To Be
Jewish Care, Windsor, Melbourne, Australia
7m [16.4ft] high bronze
To Be – Ikigai
WestConnex M5 Canal to Creek, Sydney, NSW, Australia
5m high stainless steel diptych
To Be
Maquette, 107cm high, bronze
To Be
Maquette, 107cm high stainless steel
Disappearing around the fragile globe…
The Air We Breathe, 640h x 4.5w x 77d cm [20.1 x 14.5 x 2.5 ft]
Commissioned for Tower 5, Collins Square, Melbourne, Australia.
The Air We Breathe, 250h x 200w x 33d cm [98.5 x 79 x 13 in]
2008-Eleanor Heartney Essay-ROL
In 1897, painter Paul Gauguin completed the work he considered his masterpiece; titled Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?, the painting presents a monumental tableau set in a mythological version of the Tahitian paradise the artist had escaped to from France six years earlier. This work, with its representation of groups of Tahitian women at different stages of life, poses a set of existential questions that continue to resonate today. For Gauguin, the search for answers arose in the context of the wrenching changes brought on by the rise of modernity and his own desire to escape to a simpler, purer world. Today, we are in a time of equally breathtaking change. The engines driving this change are different, involving developments like globalism, the electronic revolution, and the threat of climate change, but the feeling of unrest is similar. And the questions posed by Gauguin’s painting present a template for thinking about humanity’s past and present in the midst of this ever-shifting reality. Using a very different medium, employing a vastly expanded scale, and addressing a very different world, Andrew Rogers’ Rhythms of Life represents a similar effort to explore the meanings and possibilities of human existence. This work consists of a set of twelve monumental earthwork projects inscribed on the landscapes of twelve very different geographical and cultural locations. They offer meldings of geology, mythology, archeology, and spirituality. In their depth and breadth, they reflect the spirit of Gauguin’s questions, each of which points to a particular cluster of issues. Where Do We Come From? brings up history, archeology, religion, and culture, reexamining them in light of the awareness that we exist as part of a continuum. What Are We? deals with our relation to nature, the cosmos, and other humans. Where Are We Going? seeks meaning in the inevitable change shaping our lives. In contemporary parlance, it asks how, in light of technological advance and social upheaval, we can formulate principles of ethics and moral responsibility in the service of a sustainable future. Significantly, these queries are framed in the plural, indicating that the pursuit of meaning is a communal quest rather than a search for individual salvation
or enlightenment.
Rogers’ Rhythms of Life represents a breathtakingly ambitious effort to address these fundamental questions. Rogers notes that the works in his Rhythms of Life series are “metaphors for the eternal cycle of life, growth, and all the attendant emotions that color human existence. They are optimistic symbols of life and regeneration—expressive and suggestive of human striving and introspection.” Spread across the globe and drawing on symbols from the Neolithic era to the present, these twelve Land Art projects embody Rogers’ belief in humanity’s interconnections across time and space. He adds, “It is fascinating that with modern DNA we can all see a common linkage. These symbols provide a context of history for all of us in which we are a link.” Rogers was trained as an economist and turned to art after a successful business career. He initially conceived of himself as a painter, but, deeply moved by the work of Auguste Rodin, soon turned to figurative sculpture. Eventually his bronze sculptures became abstract, expressing the internal spirit of life rather than simply recreating its outer sinews. In 1996, Rogers created the work that would become the linchpin of his subsequent Land Art projects. Titled Rhythms of Life, this bronze sculpture is composed of three elements: a ball, a gently curving geometric line, and an undulating line that intersects it. Together these elements comprise a symbolic expression of the path of life as an interplay between purposeful movements and serendipitous fluctuations. Rogers has returned repeatedly to this composition, siting versions of this sculpture in Jerusalem, California, Istanbul, and Melbourne. The original maquette of the Rhythms of Life sculpture is in the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra. The series of earthworks, which share the title of the sculpture, began somewhat by chance during a 1998 artist residency at Technion Institute of Technology in Haifa Israel, when Rogers was offered the opportunity to create an art work in the Arava Desert during a visit. His first geoglyph in 1999 was a reconstruction of the Hebrew letters for the words “To Life”—an affirmation of the life principle that runs throughout the entire Rhythms of Life series. In retrospect, Rogers notes that Israel’s Arava Desert served as the ideal starting point for this series, because it is historically regarded as the place of origin for several of the world’s major religions.
As the series has evolved, each site is host to two or more geoglyphs, the archeological term for large drawings inscribed on the ground with stones, earth, gravel, or chalk. Rogers uses local stones to create his geoglyphs, either piling them to create linear walls, or at sites where stones are less plentiful, laying them out individually to create a pattern on the landscape. Each site contains a version of the original Rhythms of Life sculpture, while the other geoglyphs comprise symbols drawn from the collective mythology or history of the local peoples. It should be noted here that their involvement is an essential component of each work. Rogers seeks local involvement in the choice of the symbol, and depends on local workers and managers for the mostly hand-built construction of the geoglyphs. The initiation or completion of each project (and sometimes both) are celebrated with a ritual performance that draws on local traditions. These range from the communal sharing of strong wine and crushed coca in Chile and a communal sacrifice of a llama in Bolivia, to a blow-out celebration involving a brass band, firecrackers, traditional dancing and singing in China. Thus these are emphatically communal enterprises;
Continue reading the full essay attached…..
Rhythms of Life is a breathtaking Earthworks sculpture installed in 2008 by the world-renowned Australian sculpturist, Andrew Rogers.
The structure can be seen near the intersection of Old Woman Springs Road (SR 247) and Aberdeen just five miles north of Yucca Valley in California.
Rogers, who is a distinguished artist, exhibits his work internationally with his larger Earthworks sculptures found in numerous private and public collections across Southeast Asia, the Middle East, the United States, and Australia.
