Ugo Rondinone: More Light | Sadie Coles HQ
Ugo Rondinone has taken over London’s gallery district this summer. He has three shows, running at once, two of them outdoors. There’s a rainbow arcing over the courtyard of the Royal Academy, on the way in to the Summer Exhibition, which mean’s it’s been the backdrop of thousands of date selfies so far.
Up the road, fifty-four flags featuring Rondinone’s designs line Bond Street, each one portraying a different sunrise or sunset, pulled from a series the artist started back in 2016. I’d seen both of those in passing over the summer. I left the gallry show til last - and waited to visit until its last week, with the first autumn leaves gathering in the Mayfair gutters.
More Light is the indoor leg, at Sadie Coles HQ. Six paintings on unprimed cotton, each a loose representation of a sunrise or sunset, using three bright colours. He traced the simple shapes in pencil, then added light and loose washes of colour over the top. The edges of the washes stay open, so the edges look lightly, casually, unfinished.
The gallery’s show notes claim that the works are meditative. But I found them loud and open, accessibly cute. Which isn’t a criticism: there’s something generous about Rondinone’s work, nothing to decode, just lovely washes of colour. Easiest just to be glad for their collective warmth, while it lasts.
Ugo Rondinone: More Light is at Sadie Coles HQ (London). 09 June - 22 August 2026