You Got to Burn to Shine

Ugo Rondinone’s 2022 exhibition 'the water is a poem unwritten by the air / no. the earth is a poem unwritten by the fire' at the Petit Palais in Paris explores the theme of transformation.

Ugo Rondinone presents three ensembles of sculptures and a monumental video installation. Earth, sky, air, water and fire are invoked in the fullness of their spiritual dimension. Under the museum’s painted ceilings, the first ensemble welcomes visitors in a farandole of suspended bodies painted in a clouded sky camouflage, underlining the ephemeral melding of air and water. A second ensemble is composed of seated sculptures of dancers at rest made from a blend of wax and earth collected from seven continents. The centerpiece artwork titled burn to shine, is a film installation presented in a monumental charred wood cylinder. The artwork depicts bodies coming together throughout movement, with dancers and musicians gathered around a fire in the desert from sunset to sunrise. In echo with John Giorno's poem titled You Got To Burn To Shine.

This catalogue is a unique document of the dialogue between Rondinone’s works confronted with the museum’s architecture and its collections.