Rhythms of Life—perhaps the work for which Rogers is best known—is part of a larger project that forms a chain of 51 massive stone sculptures around the world. The sculptures are meant to be seen from two vantage points: from the ground—as a series of stone structures—and from above to show off the structure’s larger form.
To-date, the project currently spans seven continents, 16 countries, and has involved over 7,500 people who assist in the construction of the structures. Rhythms of Life is a collaborative endeavor that relies on the local community to both construct the sculpture as well as ideate the symbols to be included in the Earthwork.
Follow SR 247 / Old Woman Springs north five miles until you come to Aberdeen. Turn right on Aberdeen and immediately find a spot to turn around, park, and look west towards the hills to see Earthworks. Or turn left onto the dirt Old Aberdeen Road, park, and look up. You’re welcome to get up close to the sculpture, but leave your vehicle in the dirt lot and walk up.
Click here to see the full article: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/rhythms-of-life
This display brings together a selection of maquettes and sculptures by Andrew Rogers, an artist deeply inspired by the structures, materials and implicit rhythms of our built and natural environments.
Growing and Flora Exemplar suggest the sinuous forms of leaves and flowers that swell, coil and curve with latent energy. Rhythms of the Metropolis embodies a similar sense of tension in the feverish ribbon fall and loose upward arc of opposing rhythms held in careful suspense. I Am, one of several proofs and versions of this work, is a generative form that bristles then delicately unfurls, revealing a supple surface beneath a rigid exterior.
Informed by the rugged expression of Auguste Rodin, the organic abstraction of Henry Moore, and the cool conceptualism of Anthony Caro – Andrew Rogers’ unique sculptural language suggests growth, regeneration and material transformation.
A new film Rhythms of Life also profiles the conception and construction of the artist’s renowned land sculptures or ‘geoglyphs’ made in collaboration with communities throughout the world.
On exhibition from July 2018
The Art Gallery of New South Wales has announced Andrew Rogers’ selection as a finalist in the 2018 Wynne Prize.
The Wynne Prize is awarded to the best landscape painting of Australian scenery or for the best example of figure sculpture by an Australian Artist.
Rogers’ sculpture ‘Embrace’ will be on exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales until September 2018.
Sculpture on an epic scale.
Rogers’ ‘Sentinels’ 2017 is one of 28 site-specific sculptures at Gibbs Farm near Auckland on New Zealand’s North Island.
Christie’s Magazine February – March 2018
Article: Jonathan Bastable
Photographs: David Hartley-Mitchell
Andrew Rogers was asked by the United Nations Environment Programme Ozone Secretariat to create an award for Scientific Leadership.
Rogers created a cast bronze sculpture featuring a series of concentric circles with diminishing intervals between them, representing the efforts to reduce the hole in the ozone layer.
The event highlighted the work of five individuals or groups who have made significant contributions to the Montreal Protocol. One of the recipients in the category was Dr Paul A Newman, Chief Scientist for Earth Sciences at NASA. Rogers’ sculptural award was presented by Hon. Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Canada.
Rogers has an affinity for nature and the environment, which he explores through both his sculptural and land art works. To be involved in an event which is helping to better the world and create a longer lasting earth was important.
In explaining the award to Dr Newman, Rogers said “I believe we are caretakers of our earth and have responsibilities to those around us and to those who will follow as our interactions with the environment leave a consequence for our descendants. This philosophy relates to both the land art and the sculpture for the built environment.”
The Art Newspaper Magazine– Sculpture 2017
September 2017, Page 15
A cluster of rich male collectors are creating vast sculpture parks in various parts of the world-and proving to be exacting patrons.
By Gareth Harris
On the Mornington Peninsula south of Melbourne, sculptures by Clement Meadmore, Geoffrey Bartlett and Anthony Pryor are springing up across the landscape. Works by the Australian artists are among 45 pieces dotted around a 135-hectare seafront property owned by the retail billionaire John Gandel. A winery and restaurant form part of the complex – but the main attraction is the Point Leo Estate sculpture park, which is due to open later this year.
Gandel is joining an exclusive club: patrons who set up sprawling sculpture parks in a bid to make their mark on the art scene. The New Zealand-born magnate Alan Gibbs has built a gargantuan but relatively undiscovered contemporary art park. Gibbs Farm, in Kaipara Harbour, north of Auckland, commissioning works by artists such as Len Lye and Andy Goldsworthy. The Scottish collector David Roberts is closing his gallery in London this autumn and plans to open a publicly accessible eight-hectare sculpture park in Somerset, western England (pending approval from the local council).
Geoffrey Edwards, a former curator of sculpture and glass at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, is advising on the hugely ambitious Point Leo project; it is a first for Australia, he says, because the country’s larger sculpture gardens and parks are almost all associated with public institutions.
“No one has gone about creating a 1arge-scale sculpture park from scratch, and certainly not on the basis of a carefully thought-through vision and business plan, as at Point Leo, involving a professional curatorial adviser and a noted landscape architect to devise a layout of paths, copses, lawns and discreet enclosures.” Edwards says.
The curator has relished installing works in this “quintessential Australian landscape setting, with rolling grassland receding into the distance, existing conifer windbreaks and broad vistas to Western Port Bay and beyond”. Tony Cragg’s work Luke (2008) stands in a sunken, amphitheatre-like space in the landscape, and pieces by the late Japanese-Australian sculptor Akio Makigawa will also nestle among the contours. Commissions, few in number but major in scale, will take shape over the next two years he says.
The Australian sculptor Andrew Rogers has created two works for Point Leo: a 7.5m-high
stainless steel form, titled Rise 1, and a 3m-high bronze called Folded. His expansive, audacious work has found favour among patrons who look to him for show-stopping land art. “Alan (Gibbs) made the effort to travel to Cappadocia, Turkey, to view my land art park; walking around the 13 structures and the 19m-high basalt columns triggered the realisation of Sentinels (2017),” he says. The four-column piece creates and eye-watering silhouette as the sun rises over the undulating vistas of Gibbs Farm.
