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Andrew Rogers (sculptor)
Encyclopedia
Andrew Rogers is a sculptor whose works may be found in many plazas and buildings around the world. He is a leading contemporary artist.
Rogers is the creator of the world’s largest contemporary land art undertaking. Titled “Rhythms of Life,” the project commenced in 1998 and at present comprises 46 massive stone structures (Geoglyphs) across 13 countries in six continents and has involved over 6,700 people.
These Geoglyphs range in size up to 40,000 sq m/430,560 sq ft – and are commanding worldwide attention. They are situated in the Arava Desert - Israel, the Atacama Desert - Chile, the Bolivian Altiplano, Kurunegala - Sri Lanka, Victoria -Australia, the Gobi Desert - China, Akureyri - Iceland, Rajasthan - India, Cappadocia - Turkey, Jomson and Pokhara in Nepal, Spissky and the High Tatras in Slovakia, the Mohave desert in the USA and near the Chyulu Hills in Kenya. Individually and together the Geoglyphs form a unique set of drawings upon the Earth stretching around the globe, connecting people with history and heritage.
Of particular note is the site in Cappadocia, Turkey, where in May 2010 Rogers completed the “Time and Space” geoglyph park. The twelve structures comprise more than 10,500 tons of stone and, in total, the walls measure approximately 4 miles (7 km) in length. The structures that lie furthest apart are separated by a distance of 1.25 miles (2 km).
The title of the project, the “Rhythms of Life” is derived from Rogers’ early bronze sculptures.
Rogers’ works have been presented to leading world figures such as John Howard, Vincent Fox, Efraim Katzir, Richard Butler and Simon Wiesenthal. Andrew Rogers lives in Melbourne Australia and is a full time artist.
Rogers' “Rhythms of Life” project is the largest contemporary land-art undertaking in the world, forming a chain of stone sculptures, or geoglyphs, around the globe – 13 sites – in disparate exotic locations (from below sea level and up to altitudes of 4,300 m/14,107 ft). Up to three Geoglyphs (ranging in size up to 40,000 sq m/430,560 sq ft) are located in each site. The project has involved over 6,700 people in 13 countries across six continents.
Monumental geoglyphs have been constructed in thirteen countries since 1998: Israel, Chile, Bolivia, Sri Lanka, Australia, Iceland, China, India, Turkey, Nepal, Slovakia,the USA and Kenya which are part of a chain of 13 sites created around the world. Outside the City of Melbourne, in Geelong, a “Rhythms of Life” site was commissioned in association with the Commonwealth Games 2006. In China the “Rhythms of Life” walls stretch 2.1 km/1.3 miles.
To date, the project has involved over 6,700 people on six continents (550 in Bolivia, 852 in Sri Lanka, 1000 in China and in India, and 450 in Nepal).
According to Hannes Sigurdsson, Director of the Akureyri Art Museum in Iceland1,
Lilly Wei, an independent curator based in New York writes:2
1, 2Catalogue: Rhythms of Life 1-V11 ISBN 978-9979-9632-7-1, 2007.
Three good examples of 'The Rhythms of Life' are:
Selected group exhibitions
Awards - finalist
Rogers is the creator of the world’s largest contemporary land art undertaking. Titled “Rhythms of Life,” the project commenced in 1998 and at present comprises 46 massive stone structures (Geoglyphs) across 13 countries in six continents and has involved over 6,700 people.
These Geoglyphs range in size up to 40,000 sq m/430,560 sq ft – and are commanding worldwide attention. They are situated in the Arava Desert - Israel, the Atacama Desert - Chile, the Bolivian Altiplano, Kurunegala - Sri Lanka, Victoria -Australia, the Gobi Desert - China, Akureyri - Iceland, Rajasthan - India, Cappadocia - Turkey, Jomson and Pokhara in Nepal, Spissky and the High Tatras in Slovakia, the Mohave desert in the USA and near the Chyulu Hills in Kenya. Individually and together the Geoglyphs form a unique set of drawings upon the Earth stretching around the globe, connecting people with history and heritage.
Of particular note is the site in Cappadocia, Turkey, where in May 2010 Rogers completed the “Time and Space” geoglyph park. The twelve structures comprise more than 10,500 tons of stone and, in total, the walls measure approximately 4 miles (7 km) in length. The structures that lie furthest apart are separated by a distance of 1.25 miles (2 km).
The title of the project, the “Rhythms of Life” is derived from Rogers’ early bronze sculptures.
Rogers’ works have been presented to leading world figures such as John Howard, Vincent Fox, Efraim Katzir, Richard Butler and Simon Wiesenthal. Andrew Rogers lives in Melbourne Australia and is a full time artist.
