Rondinone’s work combines an irreverent pop sensibility with a deeply introspective tone.
Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone is creating the third installation of the Sandra and Gerald Fineberg Art Wall. Rondinone will enliven the ICA lobby with a dynamic new installation, covering the wall with 52 mirrored glass windows in a rainbow of colors and variety of sizes, and set against a backdrop of white-washed pages from The Boston Globe. The window frames, fashioned out of recycled barn wood painted gray, contrast with the sleekness of the mirrored glass window panes.
Rondinone’s titles are often inspired by literature, popular music, and poetry.The title for this project, Clockwork for oracles, is taken from a poem by Edmond Jabès, a writer known for his meditations on exile and Judaism. In Rondinone’s words, Jabès’s poetry reveals “a mystical attention to religious experience coupled with a real engagement with daily human conditions.”
This intersection of the divine and the mundane is echoed in Rondinone’s work, itself a study in contrasts. Clockwork for oracles asks us to slow down and contemplate the nature of time, while also inviting us to enjoy its playful sensory delight.
The Sandra and Gerald Fineberg Art Wall is dedicated to site-specific works by leading contemporary artists, commissioned annually.