Guy Laliberte, the co-founder of Cirque du Soleil, is another Rogers devotee. Laliberte arrives at his retreat on Ibiza’s west coast in his boat. Walking towards his cliffside estate, he passes a monolithic, Stonehenge-like installation that dominates, the dusty, sun-baked landscape. The work, named Time and Space-the Speed of Light, is by Rogers. ·”Only Guy could get me to carve 420 tons of solid basalt into 13 columns,” the sculptor says The columns were loaded on to a ship and transported 4,400km from Turkey to Spain in 2014.
But how demanding are these mega-collectors? “All of these individuals appreciate rigour and are meticulous in wanting an outstanding sculpture completed to the highest standards and finishes,” Rogers says. “It took five years of dialogue before Alan pressed the button. He says he enjoys the company of sculptors as ‘they are resilient individuals’. John Gandel’s (project) was four years in gestation.”
Realising a gallery without walls seems to excite these men who think big. Potential tax breaks for philanthropic sculptural initiatives and boosting local economies may also be part of the equation. Polly Bielecka, the director of the sculpture gallery Pangolin London, says that parks also offer an opportunity for collectors to experiment and commission unique pieces rather than an edition, directly from the artist.
“A sculpture park is, of course, also the perfect status symbol,” she says.
Ho incontrato Rogers durante il suo viaggio europeo – Biennale di Venezia e Art Basel comprese, ovvio – prima che tornasse nella sua Australia.
Come ha scelto le locations per “Rhythms of Life”?
Ognuna è significativa per storia e patrimonio. Molte hanno una topografia di grande interesse: nell’Arava Desert (Israele) il sito si trova a 122 m sotto il livello del mare; il Deserto di Atacama (Cile) è il più arido del pianeta; in Nepal il geoglifo “Knot” (una sorta di labirinto) è stato creato nella gola più profonda al mondo, mentre in Antartide abbiamo utilizzato la morena dei ghiacciai.
In che modo le comunità locali vengono coinvolte?
La maggior parte delle migliaia di persone che hanno partecipato a “Rhythms of Life” non è mai stata coinvolta nel creare arte. Il processo di creazione è essenziale per il progetto. Si lavora fianco a fianco e in intesa con gli altri per qualcosa che inizialmente è solo un concetto astratto, con la consapevolezza che quello che si crea è storia futura. Uomini, donne e gruppi etnici operano insieme. Le sculture sono un regalo alla comunità che ne è orgogliosa e si occupa di mantenerle nel tempo.
Gli Himba della Namibia sono considerati gli ultimi veri nomadi al mondo; adorano i loro antenati con un fuoco sacro che viene sempre tenuto acceso. La scultura “Sacred Fire” è diventata un luogo di celebrazioni.
I suoi geoglifi sono quindi luoghi che accolgono eventi.
Un altro aspetto che contraddistingue “Rhythms of Life” è l’attenzione ai rituali delle comunità coinvolte, alle mitologie e credenze. Spesso i partecipanti – che vivono in luoghi remoti e dal clima estremo – aderiscono a qualche forma di sciamanesimo con rituali che si realizzano prima e dopo la costruzione delle sculture. In Cile abbiamo bevuto un miscuglio di vino e foglie di coca tritate. In Sri Lanka si è tenuta una processione di danze popolari e acrobati con gong e piatti e i sacerdoti hanno bollito il latte per propiziarsi la buona sorte.
Ci parli delle sue sculture “We Are” esposte fino al 26 novembre a Venezia a Palazzo Mora.
Venezia è un centro di civilizzazione e storia antica. Era e continua a essere un luogo d’intersezione. Le sculture riflettono sulla diversità degli individui, ma anche sull’importanza di un dialogo che consideri storia e patrimonio e che le nostre azioni diventeranno storia nel futuro. Come le mie sculture di Land Art, anche “We Are” parla di globalizzazione e umanità condivisa. Entrambi i lavori sono metafora della relazione imprescindibile fra singolo e comunità e spingono i limiti in termine di forma e sfida nella costruzione. Entrambi dovrebbero agire da catalizzatori per la visione di un mondo migliore.
La sua “Unfurling Energy” è presente alla “Expo 2017. Future Energy” ad Astana (Kazakhstan).
La mia scultura è stata scelta per la sua forma fluida, ispirata in parte all’energia del vento; infatti, considerando le condizioni del clima di Astana, è in grado di resistere al forte vento, alla neve, al ghiaccio e a temperature rigidissime. Una sfida ingegneristica che ha richiesto grande maestria artigianale e attenzione alla qualità del metallo e delle saldature. La produzione è stata attentamente supervisionata da LERA – Leslie E. Robertson Associates, gli stessi ingegneri della ricostruzione del World Trade Centre.
Anche “Unfurling Energy” mette in evidenza il nostro ruolo di custodi, con responsabilità verso chi ci circonda e chi arriverà dopo di noi. Il presente sarà riflesso nel futuro.
Cosa bolle in pentola?
Sto lavorando a progetti per la Turchia e il Perù.
Come dire: un instancabile e visionario globe-trotter dell’arte.
By Amanda Prada
Sydney Morning Herald Weekend, 5-6 August 2017
Page 15
Artists from around Australia will feature in a free exhibition , Sculpture at Barangaroo, which opens at Barangaroo Reserve today.
Andrew Rogers’ bronze sculpture Folded 3 (pictured) is among the 14 works on display, with others including a large vinyl and aluminium kangaroo by Richard Tipping and Indigenous artwork by Adam King of the Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-operative.
