 The second hour of the poem, 2005 cast wax, pigments © the artist Courtesy Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zurich Ugo Rondinone zero built a nest in my navel Described as a visionary trapped by reality, Ugo Rondinone takes us on a journey through the doors of perception. Working across different media and styles, he references literature, music and theatre as well as the visual arts, creating sensory and theatrical installations in which transcendent inner worlds and earthbound life collide. Born in Switzerland in 1964, Rondinone first came to international attention in the early 1990s with installations combining photography, video, painting, drawing, sculpture and sound. His exhibitions can include India ink landscapes in the Romantic tradition, or mesmerising target paintings that recall the trance-inducing images of 1960s psychædelia. He combines works with an up-beat, pop sensibility with others that reflect a mood of longing and disconnection, from photographs of a man and a woman who never meet to melancholy images of clowns slumped on floors. For his first major UK exhibition, Rondinone has created a new installation that centres on a large structure in reflective Perspex. Like an open-ended maze, it frames a series of masks and sculptures that project an interior, mental state onto a spectral, Gothic landscape. A pre-recorded dialogue loops in a darkened sensory environment and, like a Samuel Beckett play, presents a never-ending circle of disconnection. The exhibition title is taken from a number of haikus the artist has been writing daily, like a diary, and transferring onto canvas. Eclectic in media and subject matter, Rondinone considers the nature of artistic contemplation. His works reflect on the conflict between reality and a world of mirrors, dreams and artifice. Curated by David Thorp. In collaboration with The Henry Moore Foundation. Kind assistance from the Exhibition Circle: Shane Akeroyd and those who wish to remain anonymous. Generous support of Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zurich, Sadie Coles HQ, London, Matthew Marks Gallery, New York, Galerie Almine Rech, Paris, Galerie Esther Schipper, Berlin, Galleria Raucci/Santamaria, Naples. Supported by: Stanley Thomas Johnson Foundation, Fondation Nestlé pour l'Art, Pro Helvetia, Arts Council of Switzerland, UK+CH Supported by Presence Switzerland. Exhibition: 24 January - 26 March 2006 Gallery hours: Tues-Sun 11 am - 6 pm, Thursdays until 9 pm Whitechapel Art Gallery 80-82 Whitechapel High Street GB-London E1 7QX Telephone +44 20 7522 7878 (recorded information) Fax +44 20 7377 1685 Email info@whitechapel.org www.whitechapel.org |
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