A poetic illuminated sign between pop and urban melancholy.
A monumental illuminated installation in public space. Cry me a River, a popular American song that became a jazz standard, was written in 1953 by Arthur Hamilton and later popularized by Julie London’s interpretation. This romantic ode, displayed on the gable wall of a Paris street, is part of a series of large luminous rainbows installed by Ugo Rondinone in several major cities around the world. In them, the artist unfurls simple messages, moving between the poetry of text and the commercial language of advertising signs. Cry me a River - 2001 / Plexiglass, neon, and aluminum sign composed of nine letters / Dimensions: 259.4 x 697.1 x 15 cm UGO RONDINONE (Born in 1964 in Brunnen (Suisse), lives and works in Zürich and New York.) An internationally recognized figure in the visual arts, Ugo Rondinone creates a polymorphic body of work, rich in both material and concept: installations, videos, paintings, photographs, sculptures, neon works, drawings, and poetic writings that resist any classification. His works inhabit both gallery spaces and public space, constructing a dreamlike and melancholic world that blends personal fantasies with images of contemporary society. The artist moves from the seductive colors of Pop culture to darker works. In his video installations, he creates a visual and sound environment that draws the viewer into a hypnotic contemplation of the work playing on a loop. Against values associated with power, he sets a body of work founded on pleasure and play. To the frantic activities of civilization, he responds with the freedom of wandering and dreaming, drifting, idleness, and the internalization of emotion. In a gentle melancholy, he re-enchants the world in a way that evokes a certain romanticism. Work from the Fonds d’Art contemporain - Paris Collections, 2001 Donated by the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations in 2006
Source: paris.fr — photo: Fonds d'art contemporain - Paris Collections, © Ugo Rondinone © Photograph Hélène Mauri