The inner city exhibition, held in partnership with Sculpture by the Sea, will finish on 20 August. Though the park is open 24 hours a day, organisers have encouraged visitors to see the works between 8am and 6pm.
http://www.barangaroo.com/see-and-do/whats-on/sculpture-at-barangaroo/
By Lilly Wei
In a bid for a more distinctive international profile, Kazakhstan is hosting Expo 2017 through September 10. The arts-and-industry event is sited on the outskirts of Astana, surrounded by ongoing construction projects, reminding visitors that the city is still in active development. Designated the national capital in 1997, six years after Kazakhstan declared its independence from the Soviet Union, Astana is the country’s second largest city; Almaty, the former capital, remains the preeminent metropolis and cultural heart. The first such global extravaganza to be held in a post-Soviet nation, Expo 2017 reportedly cost between $1.3 billion and $5 billion. That’s far less than Shanghai’s $50 billion Expo in 2010, but nevertheless enough to raise questions about the costs and benefits of hosting an event like this in a rich country with a poor populace.
Overall, Expo 2017 occupies 427 acres. The Chicago architectural firm of Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill created the master plan for its vast circular complex of exhibition spaces evoking a futuristic space colony. The site is dominated by a centrally located eight-story globe of dark reflective glass called the Nur Alem Pavilion, known colloquially as the Sphere. The structure houses the Kazakhstan National Pavilion and the Museum for Future Energy, which features a about a future Astana—including one that includes a flying car—on the highest tier, alongside an observation deck with a panoramic view of the city. The Sphere is ringed by the pavilions of approximately 150 participating countries.
Aigerim Asenova, who developed the concept for exhibition in the Kazakhstan National Pavilion, said she wanted to underscore the Expo’s theme of future energy and sustainability in her interactive multimedia installation on the first level of the Sphere. Part art and part information, the project offers an introduction to Kazakhstan through the five senses. In addition to animations and projections, it includes an intriguing fragrance developed by a French perfumer that conjures the smell of spring on the steppes. An installation of instruments plays melodies representing the various schools of traditional Kazakh music. A Hospitality Wall allows visitors to touch objects commonly found in a yurt, evoking the ideal of an inclusive and welcoming country in a time of increasing global xenophobia.
Three contemporary art exhibitions are also on view. One, in the Sphere, features some of the best-known Kazakh artists. Among them are, Syrlybek Bekbotaev, and Askhat Ahmediarov, who, using mixed media and installations, examine the transition of a traditional nomadic culture into a modern urban one. The multimedia, performative work by the Paris-based Ada Yu, on the other hand, visualizes emotional states by staging fantastic tableaux.
Two group shows of artists from outside Kazakhstan can be found at a pavilion called the Contemporary Arts Center. Talks, panels, conferences, and film screenings are also scheduled to take place there during the run of the Expo in partnership with Moscow’s Garage Museum of Contemporary Art. The advisor for the program is Olga Vesselova, deputy director of the Eurasian Cultural Alliance and co-director of Artbat, an annual contemporary art festival in Almaty. Artbat is funded privately, and it is more radical and improvisatory than Kazakhstan’s state-supported art organizations.
The exhibition presented by the Garage is a small, focused show of shots of Russian modernist buildings by architectural photographer Yuri Palmin. The other, “Artists & Robots,” was organized by France’s Galeries nationales du Grand Palais. Palais. In keeping with the Expo’s theme of present and future technological innovations, it includes seventeen international artists who produce works using robotics and computational processes. London-based Patrick Tresset composed a still life with a skull and placed it in front of a machine that continuously draws copies of it. Quayola, an Italian artist who lives in London, uses a computerized arm wielding a power tool to carve giant blocks of white Stryrofoam into an ongoing series of sculptures modeled on Michelangelo’s Captives. In a darkened, mirrored room, Brazilian artist Raquel Kogan’s projection of glowing numbers streams over you as if you were being overwritten by digital code and reclaimed by the Matrix. Although a kind of computer-controlled bionic hand is the official contribution from Melbourne-based artist Stelarc, a more startling project was the ear implanted in his own arm. At the preview, he showed it to journalists and explained that he had grown it from an undifferentiated batch of cells. Some works are captivating. Others seem overly gimmicky. On the whole, the high-end science-fair appeal of “Artists & Robots” corresponded to the themes of Expo far better than the technological offerings in many of the national pavilions.
Four large-scale outdoor sculptures, each strategically located relative to the Sphere so as to be frequently encountered by Four large-scale outdoor sculptures, each strategically located relative to the Sphere so as to be frequently encountered by fairgoers, visualize forms in transition, in keeping with the theme of energy. Andrew Rogers, a Melbourne-based sculptor and land artist, produced the 34-foot-high, semi-abstract, semi-botanical bronze I Am—Energy. From some vantage points the interplay of light and shadow on the massive form’s surface creates an illusion of rippling movement. New York-based Marc Fornes has contributed one of his intricately curved and perforated constructions with surfaces that suggest woven metal. Using digital calculations for design and fabrication, Fornes deftly blends art, architecture, and design in his improbable forms, each one a balancing act of solid and void, organic and geometric. The two wire mesh works of Saken Narynov, a renowned veteran architect and artist in Kazakhstan, outline and shape space into forms that recall both a Mobius strip and the sinuous, unending curves of a traditional dragon motif. Resolutely modernist in many ways, Narynov is also a utopian futurist, with affinities for the visionary work of Paolo Soleri.
Kazakhstan, like many oil-rich countries, has been a generous supporter of traditional arts. As it aspires to a larger role on the world stage, it also seems to understand the value, both intangible and quite tangible, of a flourishing contemporary art scene. Although the country’s artists have appeared around the world with some frequency in the past decade or so, more would be welcome. Perhaps it’s time for an Almaty Biennial.
Artists from around Australia will feature in a free exhibition , Sculpture at Barangaroo, which opens at Barangaroo Reserve today.
Andrew Rogers’ bronze sculpture Folded 3 (pictured) is among the 14 works on display, with others including a large vinyl and aluminium kangaroo by Richard Tipping and Indigenous artwork by Adam King of the Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-operative.
