Magic mountains: Ugo Rondinone’s modern totems liven up the Nevada desert

The Art Production Fund and Nevada Museum of Art are currently presenting their latest venture, ’Seven Magic Mountains’, by Swiss-born artist Ugo Rondinone. The large-scale desert installation has been constructed and installed near Las Vegas and consists of seven monumental day-glo stone sculptures.

Five years in the making, the project pays homage to the history of ’Land Art’ and offers a contemporary commentary on the nearby super bright lights of Las Vegas. According to the museum, the site promises to become a ’destination/pilgrimage for art enthusiasts, attracting visitors from around the country and the world’. The structures are made of locally-sourced limestone boulders piled vertically in assortments of between three and six stones. Each shows off a different fluorescent colour, while each individual totem stands between 30 and 35 feet tall.

’"Seven Magic Mountains" is an internationally significant sculptural installation that helps open the door in Nevada to future large-scale, land-based art projects,’ says David B Walker, Nevada Museum of Art’s executive director and CEO. Add Art Production Fund co-founders Doreen Remen and Yvonne Force Villareal, ’Its location on the active Interstate 15 is especially exciting. Approximately 16 million vehicles will pass the work over its two year installation, making it one of the most visible works in the history of land art.’

’Seven Magic Mountains’ is located approximately 10 miles south of the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and St Rose Parkway in Henderson, Nevada.