Ugo Rondinone - Material worlds and London flags in 2026
Published on 08/28/2026 at 12:50 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS
Ugo Rondinone has spent summer 2026 stretching his vocabulary of rainbows, sunrises and solitary figures between London and Tilburg. His flags on Bond Street, courtyard work at the Royal Academy and sculpture white blue monk in Lustwarande’s anniversary show demonstrate how one practice threads through street, institution and park, as Bond Street and Dirimart outline.
London project across street and academy
In London, Ugo Rondinone developed a three-part project that links Bond Street, the Royal Academy of Arts and Sadie Coles HQ under the shared umbrella of light and color. The constellation includes the public flag installation LIGHT, the courtyard work THE SONG IS YOU and the gallery exhibition MORE LIGHT, as described by HENI’s coverage of his concurrent London shows. HENI overview of Rondinone's London exhibitions
The flags titled LIGHT form part of Art in Mayfair 2026 on Bond Street, where fifty-four designs derived from his sunrisesunset watercolors trace a ribbon of color above the street. Bond Street’s own report notes that the installation translates individual sunrises and sunsets into a moving urban canopy that visitors encounter while shopping or commuting. Bond Street description of Art in Mayfair 2026
Royal Academy courtyard and Mayfair exhibition
In parallel, the Royal Academy invited Rondinone to occupy its courtyard with THE SONG IS YOU, a ten-meter LED sign rendered in rainbow-striped letters. The Wick Culture’s Summer Exhibition feature shows the piece anchoring the long-running annual show, with the words hovering between poetry, signage and sculpture as they glow after dark. The Wick Culture on the Summer Exhibition 2026
Inside Sadie Coles HQ, the exhibition MORE LIGHT brings together new watercolors and paintings that continue Rondinone’s interest in atmospheric gradients and optical phenomena. Art Plugged’s exhibition note situates the show from June 9 to August 22, 2026 at the gallery’s Bury Street space, emphasizing how this indoor chapter dialogues with the outdoor flags and courtyard text. Together the three London elements chart a path from intimate works on paper to large-scale public signs of mood and time.
All news and background on Ugo Rondinone
For further context on Ugo Rondinone’s recent outdoor projects, institutional shows and fair appearances, the AD HOC NEWS archive gathers current reports and market data.
Outdoor sculpture in Lustwarande
Beyond London, Rondinone’s sculpture white blue monk appears in MATERIAL WORLDS, the twenty-fifth anniversary exhibition of Lustwarande – Platform for Contemporary Sculpture in Tilburg. Dirimart’s announcement highlights how the 2021 work stands among other contemporary sculptures in the Dutch park, reinforcing Rondinone’s ongoing dialogue between solitary figures and their natural surroundings. The placement links his meditative characters to the open-air setting.
The work core and recurring themes
Rondinone’s practice spans sculpture, installation, painting and public art, but returns consistently to motifs of time, weather and emotional states. Rainbows, sunrises, sunsets and figures like white blue monk form recurring work groups that shift from gallery walls to city streets and wooded clearings, while text-based pieces such as THE SONG IS YOU anchor language in sculptural form.
Current state of the work
Overall, Ugo Rondinone’s current constellation of projects underscores how his vocabulary of light, color and solitary presence circulates across London’s cultural core and Lustwarande’s sculpture park, offering collectors and institutions a clear view of his recent directions without a single fixed milestone.
Ugo Rondinone at a glance
- Artist: Ugo Rondinone
- Medium / Genre: Sculpture, installation and painting with conceptual public art
- Born: 1964, Brunnen, Switzerland
- Place(s) of practice: Studio base between New York and Europe
- Active since: Early 1990s, with wider recognition from mid-1990s solo shows
- Key work groups: Rainbow Poems, sunrisesunset, primordial (rainbow), white blue monk
- Current/last exhibition: MORE LIGHT, Sadie Coles HQ, London, June 9 to August 22, 2026
- Major collections: MoMA (New York), Tate (London), New Museum (New York), Kunstmuseum Bern (Bern), National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.)
- Awards: Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft art prize and other national recognitions over the 1990s and 2000s, alongside international biennial participations
- Next date: currently no announced date in the 30-day window
Frequently asked questions about Ugo Rondinone
Where has Ugo Rondinone been visible in London during 2026?
In 2026, Rondinone’s presence in London includes the flag installation LIGHT on Bond Street, the Royal Academy courtyard work THE SONG IS YOU and the exhibition MORE LIGHT at Sadie Coles HQ, all centered on light and color.
What is special about Ugo Rondinone’s sculpture white blue monk in Lustwarande?
The sculpture white blue monk, shown in Lustwarande’s anniversary exhibition MATERIAL WORLDS in Tilburg, extends Rondinone’s exploration of solitary, contemplative figures into a wooded park setting, inviting viewers to encounter the work alongside nature.
How do Ugo Rondinone’s sunrises and rainbows connect between street and gallery?
Rondinone’s sunrisesunset watercolors inform the flag designs of LIGHT on Bond Street, while his rainbow-colored text piece THE SONG IS YOU at the Royal Academy and painted gradients in MORE LIGHT show the same vocabulary shifting between public space and gallery walls.
This article was produced with a.i. support and editorially reviewed. All statements without guarantee; auction results, exhibition dates and awards may change at short notice.