The inner city exhibition, held in partnership with Sculpture by the Sea, will finish on 20 August. Though the park is open 24 hours a day, organisers have encouraged visitors to see the works between 8am and 6pm.
http://www.barangaroo.com/see-and-do/whats-on/sculpture-at-barangaroo/
by LILLY WEI
I AM–ENERGY is one of Australian artist Andrew Rogers’ most recent sculptures, commissioned for Expo 2017, the theme of which is Future Energy. Held in Astana, Kazakhstan’s capital since 1997 – six years after it declared itself a (nominal) republic – this is the first such fair to take place in a post-Soviet country, boasting more than 150 participating nations. A permanent installation, it is also Rogers’ most monumental cast bronze work to date and one of the most daringly balanced, the bulk of its weight sent skyward. It offers the thrill of upending the expected distribution of mass, challenging gravity as well as treating the unyielding metal in ways that make it more visually agile, fluid, its state less certain, underscoring a narrative about transformations.
It is part of a recent series, We Are, several interpretations of which are at the Palazzo Mora (the scale there approximately human-sized) until 26 November, as a collateral event of the 2017 Venice Biennale. However, the image’s conceptual origins go back to the beginning of his career as an artist, with an abstract sculpture that he called the Rhythms of Life, a theme that has obsessed him ever since.
His Rhythms of Life construction derived from geoglyph motifs, the mysterious ancient signs and images made of enormous stones that appear cross-culturally, the enigmatic Nazca Lines in Peru being one of the most famous examples. Rogers transferred that title to the massive land art projects for which he is best known. All these structures are based on geoglyphs and of pharaonic scale. He began building them in 1999, siting them around the world, often in remote, inhospitable regions, from the Arava desert in Israel and the Gobi desert in China to Icelandic glaciers, the Himalayas in Nepal and the Atacama Desert in Chile. The most spectacular so far is Time and Space in Cappadocia, Turkey. It is essentially a public park of stone geoglyphs that occupies well over a square mile and is visible from space.
Stretching, spiralling triumphantly upwards to a height of 10.5 metres (34.5 feet), I AM–ENERGY is placed at a strategic intersection of Expo’s vast complex of pavilions; visitors will constantly pass by it as they cross and re-cross the grounds. The master plan for the fair is the brainchild of Chicago architects Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill and evokes the shining futuristic worlds of Star Wars. (Other crossings are marked by equally prominent sculptures created by American artist and designer Marc Fornes and Kazakh artist and architect Saken Narynov.) Looming behind is a dark reflective eight-storey glass globe, the Nur Alem, nicknamed The Sphere, the Expo’s hub, housing the Kazakhstan National Pavilion and Museum of Future Energy.
I AM–ENERGY weighs more than six tonnes, but this is belied by its grace – heavy metal made to feel light, poised daintily, astonishingly, on a slender stainless steel rod as if it were a lovely ballerina en pointe – a feat of expert engineering. Rogers also had to take into account the extreme weather conditions of Astana, to which his work will be subjected.
The sequence of contrasts in I AM–ENERGY is a strength. One is the shift between abstract form and a more representational image that suggests a great flowering bud or calyx. Another is the opposition of the material’s solidity with an illusionistic flutter that makes it seem almost like fabric, or the skin of a plant. The deceptive softness is enhanced by the play of light and shadow across the striated surface, as if the bronze were in rippled motion. Also compelling is the tension between exterior and interior, the seamless exterior dark, austere, precisely ribbed (the silicon bronze, or “modern” bronze permits the welding of the joins so they are invisible). When you walk around it, the form unfurls to reveal its smoothly voluptuous interior, its heart of gold, perhaps reminding us of the richness of Kazakhstan’s petroleum and mineral resources and the promise of its future. But more than that, Rogers is a modernist who is also a spiritualist and preservationist. He thinks of the scientific facts of the phenomenal world and its social implications but he also thinks of archteypes and metaphors, all of which refer to energy, to the life force and its constant renewal.
• Andrew Rogers’ We Are is at the Palazzo Mora as a collateral exhibition to
the Venice Biennale 2017 until 26 November 2017.
http://www.studiointernational.com/index.php/andrew-rogers-i-am-energy-expo-2017-astana-kazakhstan
David Ebony — (Abridged)
The biannual pilgrimage to Venice for the venerable, and ever more enormous international art show known as La Biennale di Venezia, is a worthwhile endeavor for anyone interested in the evolution of contemporary art. Unfailingly, the show offers a rewarding experience whether the core exhibition is a success, a failure, or something in between, as is the case with this year’s installment, the 57th.
This year, the European Cultural Centre hosts “Personal Structures: Open Borders,” a large-scale international group exhibition held in three venues: the Palazzo Moro, Palazzo Bembo, and in one outdoor area of the Giardini. Under the auspices of the Dutch non-profit Global Art Affairs Foundation, and organized by a team of young Italian curators, the show features works by artists from 50 countries. High-profile veterans, such as Joseph Kosuth and Lawrence Weiner are represented, but the project also showcases the work of younger artists, such as Taiwan’s Li-Jen Shih, whose giant, stainless steel King Kong Rhino drew a great deal of attention near the Giardini entrance; and New York’s Richard Humann, whose high-tech contribution to the exhibition, Ascension, includes an “augmented reality app” that allows one to view imaginary constellations visible above Venice each night of the Biennale.
The courtyard entrance to the Palazzo Moro is lined with a series of eight elegant, quasi-abstract bronzes by Andrew Rogers. The Australian artist is best-known for his vast land-art projects, Rhythms of Life, which he has created in many, mostly remote places around the globe. For the past three decades or more, Rogers has also produced free-standing sculptures. Here, in the urban—and urbane—environment of Venice, he presents intimate, human-scale pieces in bronze, collectively titled We Are. The totemic forms appear as abstracted figures, like sentinels guarding the palazzo treasures, perhaps. The works resemble unfurling flags, or billowing sails, which, metaphorically at least, refer to the human figure. As in the comportment of an individual, each piece bears the physicality of a rough exterior contrasted with highly polished interior surfaces. These attributes allude to the outward, self-protective stance one must possess in order to survive, and the literally reflective interior world of thoughts and emotions.
