Ugo Rondinone’s magic mountain comes to Liverpool

Words by Billie Muraben, Monday 22 October 2018

Sevenmagicmountains-nevada-liverpool-02-int — Ugo Rondinone: Seven Magic Mountains

Ugo Rondinone’s Seven Magic Mountains, seven towers of brightly painted stacked boulders towering over the nearby Interstate at over 30 feet high, have been sat among the mountain ranges and dry lakes since the summer of 2016. Tomorrow, Liverpool will get its own magic mountain, Liverpool Mountain, which will be the artist’s first public artwork in the UK and the first of its kind in Europe.

The magic mountain series is inspired by naturally occurring ‘Hoodoos’ – spires or pyramids of rock – and the art of meditative rock balancing. While the Seven Magic Mountains in Nevada speak to the human presence in the desert, Liverpool Mountain seems to flip the meaning or behaviour of the work, bringing the chaos of land into the city.

Liverpool Mountain will stand in Mermaid Courtyard, outside Tate Liverpool on the Albert Dock. It’ll mark the 10th anniversary of Liverpool as the European Capital of Culture, the 20th anniversary of Liverpool Biennial and the 30th anniversary of Tate Liverpool.

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