Benidorm Tourism | Sílvia and María, the iconic sculptures by Jaume Plensa, take over El Castell de Benidorm

The two iconic sculptures by Jaume Plensa can be seen from this Monday in the Plaza de Santa Ana, in front of the Castell de Benidorm, and will be on view until September 26th. Parts acquired by the Hortensia Herrero and Mercadona Foundation, They have already passed through the City of Arts and Sciences, along with five other sculptures with similar characteristics; Elche; Real Village; and Gandía and will now spend their days temporarily in Benidorm.

The two pieces are seven meters high and weigh 7,500 kilos each and represent the heads of two women, baptized as Sylvia and Maria. Through this exhibition, the artist expresses his idea of femininity, with models that represent slightly distorted faces of girls made of cast iron. This initiative grew out of a previous Plensa project, in which he photographed a thousand faces in Chicago. The two now on display in Benidorm were acquired by the Hortensia Herrero Foundation.

The installation of both sculptures It took several days of meetings to be able to locate them in this enclave. They have already captured the first looks and photographs of the first hundreds of thousands of visitors they will receive until 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, received the sculptures with the name of a woman who will be their home for the next six months.

Sylvia and Maria They arise from individual photographs taken by the author himself and processed on the computer to elongate his figure “as artists like El Greco, Modigliani and Giacometti did in their time”, as Plensa also considers that “distortion can be beautiful”, as he explained Javier Molins, artistic advisor to the Foundation. Both come with “eyes closed” because they “look inward” and invite the viewer to “find moments of reflection” between “the noise that surrounds us” and “looking inside to find ourselves”, he added. With both sculptures, weighing more than 7 tons, Jaume Plensa also follows “the tradition of monumental art”.

The author “has always been characterized by taking sculpture to the street”, this time in the anteroom of El Castell, in a square where both sculptures “they can talk” and “have their space” with “the most iconic image of Benidorm in the background: its 'horizon' on the beach,” said Molins.

But also, this idea of taking sculpture to the street is in line with what Benidorm has done in recent years: become an open-air museum. As this newspaper has already published, the city explores its most cultural part in open spaces where sculptures, photographs or works are displayed on the street to attract visitors and revitalize neighborhoods. Plensa now joins this already long list of artists who have exhibited in the municipality.

The Foundation's idea is to “share these sculptures” with the public and for them to “travel” through the Valencian Community, according to Molins. The mayor indicated that “there is no better landmark to open Holy Week in Benidorm than this magnificent exhibition”, the result of the “wonderful alliance” established between the Hortensia Herrero Foundation and the City Council, which “in street art” a common “reference”. “We are very lucky and have the enormous opportunity to have Sylvia and Maria greeting and farewell for the day”, highlighted Pérez.

The first mayor thanked Hortensia Herrero for “I wanted to share this day with us“. A woman who stated that she is “a leading businesswoman and reference in Spain” who “we permanently applaud for this work and business risk and also for this philanthropy”, this action “in favor of culture and art” and which “is available for all".