On a formal level, We Are corresponds to the billowing fabric and dramatic theatricality of Baroque art and architecture that is visible everywhere in Venice. Rogers speaks for many artists participating in the Biennale and collateral shows as he comments in a press statement, “To be surrounded in Venice by Tintorettos, Titians, and Bellinis, some of the greatest art in the world, and by a cultural history that reaches back more than a thousand years, is a truly transformative experience. To have a major exhibition of sculpture in Venice at the time of the Biennale is a great honor and privilege.”
Corresponding to Rogers’s work in the way it echoes the fluid lines in Venetian Baroque paintings, a resplendent, textile-like wall relief made of bits of found metal, The Beginning and the End (2015) by Ghanaian artist El Anatsui, graces one long wall in Intuition. This collateral show, the last in a series of special exhibitions hosted by Belgian dealer Axel Vervoordt at the Palazzo Fortuny in Venice, and co-curated by Daniela Ferretti, features historical works ranging from Neolithic stone menhirs, circa 3000 B.C., to large, recent photos of fish eyes by Italian artist Bruna Esposito. Throughout the moodily lit rooms of the palazzo are top-notch works by artists like Lucio Fontana, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Anish Kapoor, and Marina Abramovic. An interactive, meditative work on the palazzo’s top floor, created especially for this exhibition by Kimsooja, Archive of Mind, invites visitors to sit at a table and mould spheres from lumps of clay. There could not possibly be a better way of spending a quiet hour or two of a summer afternoon in Venice—rolling balls of clay while looking out the windows over the rooftops of ancient buildings along the Grand Canal.
Link to the full article: http://blog.yalebooks.com/2017/07/20/viva-art-and-artists-the-2017-venice-biennale-calls-for-celebration-but-is-this-a-time-to-party/
Andrew Rogers spoke recently at the National Gallery of Victoria about his journey with sculpture and land art and the ways life informs his practice.
Andrew Rogers’ sculptures connect with his audience and cause them to think, to learn, to wonder, to remember. His works delve into the complexities surrounding the human form; its essence and energy. He wants them to engage with his sculptures, he wants them to touch and feel the smooth polished interior and the hard ribbed exterior. Doing so makes the sculptures become alive.
With no formal arts training, the process of Rogers mastering sculpture has been a prolific journey. This journey has been full of life, stories and memories, which have enriched his forms. He aims to capture the world’s vibrancy and beauty while also allowing for reflection and remembrance.
For Rogers, sculpting is an expression of the heart and not just an application of skill, it’s how he talks to his audience and how he relates to the world.
Anna Henry
08 July 2017
2017-07-08-The Essence of Andrew Rogers
Images: Weightless 5, 2015, Bronze
Working on sculptures and land art is a chance to create unique forms. Sculptures become a part of the society in which they exist. Reflecting on the works of other contemporary sculptors Anish Kapoor, Jeff Koons and Antony Gormley, it can be seen how each artist works in a diverse manner and how they are influenced by the human form and the place it occupies.
Antony Gormley is often connected to works involving the human body; ‘Angel of the North’ and ‘Planets’ are well-known examples. ‘Planets’, a piece which comprised carved boulders, drew strong connections between man and the environment as does Rogers’ work which resonates with this sentiment. Rogers works personally on large scale and in the abstract through his land art. This involves the natural landscape and diverse peoples.
Anish Kapoor’s world of abstract sculpture uses colour, shape, mirrors, geometric patterns and scale. Kapoor’s art, like Rogers’, is spread through multiple cities, allowing the public to interact with his art.
Rogers’ sculpture and land art in public spaces creates a presence which cannot be achieved within the physical constraints of a gallery or museum. Viewers encounter work they may have never intended to. ‘I Am’, Rogers’ major sculpture in the glass atrium of the Canberra International Airport, is encountered daily by thousands of people. Gormleys’ ‘Angel of the North’ is heavily viewed daily due to its location. The sculpture resides on a hill overlooking a motorway in Northeast England and is viewed by thousands of commuters each day.
Contemporary sculptor Jeff Koons also draws comparisons between his sculptures and the human form. Known for his playful, childhood nostalgia inspired pieces; like Rogers, Koons’ sculptures have travelled the world. Koons describes liking things that involve air because, “They are a symbol of us. We’re breathing machines, we’re inflatable.” ‘Balloon Dog’ is described as being eternally optimistic and regardless of its bright, multi-coloured, mirrored exterior, it appears to fit into any surrounding it is placed.
The juxtaposition between art, and the land it is presented on, can create another layer to a piece of art altogether. Many of Rogers’ works draw a connection to the land on which they stand, and often express the idea that we are a part of something bigger. From the ‘We Are’ series, which was unveiled in Venice, Italy, at the beginning of May, to Rogers’ ‘Rhythms of Life’ Land Art project; both are influenced by the interconnection of humanity through space and time. Working with a mix of human forms, land, emotions and philosophies allows a connection between the viewer and sculpture or land art that we are all capable of accessing.
Anna Henry
10 June 2017
Cirque du Soleil has just unveiled an Art Garden adjoining their international headquarters in Montreal. The garden features 16 major works of art from artists around the world.
Andrew Rogers has a strong, continued presence with Cirque du Soleil with the large scale Rhythms of Life sculpture being the feature of the entry to the head office. Two of his large-scale sculptures are featured in the grounds of their international headquarters and the new Art Garden. Weightless 5, and Unfurling are on display for public viewing.
The Art Garden was created to enable the local community to interact and enjoy the art pieces in a public setting. The Art Garden also features a vegetable garden and a labyrinth, built by Cirque du Soleil employees. The Cirque du Soleil art collection and Art Garden provides an inspiring, creative and stimulating environment for employees and visitors through contact with the arts.