Rhythms of Life project
Monumental geoglyphs have been constructed in thirteen countries since 1998: Israel, Chile, Bolivia, Sri Lanka, Australia, Iceland, China, India, Turkey, Nepal, Slovakia,the USA and Kenya which are part of a chain of 13 sites created around the world. Outside the City of Melbourne, in Geelong, a “Rhythms of Life” site was commissioned in association with the Commonwealth Games 2006. In China the “Rhythms of Life” walls stretch 2.1 km/1.3 miles.
To date, the project has involved over 6,700 people on six continents (550 in Bolivia, 852 in Sri Lanka, 1000 in China and in India, and 450 in Nepal).
According to Hannes Sigurdsson, Director of the Akureyri Art Museum in Iceland1,
“The Rhythms of Life project by Australian artist Andrew Rogers is the largest contemporary land-art project in the world, forming a chain of stone sculptures, or geoglyphs, around the globe. Monumental geoglyphs have been constructed in ten countries to date: Israel, Chile, Bolivia, Sri Lanka, Australia, Iceland, China, India, Turkey and Nepal. Future locations will include the United States, United Kingdom, Eastern Europe and Africa. By completion, the project will have involved over 5,000 people on six continents. The Rhythms of Life sculptures are optimistic metaphors for the eternal cycle of life and regeneration, expressive and suggestive of human striving and introspection. The geoglyphs embrace a wide cultural vision that links memory and various symbols derived from ancient rock carvings, paintings and legends in each region; they punctuate time and extend history into the distant future while delving into the depths of our heritage in pursuit of the spiritual. The exhibition at the Akureyri Art Museum in Iceland is the first general survey of the project.”
Lilly Wei, an independent curator based in New York writes:2
“Rogers believes that accelerating environmental changes with their potentially catastrophic consequences are much less avoidable these days and therefore much more heeded. Hopefully, he is right. Since the inception of his geoglyphs, it has been one of the artist's purposes to point to the irreplaceable beauties of the earth, both existent and man-made. By creating contemporary megaliths as markers, Rogers insists on the need to preserve this natural and artistic heritage for ourselves and for the future.”
1, 2Catalogue: Rhythms of Life 1-V11 ISBN 978-9979-9632-7-1, 2007.
Three good examples of 'The Rhythms of Life' are:
- 1 "The Ancients" This geoglyph is derived from a 6000 year old "pictureglyph" known as "El Señor de los Báculos" located in the Rio Loa area near Calama, ChileCalama, ChileCalama is a city and commune in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. It is the capital of El Loa Province, part of the Antofagasta Region. Calama is one of the driest cities in the world with average annual precipitation of just . The River Loa, Chile's longest, flows through the city...
. The geoglyph is located at an altitude of 2469 m (8100 ft) above sea level, on the Llano de la Paciencia (Plain of Patience), 13 km from the town of San Pedro de AtacamaSan Pedro de AtacamaSan Pedro de Atacama is a Chilean town and commune in El Loa Province, Antofagasta Region. It is located east of Antofagasta, some 106 km southeast of Calama and the Chuquicamata copper mine, overlooking the Licancabur volcano. It features a significant archeological museum, the R. P...
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- The stone walls forming this geoglyph, constructed from volcanic rock and clay, are 1200 m (3936 ft) in length.
- This image forms part of the pastoralPastoralThe adjective pastoral refers to the lifestyle of pastoralists, such as shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasturage. It also refers to a genre in literature, art or music that depicts such shepherd life in an...
cosmologyCosmologyCosmology is the discipline that deals with the nature of the Universe as a whole. Cosmologists seek to understand the origin, evolution, structure, and ultimate fate of the Universe at large, as well as the natural laws that keep it in order...
. The sun cuts across this "pictureglyph" at the solsticeSolsticeA solstice is an astronomical event that happens twice each year when the Sun's apparent position in the sky, as viewed from Earth, reaches its northernmost or southernmost extremes...
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- 2 "The Rhythms of Life" This geoglyph is located at 2603 m (8500 ft) on the Cordillera de la Sal (Salt Mountains), which rise from the Llano de la Paciencia, and form the head of the Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon), a geological formation of lunar appearance, approximately 14 km from the town of San Pedro de Atacama.
- 3 "Ancient Language" This geoglyph is about 80 m long by 2.8 m high, and is inspired by a 4800 year old petroglyph iconographyIconographyIconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing", and comes from the Greek "image" and "to write". A secondary meaning is the painting of icons in the...
