Ugo Rondinone

This book was published on the occasion of the exhibition Ugo Rondinone: Nude at the Museum of Cycladic Art in 2012.

 

Jointed like store-window mannequins, Rondinone's figures are exquisitely detailed, as they are cast in wax directly from the human body. The sections of each figure are made of different earth colors, a mixture of wax and earth pigments. Naked and vulnerable, they seem to be resting after having performed. But why are they resting? What from? Maybe from life? Did they ever have their own life? Rondinone often uses the human figure in his work in order to explore the processes of how cultural meaning is created and circulated through the language of figuration. His work invites the viewer to reflect on the transience of human life. In the context of the Museum of Cycladic Art exhibition, where the Cycladic figurines of the permanent collection remain for thousands of years hermetically closed, resting in enigmatic serenity, Rondinone’s resting figures invited the viewer to reflect on the evolution of the figuration through the centuries but also on how humanity deals with existential questions through time.

 

Published by An Art Service, 2012

 

Paperback
English
38 pages

ISBN 978-1-938560-11-8