To read more about the Cirque du Soleil Art Garden, view the full Art Public Montreal article here: https://artpublicmontreal.ca/en/2017/06/cirque-du-soleil-unveils-an-art-garden/
And for more information regarding Andrew Rogers’ sculptures displayed through Cirque du Soleil, head to the following link:
John McDonald | The Sydney Morning Herald | May 19, 2017
Excerpt…
Ask people to name the most romantic city in the world, and Venice is usually at the top of the list – but there are dissenters. D.H. Lawrence said Venice was green, slippery and abhorrent, and he didn’t even have to contend with the crowds in the Giardini and Arsenale during the opening days of the Venice Biennale.
Every time I find myself standing for an hour in front of a national pavilion waiting to see who-knows-what, I incline a little more towards Lawrence’s opinion. Although maybe not the green and slippery bits.
It’s universally agreed that queues are a blight and a pestilence, yet every year they seem to get longer. If I were director of the Biennale I’d ban any exhibition that required a queue, but countries are currently being rewarded for inflicting misery on hapless viewers….
… Meanwhile, the indefatigable Andrew Rogers drew an impressive crowd when he showed a series of bronze and stainless steel sculptures, titled We Are, at Palazzo Mora. He even got Gerard Vaughan, director of the National Gallery of Australia to make the opening address.
Click here to read the entire article
http://johnmcdonald.net.au/2017/venice-biennale-2017-viva-arte-viva/
“We Are” is comprised of eight large bronze and stainless steel sculptures.
The official unveiling by Dr Gerard Vaughan, Director, National Gallery of Australia at the early morning breakfast event on 11 May, and remarks from Mr Rupert Myer AO, Chair, Australia Council for the Arts, were received by an exceptional attendance of some 300+ guests including media, dignitaries and VIPS.
With the launch attracting absolute acclaim, the installation is on show to the general public, and continues to attract enthusiastic feedback.
Presented by the Global Art Affairs Foundation, the works will be exhibited through until November 26, 2017 at Palazzo Mora in Venice, Italy.
Photos: J Gollings, R Grassetti and C Kelbaugh
Excerpt from Art Almanac 8 May, 2017…
Coinciding with the Biennale at the historic Palazzo Mora is contemporary Australian land artist and sculptor Andrew Rogers with ‘We Are’ – an installation of eight large bronze and stainless steel sculptures that act as a metaphor for the dichotomy of human nature, with the rough, organic outer surfaces representing our physical selves while the delicate, polished interiors reflect the internal and personal world of our thoughts.
Image Caption:
Andrew Rogers, We Are, 2017, concept image for installation at Plazzo Mora during La Biennale di Venezi in Venice, Italy Courtesy the artist
For the full article, follow the link below:
http://www.art-almanac.com.au/moffatt-venice-biennale/
By Katherine McMahon Posted 11 May 2017 11:24am
(Excerpt)
Thursday at the Venice Biennale was stricken with cloudy weather and a little bit of rain, but that didn’t stop the crowds as a slew of pavilions had official openings between the Giardini and Arsenale, including those of the United Statem Chile and Denmark. Below, have a look around town.
http://www.artnews.com/2017/05/11/scenes-from-the-venice-biennale-day-3/
Andrew Rogers’ ‘We Are’ will be unveiled on 11 May in a collateral exhibition to the 2017 Venice Biennale.
‘We Are’, comprises eight large bronze and stainless steel sculptures which are related to sculptures in prominent public and private collections around the world.
Rogers’ contemporary sculptures are located in the garden of the 16th century Palazzo Mora against the stunning backdrop of the surrounding historic buildings.
Photos: 2017 Casey Kelbaugh
Rogers’ installation “We Are” is a significant work with great provenance. It is related to sculptures in prominent public and private collections around the world.
“We Are”, the latest sculpture work by Andrew Rogers, will be presented on Thursday, May 11th as a collateral exhibition at the Venice Biennale at the 57th International Art Exhibition.
Composed of eight large bronze and stainless steel sculptures, this installation is a further iteration of the Rogers series entitled “I Am”. Presented in part by the Global Art Affairs Foundation, the work will be visible from May 9 to November 26, 2017 at Palazzo Mora in Venice.
Rogers’ practice explores human emotion through the light and organic shapes that define his sculptural works as well as the importance of the individual in influencing change. The artist sees the works of the “I Am” series and its derivative “We Are” as a metaphor for the dichotomy of human nature.
To view the original article head here:
Andrew Rogers presenta l’esposizione collaterale WE ARE presso la Biennale Di Venezia
Comprised of eight large bronze and stainless steel sculptures, this installation is a further iteration of Rogers’ series titled “I Am”. Presented in part by the Global Art Affairs Foundation; the work will be on view through until November 26, 2017, at Palazzo Mora in Venice, Italy.
Rogers’ practice explores human emotion through the light, organic forms that define his sculptural works, as well as the importance of the individual in affecting change. The artist sees the works in the series “I Am” and its derivative “We Are” as a metaphor for the dichotomy of human nature. The rough, undulating, organic outer surfaces that represent our physical selves are in direct contrast to the delicate, polished interiors reflecting the internal personal world of our thoughts.
Belief in the individual as a catalyst for change informs Rogers’ ongoing practice: “We are all individuals possessing the sanctity of a singular life and the ability to express ourselves. At the same time we are part of the society within which we live,” Rogers says. “These figurative forms are to remind us that it is the individual that makes our world a place of justice and compassion.”
Rogers work complements the ideas expressed by Christine Macel, 2017 Director of the Venice Biennale, in her curatorial statement, that, “In a world full of conflicts and jolts, in which humanism is being seriously jeopardized, art is the most precious part of the human being. It is the ideal place for reflection, individual expression, freedom, and fundamental questions…more than ever, the role, the voice and the responsibility of the artist are crucial in the framework of contemporary debates.”
