Published on the occasion of burn shine fly, presented during the 59th International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia 2022, the project title is derived from the book of poetry and prose You got to burn to shine by John Giorno, the late American poet and partner of the artist.
The publication surveys a number of Rondinone's most iconic bodies of work brought together at the Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista, as well as insights to new work specifically created for this project; conveying the distinct sensitivity and site-specific discourse with which the artist approaches exhibition-making. Encompassing a diverse array of media, burn shine fly mediates themes that have come to define the artist's practice over the past three decades. Primarily the enduring exploration of the multivalent potentials for the physical to express the metaphysical, spiritual, and transcendental, of which he has stated: 'the work aims to coax the sublime from the subliminal. It should dazzle us and then send us into deep reflection about the marvels and mysteries of life.'
Founded in 1261, Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista is the oldest known confraternity in Venice, and as such sustains the richness and diversity of the city's history. Located in San Polo district at the heart of the city, its walls have housed treasures ranging from venerated relics of the cross of Jesus Christ to works by Venetian Renaissance Masters including Titian, Vittore Carpaccio, and Giovanni Bellini.
