UGO RONDINONE

Often employing natural forms and materials in his work, Rondinone’s examination of nature through painting, drawing,and sculpture alludes to deep, conceptual conversations surrounding the ways in which humans connect to theirenvironments and the elements that comprise them. Lightning bolts, which we ordinarily experience as flashes of light ina storm, also connect to Rondinone’s interest in the earthly realm and the sublime, as seen in German Romanticism andthe works of Caspar David Friedrich, whom he has often made references to in his practice. Lightning forms a bridgebetween the earthly realm and the divine, suggesting the possibility of transcending the physical world and everyday life.Rondinone’s light sculptures further recall other natural forms in our everyday life, including inverted branches or the rootsof a tree. As such, Rondinone places the quotidian as nothing short of extraordinary. As with the artist’s colored mountainand nuns + monks sculptures, which similarly feature natural forms painted in bright neon colors, the vivid, artificialcoloration of these works creates a stunning contrast and serves to evoke an altogether contemporary version of thesublime. Each composition emphasizes temporality and the fleeting passage of time, while simultaneously complicatingour conceptions of impermanence and materiality.

Concurrent to the presentation at Gladstone, Rondinone will have two exhibitions in New York at Journal Gallery(September 8 – September 21, 2023) and Martos Gallery (September 14 – October 21, 2023).

Ugo Rondinone (b. 1964, Brunnen, Switzerland) studied at the Universität fur Angewandte Kunst in Vienna before movingto New York in 1997 where he currently lives and works. His work has been the subject of solo presentations at the CentreGeorge Pompidou, Paris (2003); Whitechapel Gallery, London (2006); Art Institute of Chicago (2013); Rockbund Art VanBeuningen, Rotterdam (2016), MACRO, Rome (2016); Carre D’Art, Nimes (2016); Berkeley Art Museum (2017);Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati (2017); Bass Museum of Art, Miami (2017); Belvedere, Vienna (2021); TamayoMuseum, Mexico City (2022); Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt (2022); Petit Palais, Paris (2022); Scuola Grande San GiovanniEvangelista di Venezia, Venice (2022); The Musée d’Art et d’Histoire, Geneva (2023); Gladstone Gallery, Brussels (2023);Parrish Museum, New York (2023); Städel Museum (2023); Storm King Art Center, New York (2023). In November, hewill have a solo exhibitions at Fosun Foundation in Shanghai and a special installation at Phillips Collection, Washington.