The work philosophically relates to Rogers’ ongoing series of geoglyphs – large-scale land-art installations for which he is best known. To date, the project – titled Rhythms of Life – encompasses 51 major stone sculptures across the world, which act together to create the largest contemporary land art project. Each individual geoglyph is an act of collaboration between Rogers and the local community in which it is situated – as they work together to find and create a symbol that is significant to each respective region and people – and yet as a group they form a set of drawings across the earth visible from space. Over the years this project has involved over 7,500 people in 16 countries across all seven continents and continues to grow.
Andrew Rogers is one of Australia’s most distinguished and internationally recognized contemporary artists. International exhibitions are frequent and his critically acclaimed sculptures are in numerous private and prominent public collections and around the world. Rogers has received many significant commissions, including several large-scale pieces and various forms of land art. Rogers’ work is exhibited widely internationally and is the subject of books and documentaries shown on Ovation in the United States, the Discovery channel in Europe and the ABC and National Geographic channels. The Rhythms of Life land art project is featured on the Google Cultural Institute’s Art Project website in a digital exhibition of ultra-high resolution images.
The GAA Foundation is a Dutch non-profit organization that aims to heighten the awareness about the more philosophical themes in contemporary art, architecture and in culture in general.
Andrew Rogers “We Are” Press Viewing Days: May 7 – 11, 2017
Opening Reception & Unveiling by invitation only: Thursday, May 11, 2017, Palazzo Mora, Venice, 9:00 – 11:00am May 11 – November 26, 2017
In the lead up to Andrew’s unveiling of his collateral exhibition “We Are” at the forthcoming Venice Biennale, Rogers shared his thoughts with “Dream Idea Machine” about how globalisation, cultural diversity and the intersection of ideas affects and influences the art world and how his projects are conceived and determined.
Since 1998 I have explored cultural diversity and the global intersection of ideas and peoples through my ongoing project Rhythms of Life, the world’s largest contemporary land art project. Across disparate locations spanning 16 countries and 7 continents – including remote deserts, fjords, gorges, Altiplano, mountain valleys and a frozen lake – I have collaborated with over 7,500 people to create 51 structures that together form a connected set of drawings visible from space. These geoglyphs – or stone sculptures – address globalization and our shared humanity.
Using basic elements of rocks and earth, tools used to shape our world for a millennia, I work with communities to create symbols reflexive of both local histories and our shared global reality. There is synergy between our symbology: we are all the same but different. This project establishes consecrated spaces by creating structures that denote a separation from the ordinary, speculate about our shared histories, and enter the domain of myth making. These ‘ruins’ act as catalysts for reflection, providing a much needed response to the continual flux and turmoil of today.
The project also marks the first use of satellites to capture a connected set of contemporary sculptured structures across the Earth. Evident in satellite imagery from as high as 500-800 kilometres (310-500 miles) above the Earth’s surface –these images reinforce that no matter how large people’s endeavours are, they amount to only a speck in space. Created to last over 100 years, while erosion and human activity will take a toll, these structures will act as traces of and monuments to the cultures that imagined them. Their forms link us to the past – from Neolithic structures such as Stonehenge to the Nazca lines in Peru – as well as to the future. They – and we – occupy only a moment in time.
We define our existences with the interplay of space and time. We live in a world where technology is constantly advancing but people are staying where they were. Our roots are in ancient civilisations and cultures whose legacy we carry around with us and which will continue into the future.
*Andrew Rogers will present a collateral exhibition to the Venice Biennale at the garden courtyard of Palazzo Mora. “We are” is comprised of 8 large bronze and stainless steel sculptures. The works act as a metaphor for the dichotomy of human nature, with the rough, organic outer surfaces representing our physical selves while the delicate, polished interiors reflect the internal and personal world of our thoughts.
http://www.dreamideamachine.com/en/?p=24869
We Are – thoughts, experiences and reflections; how we view ourselves and where we fit– what moment have we influenced? How do we stimulate a reaction?
We are all individuals possessing the sanctity of a singular life, and the ability to express ourselves. At the same time we are part of the society within which we live.
We Are is a metaphor for that relationship with the organic rippling and pulsating, ribbed and undulating outer surfaces acting as a counterpoint to the delicate, highly polished interior world of our thoughts.
It is the individual that makes our world a place of justice and compassion.
We Are is an exhibition of eight bronze sculptures from the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia. Until end July.
Come to the Edge 1
2015
Stainless Steel
125 H x 104 W x 84 D cm
(49” x 41” x 33”)
Stainless steel transformed into a seemingly fluid, dynamic and flexible form. The immaculate, reflective surfaces within their flawless curves change according to the surrounding environment.
The new minimalist forms of Rogers’ Sentinels create a spectacular silhouette as the sunrises over the undulating vista of Gibbs Farm.
Located on Kaipara Harbour on the North Island of New Zealand, Gibbs Farm is one of the most significant sculpture parks in the world.
Established over twenty years ago the Farm includes works by Sol LeWitt, Richard Serra, Anish Kapoor, George Rickey, Bernar Venet and now Andrew Rogers.
Sentinels, 15 metres (50ft) in height, was commissioned by owner Alan Gibbs following his 2013 visit to the Time and Space land art park in Cappadocia, Turkey which was created by Rogers over the four years from 2007 to 2011. Comprising 13 major stone structures or geoglyphs, Time and Space is the largest contemporary land art park in the world and part of Rogers’ unique Rhythms of Life global land art project – a connected series of 51 stone drawings on the earth visible from space.
Sentinels comprises four columns, each weighing 30 tons. Extensive research was completed before the correct materials and colour were decided upon to achieve the specific finish required. The colour of the columns shifts with the changing light of day.
Rogers is the first Australian artist to receive a commission for Gibbs Farm.
2015
Bronze
Left: 277 H x 132 W x 100 D cm (109″ x 52″ x 39″)
Right: 274 H x 122 W x 100 D cm (108″ x 48″ x 39″)
“A comment on the future about absence and substitution – the devastation of flora.”
Come to the Edge 3
2015
Stainless Steel
123 H x 122 W x 117 D cm
(48.5” x 48” x 46”)