Ugo Rondinone's 20-foot lightning sculptures aren't what they first appear to be. This surreal, joyous, and surprising new exhibition is on view at Gladstone Gallery in New York.

In 2013, Ugo Rondinone’s 20-foot stone figures took over Rockefeller Plaza. In 2016, his 35-foot towers of fluorescent-colored boulders landed in the Las Vegas desert, and now this month at Gladstone Gallery in New York, Ugo Rondinone debuts his newest astounding sculptures: 3 solid ?lightning strikes? made from bright yellow painted bronze, each reaching over 20 feet tall.
Ugo Rondinone: bright light shining. Gladstone Gallery New York
Rondinone?s work often ignites surprising contrasts between the natural and unnatural while twisting perceptions of material, time, and scale. His latest exhibition, bright light shining feels like a dream while you’re still in it ? both familiar and bizarre. The sculptures initially appear to be upside-down trees or massive roots ? but are in fact bronze. The large skylight and gray walls (painted for this exhibition) give an odd sense of time ? neither day nor night, while the lightning itself invites you to perceive a phenomena that naturally occurs in a millisecond to the blink of an eye on permanent pause. Ugo Rondinone, glorious light, 2023
Ugo Rondinone, sublime light, 2023
Ugo Rondinone, blissful light, 2023
Visitors who walk under the jagged 3-dimensional forms may experience another strange suspicion: If these were cast from real trees...