Major New Public Artwork by Ugo Rondinone Announced for Liverpool Waterfront
Ugo Rondinone, Miami Mountain, 2016. Image courtesy The Bass, Miami and Sadie Coles HQ, London. Photo: Zachary Balber
Ugo Rondinone, Miami Mountain, 2016. Image courtesy The Bass, Miami and Sadie Coles HQ, London. Photo: Zachary Balber
Liverpool Biennial and Tate Liverpool are delighted to announce a new joint project with internationally acclaimed artist Ugo Rondinone – his first major work in the UK. The large outdoor sculpture, called Liverpool Mountain, will stand at over 10 metres tall next to Tate Liverpool in Royal Albert Dock Liverpool. The work is planned to be unveiled this autumn.
The artwork celebrates Liverpool City Region’s commitment to supporting bold, contemporary art and its status as a world renowned cultural destination. Part of the Liverpool 2018 programme, the project marks the 10th anniversary of Liverpool European Capital of Culture, the 20th anniversary of Liverpool Biennial and the 30th anniversary of Tate Liverpool.
Ugo Rondinone is known for creating large-scale public sculptures. His work for Liverpool is part of the artist’s mountain series and will be similar to outdoor sculptures he has created in Miami and Las Vegas which are designed to elevate their surroundings.
Liverpool Mountain will be Rondinone’s first public artwork in the UK and the first of its kind in Europe. Rising ten metres, the sculptures consist of rocks stacked vertically, with each stone painted a different fluorescent colour. Inspired by naturally occurring Hoodoos (spires or pyramids of rock) and the art of meditative rock balancing, they seem to defy gravity in their teetering formations, poised between the natural, the artificial and the manmade. The sculpture will transform the Mermaid Courtyard area, next to Tate Liverpool at Royal Albert Dock Liverpool, a previously under-used space on the World Heritage site.
This new project takes forward Liverpool’s outstanding tradition of working with world class artists to create public art for key sites around the City Region, including Sir Peter Blake’s Everybody Razzle Dazzle on the River Mersey and Another Place by Antony Gormley on Crosby Beach.
Ugo Rondinone was born in 1964 in Brunnen, Switzerland. He studied at the University of Applied Arts, Vienna and is one of the most noted contemporary artists today, working in a wide range of media. He has exhibited widely including solo shows at Carre d’Art, Nimes; Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam (2016); Palais de Tokyo, Paris; Secession, Vienna (2-15), Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai; Museo Anahuacalli, Mexico (2014), Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago and M Museum, Leuven (2013).
Ugo Rondinone’s Liverpool Mountain is one of a number of events forming part of the Liverpool 2018 programme, which is supported by £5million from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. Other events in the programme include China Dream, Three Festivals Tall Ships Regatta, the finale of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race and the return of the Giants. The project is supported by Royal Albert Dock Liverpool.
