Ugo Rondinone (b. 1964, Brunnen, Switzerland) lives and works in New York, US. He works in mixed-media installations that include sculpture, painting, video, sound, and photography. In his artistic poetics, Rondinone employs a multitude of metaphorical and iconographic images ranging from clouds, animals and figures to strong affirmative phrases such as ‘Hell, Yes!’. Adopting and making his own the language of psychedelia and advertising, the artist manifests his strong interest in the contemplation of life and everyday activities. As Rondinone explains, I see art making as a ritual, a meditation for myself.
Since 2013 Rondinone has been the subject of solo exhibitions at institutions including Kunsthalle Helsinki; Tate Liverpool; ARKEN Museum of Modern Art, Copenhagen; Bass Museum of Art, Miami; Château de Versailles; Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive; Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati; Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow; Place Vendôme, Paris; MACRO and Mercati di Traiano, Rome; Carré D’Art, Nimes; Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam; Palais De Tokyo, Paris; Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney; Secession, Vienna; Anahuacalli Museum, Mexico City; Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai; Museum of Cycladic Art, Athens; Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien; Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Deurle, Belgium; M – Museum Leuven, Belgium; Public Art Fund, Rockefeller Center; New York and Art Institute of Chicago.
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 ♥ John Giorno,” which honoured the artist’s life partner in thirteen non-profit art institutions throughout Manhattan.
