The first of a four-chapter publication series by Ugo Rondinone, this catalogue documents the installation Vocabulary of Solitude—an arrangement of his works inspired by the color spectrum. The centerpiece comprises forty-five life-size sculptures of passive and contemplative clowns, who together describe the anguish of human solitude.
With his installations, Ugo Rondinone creates personal dreamscapes. In his retrospective exhibition at the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, the artist presented Vocabulary of Solitude, an arrangement of his works inspired by the color spectrum. Clowns, clocks, candles, shoes, windows, light bulbs and rainbows: they are recognizable images that speak to all of us. These symbols excite free-association and memories. The forty-five clowns with their different postures represent activities of everyday life, at the same time expressing the anguish of human solitude: be, breathe, sleep, dream, wake, rise, sit, hear, look, think, stand, walk, pee, shower, dress, drink, fart, shit, read, laugh, cook, smell, taste, eat, clean, write, daydream, remember, cry, nap, touch, feel, moan, enjoy, float, love, hope, wish, sing, dance, fall, curse, yawn, undress, lie. This is the first of a four-chapter publication series by Ugo Rondinone.
Published following the eponymous exhibition at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, from February 13 to May 29, 2016.
Also available in a
Limited Edition box set.
Ugo Rondinone (*1963, Switzerland) has lived in New York for several years. Using photography, video, painting, drawing, sculpture, sound, and text by turns, Rondinone is a virtuoso of forms and techniques.
Developing surprising sensorial environments, he especially likes destabilizing our perceptions and unsettling our certainties. Rearranging content and formal elements, a personal poetic with elements taken directly from the outside world, he draws us into a synesthetic experience.
See also
Palais #22 – Ugo Rondinone – I Love John Giorno;
Bomb #140;
Album – On/around the work of Urs Fischer, Yves Netzhammer, Ugo Rondinone and Christine Streuli.
