Rondinone Ugo
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“The Monk” by Ugo Rondinone transcends the material it is made of, yet the bronze still defines its weight, solidity, and striking presence. Remaining in its natural form, the matter transforms into a recognizable figure, enhanced by chromatic contrasts and a harmony born from the juxtaposition of different body parts — the head and the cloak — seamlessly integrated together. Thus, the human figure emerges from the shadow of abstraction.
The sculpture’s surface, a fusion of rough texture and vibrant color, resonates between the archaic and the contemporary, creating an effect of presence beyond temporal boundaries. Its very structure evokes medieval sculpture, serving the same religious and spiritual purpose to which the artist is deeply devoted. In a material that is as embodied as it is ethereal, the viewer seeks the strength and spirituality that imagination bestows upon the object.
Ugo Rondinone was born in 1964 in Brunnen, Switzerland and lives and works in New York.
Rondinone has been the subject of recent institutional exhibitions at: Petit Palais Museum in Paris 2022, MAH, Geneva 2023, Kujke Gallery, Seoul and Busan, South Korea; Auckland Art Gallery, New Zealand, and SKMU Sørlandets Kunstmuseum, Kristiansand, Norway in 2021; Medellín Museum of Modern Art, Colombia; Kunsthalle Helsinki, Finland; and Guild Hall, East Hampton, New York in 2019; Fundación Casa Wabi, Puerto Escondido, Mexico; Arken Museum of Modern Art, Ishøj, Denmark; and Tate Liverpool, UK in 2018; Bass Museum of Art, Miami; Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, California; Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, Ohio; Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow in 2017; and Carré d’Art, Nîmes, France; Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, NL; and The Institute of Contemporary Art Boston, US in 2016.
In 2013, Rondinone installed “human nature”, an exhibition of nine monumental stone figures in Rockefeller Plaza, New York, organized by Public Art Fund.
In 2016, Rondinone’s large-scale public work seven magic mountains opened outside Las Vegas, co-produced by the Art Production Fund and Nevada Museum of Art.
In 2017, Rondinone curated a city-wide exhibition, “Ugo Rondinone: I love John Giorno,” which was presented in twelve New York non-profit institutions: Artists Space, High Line Art, Howl! Happening, Hunter College Art Galleries, the Kitchen, New Museum, Red Bull Arts New York, Rubin Museum of Art, SkyArt, Swiss Institute, White Columns and 80WSE Gallery.
Recent and forthcoming exhibitions include: kamel mennour, Paris; Eva Presenhuber, Zurich; Gladstone Gallery, New York; Sadie Coles HQ, London; Sant’Andrea de Scaphis, Rome; Galerie Krobath, Vienna; Belvedere 21, Vienna; Museo Tamayo, Mexico City; Schim Kunsthalle, Frankfurt; Städel Museum, Frankfurt, and and the Phillip’s Collection, Washington, D.C, and Scuola Grande San Giovanni Evangelista during the 59th Venice Biennial.