ΒΟΟΚ: Ugo Rondinone-Phaidon Publications

Profoundly interested in the contemplation of everyday life, Ugo Rondinone reconciles the visual language of psychedelia and advertising with meditative, intimate reflections on personal and collective experiences. This monograph by Paidon Publications brings fresh perspective to his remarkable life and career and is a must-have for his huge global following. Ugo Rondinone rose to international acclaim in the early 1990s with highly varied work. The Swiss-born artist produces paintings, drawings, sculpture (large and small), photography, video, and sound and installation art. He is also a poet, collector and curator. Ugo Rondinone artworks are meditations on the world and everyday life, that reflect particularly on the theme of time and, blur boundaries between what is real and artificial. Avoid making art that is intellectually complex Rondinone works with basic familiar imagery. In Rondinone’s practice, rainbows are one of the most common motifs. From 1997, he began producing lit rainbow signs presenting simple poetic titles and phrases in large characters in the shape and colours of the rainbow. At once beautiful and fantastical, the rainbow, easily recognised as an LGBT symbol, signifies the freedom to love whomever one wish. It is an especially important symbol for the artist given his affectionate relationship with John Giorno. Rondinone’s use of Day-Glo rainbow colours extends into many other works. One of the artist’s foundational sculptural motifs are his towers of brightly coloured rocks; a motif taken to its greatest heights in works like Seven Magic Mountains in Nevada (11 May 2016–2018). Not all of Rondinone’s art involves bright colours. Another of the artists favoured motifs consists of simple primitive figures, composed of rough-hewn stone blocks evoking man-made formations like Stonehenge. He also makes mask-like sculptures inspired by indigenous Alaskan Yup’ik mask. These aluminium casts made from clay moulds, are painted in a single dull color.-Efi Michalarou