Ugo Rondinone

Ugo Rondinone, long last happy, 2020, neon, acrylic glass, translucent foil, aluminum, 313 x 768 x 15 cm. Image © Studio Rondinone

From June 26 to October 24, 2021 the second Kortrijk Triennial will take place. Titled Paradise Kortrijk 2021, it includes works by Ryan Gander and Ugo Rondinone.

Paradise Kortrijk 2021 invites contemporary artists to participate and reflect on modern questions. What are meaningful values today and how can we construct a better society? By installing artworks in the heart of the dynamic city, the significance of the artists’ vision becomes present in public. The participative element is crucial in the project: through an active experience, interaction is activated by the visitor. Through this experience, the visitor is offered the opportunity to modify their way of thinking, both about themselves and about our current society.

During Paradise Kortrijk 2021, two immense, brightly colored, rainbow-shaped neons by Ugo Rondinone will appear on the roof of the Budatoren and the Heilig Hart Woon- en Zorghotel. While cry me a river (1997) is the first rainbow neon ever produced by the artist, long last happy is a new commission conceived specifically for the occasion.

Exhibition view: Ugo Rondinone, your age, my age, and the age of the rainbow, Belvedere Palace Garden, Vienna, 2021. Photo © Johannes Stoll / Belvedere, Vienna

In Ugo Rondinone's work, the rainbow features prominently as a recurring motif with multiple meanings. It is not only an impressive spectacle of nature but also a symbol of peace, equality, tolerance, and the connection between heaven and earth. 

Together with the Belvedere, Rondinone invited children aged 6 to 12 years to paint rainbow pictures. This hope-filled project was launched in the spring of 2021 by the Belvedere's art education team in collaboration with elementary schools throughout Austria.

The result is the participatory work your age and my age and the age of the rainbow, which consists of 1,085 rainbow panels. The 70-meter-long installation is on view through November 1, 2021 in the Belvedere Palace Garden between the Belvedere and Belvedere 21.

Photo © Andrea Rossetti

This week for our Spotlight we present Ugo Rondinone's zweiteraprilzweitausendundsiebzehn, 2017 and the quick, 2019.⁠⠀
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Taking the universally recognized motif of a brick wall as point of departure, Ugo Rondinone's large scale zweiteraprilzweitausendundsiebzehn traverses the boundary between sculpture and painting.⁠⠀
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the quick is made of hewn bluestone. Five blocks have been stacked atop one another to form the basic shape of a human body—legs, waist, torso, and head. The stones, whose rough edges result of the quarry work, have not been modified. The marks left by weather, wind and corrosion contrast with the smooth surface of the poured concrete plinth.⁠

Click here to see the full Spotlight!

Exhibition view: Philippe Parreno, Manifestations, Esther Schipper, Berlin, 2020
Photo © Andrea Rossetti

This Letter from Berlin introduces new documentation for Philippe Parreno’s Manifestations and Ugo Rondinone’s nuns + monks. Both exhibitions remain on view through October 17. 

This weekend the Lenbachhaus presents Ari Benjamin Meyers' K Club at Blitz Club in Munich. Also in Munich, Gabriel Kuri's exhibition as part of Various Others remains on view at Walter Storms Galerie through October 31. Please find detailed information below. 

Read the entire Letter from Berlin here

Hier finden Sie die deutsche Version unseres Briefes aus Berlin

Ugo Rondinone, the sun, 2017, gilded bronze, ø 500 cm
Photo © Domaine des Etangs & Studio Rondinone

Opening on August 10, Guild Hall presents sunny days, a solo exhibition by Ugo Rondinone featuring sun-themed sculpture and paintings, as well as a collaboration with area school children. The exhibition, which explores the sun as a motif and metaphor, is divided into three parts: paintings, sculptures, and a community art project.

More information can be found HERE.

Ugo Rondinone, moonrise. east. april, 2005, cast aluminium, brown enamel, wood plinth, 187 x 105 x 110 cm (sculpture), 58 x 121,5 x 119,5 cm (plinth)
Photo © Studio Rondinone

The 14th Small Sculpture Triennial will take place in Fellbach from June 1 through September 29, 2019. Titled 40,000 – A Museum of Curiosity this year's Triennial draws inspiration from the spectacular findings of the prehistoric figurines in the caves of the nearby Swabian Jura, which, dating back some 40,000 years, include the lion-man and the Venus of Hohle Fels. Curated by Dr Brigitte Franzen, the triennial includes works by more than 50 artists, including Matti Braun and Ugo Rondinone.

More information

Image: Ugo Rondinone, the radiant, 2018⁣
Photo © Studio Rondinone⁣
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Visit Ugo Rondinone's extensive new website at www.ugorondinone.com

Ugo Rondinone, let's start this day again

Image: © Ugo Rondinone

Starting May 6, 2017, CAC–Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati will present let's start this day again, a solo exhibition by Ugo Rondinone. This hypnotic installation will be carefully layered in groups that include a neon rainbow, colored gels on the windows, floating mandalas, blurred target paintings, painted windows, gradient color walls and a surreal cast of life-size, clown sculptures. Presented as a constellation, Rondinone marries elements he has used in the past to “bring all those groups together in a colorful symphony.”

Ugo Rondinone

clockwork for oracles II, 2008

Photo © Studio Ugo Rondinone