Swiss contemporary artist Ugo Rondinone is the subject of the solo exhibition burn to shine at Fosun Foundation in Shanghai, China. The exhibition derives its title from the poetry collection You've Got to Burn to Shine (1994) by American poet John Giorno, the artist’s departed partner. Bringing together a selection of Rondinone's recent works spanning video, painting, and sculpture, the exhibition delves into the artist’s contemplation on the cycles of life and death, as well as nature that deeply involves such existential experiences. 

Occupying the entire second floor, the video work BURN TO SHINE (2022) shows a group of percussionists and dancers performing as they wait for sunrise over an uncharted desert. Here, the arrangement of six large screens forming a circle, paired with energetically urgent drumbeats, creates an immersive experience for the viewers, positioning them as integral to both nature and the performance. This thematic motif of time and nature’s flow extends to the third floor, where his watercolor series mattituck lies. Depicting the sunset at his home on Long Island, New York, 14 paintings are spaced equally across the walls, intuitively conveying the eternity of the constant repetition of sunset and moonrise. 
The exhibition also presents the horizons, a series of horse sculptures that suggest “a landscape confined inside the body” through a horizontal structure created by two different shades of blue glass, and nuns and monks, a collection of large bronze sculptures placed on the rooftop against a panoramic backdrop of the city. 

In burn to shine, Rondinone continues to explore the coexistence and interdependence between the natural world, Romanticism, and existentialism, recording the essence and elemental features of nature. The exhibition remains on view through January 1, 2024.