The Meaning Behind the New Statue Towering Over New York’s Hudson River
Sculptor Jaume Plensa’s newest installation, “Water's Soul, 2020,” aims to inspire global action to protect “the most public space in the world.”
Water's Soul, 2020 on Newport Pier in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Photographer: Tim Schenck. Courtesy Gray, Chicago/New York
The 80-foot “Water’s Soul, 2020” by Spanish sculptor Jaume Plensa depicts the head of a young person with an index finger pressed against her lips, her eyes closed in a “gesture for quietude.”
The massive installation sits on the edge of the Hudson River, in Jersey City, New Jersey, paying tribute to the river and created as a call to protect all water, which Plensa calls “ the most public space in the world.”
Plensa’s piece was dedicated Thursday, the most recent example of public art that strives to inspire its audience to take action on a social issue, such the “Fearless Girl” statue in 2017 that called on companies to add more female board members. Recent works have included a focus on the environment, such as Maya Lin’s “Ghost Forest.”