Introduction

the sun and the moon, two works by Ugo Rondinone, are formed with delicate circles fashioned from cast-bronze tree branches, one silver-leafed and the other gilded. The twin sculptures are both over sixteen feet tall. Installed parallel to one another, the sun, 2018 and the moon, 2021 are aligned along an east-west axis, like portals or apertures with views of Schunnemunk and Storm King Mountains.

The natural world has held a place of great importance for Rondinone’s artistic practice across several decades. The artist has said, “In the midst of the AIDS crisis in 1989 and after my partner Manfred Welser died of AIDS-related illness, I turned away from grief and found a spiritual roadmap for solace, regeneration, and inspiration in nature. In nature, you enter a space where the sacred and profane, the mystical and the mundane, vibrate against one another.” By situating the sun andthe moon in Storm King’s landscape, the connections between these works and nature are further underscored by the real-life rising and setting of their titular celestial bodies.

Ugo Rondinone: the sun and the moon is organized by Nora Lawrence, Artistic Director and Chief Curator.

Ugo Rondinone
the sun and the moon
Storm King Art Center
1 Museum Rd
New Windsor, New York 12553
May 20 – November 13, 2023
collections.stormking.org