Human Nature by Swiss-born, New York-based artist Ugo Rondinone is a public art exhibition at the Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan that was unveiled by New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg last week. Human Nature consists of nine huge stone figures that are standing like ancient sentries along the full length of Rockefeller Plaza. The figures were assembled at Rockefeller Center over the course of several days. They range in height from 16 to 20 feet and weigh up to 30,000 pounds each. To created the figures, Ugo Rondinone used massive bluestone slabs. The stones were rough-cut into blocks and stacked on top of each other. The installation recalls a modern Stonehenge.
Ugo Rondinone was born in Brunnen, Switzerland, in 1962. He was master student under Ernst Caramelle at the Hochschule für angewandte Kunst (University of Applied Arts) in Vienna from 1985 until 1990. Since the late 1990s he lives in New York. Since 1985 Ugo Rondinone’s work has been included in numerous international solo and group exhibitions.
The new Public Art Fund exhibition opened on April 23 and is on view until June 7, 2013.
Ugo Rondinone: Human Nature. Rockefeller Plaza, New York City, April 22, 2013. Video by Shimon Azulay.
PS: More videos on Ugo Rondinone:
- Ugo Rondinone: The Night of Lead at Aargauer Kunsthaus (Retrospective)
- Ugo Rondinone: Kiss Now Kill Later / Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zürich
- The Third Mind, Carte blanche à Ugo Rondinone / Palais de Tokyo, Paris (curated by Ugo Rondinone)
- Ugo Rondinone: Seven Magic Mountains
> Right-click (Mac: ctrl-click) this link to download Quicktime video file.