, carved into stone in the surrounding area, Yerbas BuenasYerbas BuenasYerbas Buenas is a Chilean town and commune in Linares Province, Maule Region. It lies in the geographical center of the country, on the fertile central plain, some south of the national capital of Santiago, south of Talca, the regional capital and north of Linares, the provincial...
, 20 km from the Rio GrandeRio GrandeThe Rio Grande is a river that flows from southwestern Colorado in the United States to the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way it forms part of the Mexico – United States border. Its length varies as its course changes...
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Works
Solo exhibitions & displays- 2009 New York, USA: Andrew Rogers: Odysseys and Sitings (1998–2008)
- 2008 William Mora Galleries, Richmond, Australia
- 2007 Poprad, Slovakia: Rhythms of Life I-VII
- 2007 Akureyri Art Museum, Akureyri, Iceland: Rhythms of Life I-VII
- 2007 James Gray Gallery, Santa Monica, USA
- 2007 William Mora Gallery, Richmond, Australia
- 2005 Victorian Arts Centre, Melbourne, Australia
- 2004 Grounds for SculptureGrounds for SculptureGrounds For Sculpture is a sculpture park and museum located in Hamilton Township, Mercer County, New Jersey, United States, on the former site of the New Jersey State Fairgrounds...
, New Jersey, U.S.A. - 2004 Gomboc Sculpture Park, W.A. Australia
- 2003 Deakin UniversityDeakin UniversityDeakin University is an Australian public university with nearly 40,000 higher education students in 2010. It receives more than A$600 million in operating revenue annually, and controls more than A$1.3 billion in assets. It received more than A$35 million in research income in 2009 and had 835...
"Rhythms of Life" Survey Exhibition, Victoria, Australia - 2002 Auronzo di Cadore, Italy
- 2002 Le Venezie, Treviso, Italy
- 2002 Mudima Foundation, Milan , Italy
- 1999 Boritzer Gray Hamano, Santa Monica, California, USA "Rhythms of Life"
- 1998 Embassy of Australia, Washington, United States of America, "Rhythms of Life"
- 1997 Lauraine Diggins Fine Art, Victoria, Australia, "Rhythms of Life"
- 1994 Meridian Gallery, Victoria, Australia "Of Freedom & Will"
- 1993 Meridian Gallery, Victoria, Australia "Mankind in the Gesture of an Individual"
Selected group exhibitions
- 2010 Scope Basel, Switzerland
- 2010 Art Karlsruhe, Germany
- 2009 Yeshiva University Museum, New York, USA
- 2008 Soho Galleries, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- 2007 Soho Galleries, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- 2007 Corniche Art Fair, Venice, Italy
- 2006 Soho Galleries, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- 2005 Soho Galleries, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- 2004 Soho Galleries, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- 2004 Geelong Art GalleryGeelong Art GalleryThe Geelong Art Gallery is a major regional gallery in the city of Geelong in Victoria, Australia. The gallery has approximately 4,000 works of art in its collection...
, Victoria, Australia - 2003 Soho Galleries, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- 2002 Art Singapore - Contemporary Asian Art, Singapore
- 2002 Soho Galleries, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- 2001 Sofa, Chicago, USA
- 1998 Grounds for Sculpture, New Jersey, USA
- 1998 Latrobe University, Victoria, Australia
- 1997 Sculpture at Heidelberg Medical Centre, Victoria, Australia
- 1994 4th Australian Contemporary Art Fair
Awards - finalist
- 2010 Sculpture by the Sea, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- 2007 Contempora2, Sculpture Award at Docklands, Melbourne, Australia
- 2007 Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe, WA, Australia
- 2006 Sculpture by the Sea
- 2005 McClelland Contemporary Sculpture Survey & Award
- 2004 Chicago Navy Pier Walk
- 2004 Helen Lempriere National Sculpture Award
- 2003 McClelland Survey and Sculpture Park,Victoria, Australia
- 2002 Sculpture by the Sea, Sydney, NSW, Australia
External links
- Andrew Rogers web page
- YouTube clip about the AravaArabahThe Arabah , also known as Aravah, is a section of the Great Rift Valley running in a north-south orientation between the southern end of the Sea of Galilee down to the Dead Sea and continuing further south where it ends at the Gulf of Aqaba. It includes most of the border between Israel to the...
Sculptures in IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea... - YouTube clip Land art in Bolivia aired by Ovation Television, USA
- YouTube clip Land art in Sri Lanka aired by Ovation Television, USA
- YouTube clip Land art in India aired by Ovation Television, USA
- YouTube clip Land art in China aired by Ovation Television, USA