Art Basel 2024
Booth R1
Hall 2.1
Messe Basel
Messeplatz 10
4058 Basel

Preview days: June 11-12,2024
Public days: June 13-16, 2024

Ugo Rondinone’s the alphabet of my mothers and fathers is a semiautobiographical work, which is dedicated to his Italian parents who in the early 1960’s immigrated from Italy to Switzerland. This work is also an homage to all the Italian Americans who in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s were attracted to Long Island by economic opportunity and the availability of farmland as an alternative to the harsh living conditions of New York City.

The 26 panels of the alphabet of my mothers and fathers represent the 26 letters of the alphabet – each panel is dedicated to one letter of the alphabet and comprises mainly pre-industrial hand made farming implements and a variety of kitchen and household tools.

The origins of this work began with the discovery of hand made agricultural implements in a small studio which was part of a property on the North Fork of Long Island where Rondinone and his late partner, John Giorno spent their summers.

The artist describes in an interview for the Parrish Art Museum, how he he began to experiment with these found objects by applying and covering them in gold-leaf: “It was as if this handmade tool, a rusty tool, became a jewel.”

The larger panels were previously presented at the Parrish Art Museum, Long Island, and will be exhibited at the upcoming solo exhibition of Ugo Rondinone at Esther Schipper, Berlin, September 2024, on the occasion of Berlin Art Week.

Watch the artist Ugo Rondinone introducing his work the alphabet of my mothers and fathers at the Parrish Art Museum, during the exhibition Artists Coose Parrish, Part 1.