ART CITIES: Brussels-Ugo Rondinone

Ugo Rondinone has garnered international attention for his poetic, evocative work across a wide range of styles and media. Often working on multiple ongoing series over many years, the artist is primarily interested in conducting personal investigations of the way materials possess and dispense energy. Gaining prominence in the 1990s, Rondinone’s work was heralded both for its preternatural use of material and its open-ended, emotional content.

By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: Gladstone Gallery Archive

Ugo Rondinone urges the viewers to wander through his art, both physically and metaphysically, to envelop their senses with everything they see, hear, touch, and experience. The theme of openness recurs in Rondinone’s work and runs through all of his endeavors, regardless of material or symbolism.  His solo exhibition “nuns + monks at the sea” brings together a selection of painted sculptures from his ongoing body of work, “nuns + monks”, and paintings from his “Mattituck” series, depicting sunsets at the artist’s home on Long Island, New York. This marks the first time either series has been presented in Belgium. As is the case with all earlier presentations, this group of paintings and sculptures were made specifically for this context, offering the viewer a serene, soulful, and contemplative environment in which to experience these quiet, powerful works. Imbued with the weightiness and intrigue of holy people, Rondinone’s nuns + monks have an undeniable presence, both as individuals and in carefully constructed groupings. These humanoid characters are composed of two elements painted with different colors: a large monolithic stone topped by a smaller one to create a bodily form. Placed on concrete pedestals, each sculpture has its own personality, with varying folds, dents, and crags that create wonderfully complex shadows and textures along their smoothed-out, vibrant finishes. Earlier works from this series consisted of larger-than-life figures that stood massively tall and made of bronze. Here, however, Rondinone has turned his attention to smaller sculptural forms, which appear as votive objects created for solitary connection and prayer. These precious and intimately-sized works demonstrate the care and precision in Rondinone’s hand, having been carved from limestone. Walking through the installation in this domestic space turned gallery, the viewer is able to approach each sacred personage and form a significant, singular bond with each figure encountered. In the “Mattituck” paintings, named for the coastal spit of the North Fork of Long Island where he has a home and studio, Rondinone engages the Romantic sublime to capture the awe-inspiring celestial and oceanic in simplified yet evocative forms, allowing rich colors to permeate each scene with effective power. From this easterly orientation, the course of the sun and moon is particularly dramatic, as their courses curve above the horizon line. Similar to the artist’s ‘cloud’ and ‘sun’ paintings, each artwork title records the day and year of its completion and provides a diaristic memorial for each moment captured. Each work is composed using three differing, often complementary colors, and celebrates the singular magic of each moment encountered by the artist.

Photo: Installation view: Ugo Rondinone, nuns + monks at the sea, Gladstone Gallery-Brussels, 2023, Courtesy the artist and Gladstone Gallery

Info: Gladstone Gallery, Grote Hertstraat 12 Rue du Grand Cerf, Brussels, Belgium, Duration: 28/1-4/3/2023, Days & Hours: Tue-Fri 10;00-18:00, Sat 12:00-18:00, www.gladstonegallery.com/