed and illus. (color) 22-23.
Linda J. Dougherty, entry for Doors of Jerusalem I, II, & III, in North Carolina Museum of Art: Handbook of the Collections, rev. ed. (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 2010), 560, illus. (color) 561.
Exhibition HistoryVienna, Austria, Mario Mauroner Contemporary Art, "Canetti's Dream," April 1-June 3, 2006.
Nice, France, Musée d'Art Moderne et d'Art Contemporain, "Jaume Plensa," November 23, 2007-April 27, 2008, illus. (color) 242-43.
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