Andrew Rogers

Andrew Rogers is a contemporary Australian sculptor. He 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 51 massive stone structures across 16 countries on seven continents, and has involved over 7,500 people.

Rhythms of Life Bunjil geoglyph at the You Yangs, Lara, Australia. The creature has a wing span of 100 metres and approximately 1500 tons of rock was used to construct it.

The title of the project, the Rhythms of Life is derived from Rogers' early bronze sculptures.

Of particular note is a site in Cappadocia, Turkey, where between 2007 and 2011 Rogers completed the "Time and Space" geoglyph park. The thirteen structures comprise more than 10,500 tons of stone and, in total, the walls measure approximately in length. The structures that lie furthest apart are separated by a distance of .

Rogers' Rhythms of Life project is the largest contemporary land-art undertaking in the world, forming a chain of 51 stone sculptures, or geoglyphs, around the globe: 18 sites in disparate exotic locations from below sea level and up to altitudes of . Up to three geoglyphs, ranging in size up to , are located at each site. To date the project has involved over 7,500 people in 16 countries across seven continents.

Monumental geoglyphs have been constructed since 1998, forming a chain of 51 drawings on the earth visible from space. Outside Melbourne, in Geelong, a "Rhythms of Life" site was commissioned in association with the 2006 Commonwealth Games. In China the "Rhythms of Life" walls stretch .

In the book "Andrew Rogers Geoglyphs Rhythms of Life", author Eleanor Heartney, New York-based, award-winning art writer and independent art critic, describes Rogers' land art undertaking:

"The geographic and historic sweep of the works constructed as part of the Rhythms of Life project is unprecedented in its scale and ambition. Taken together, the geoglyphs have been erected in every kind of climate, and have responded to geographical environments as distinct as Nepal’s Himalayan Mountains, China’s Gobi Desert, the volcanic mountains of Iceland and the harsh Israeli desert."

According to Hannes Sigurdsson, Director of the Akureyri Art Museum in Iceland:

"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".

Three examples of the 'Rhythms of Life' geoglyphs are:

"The Ancients" This geoglyph is derived from a "pictureglyph" of a pre-Columbian deity known as "El Señor de los Báculos" located in the Rio Loa area near Calama, Chile. The pictureglyph is attributed to the Tiwanaku (also spelled Tiahuanaco) culture that developed between the years 300 and 900 AD. The geoglyph is located at an altitude of above sea level, on the Llano de la Paciencia (Plain of Patience), 13 km from the town of San Pedro de Atacama. The stone walls forming this geoglyph, constructed from volcanic rock and clay, are long. This image forms part of the pastoral cosmology. The sun cuts across this "pictureglyph" at the solstice. "The Rhythms of Life" This geoglyph is located at 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. "Ancient Language" This geoglyph is about high, and is inspired by an Aguadan (700-900AD) petroglyph carved into stone at the Pampa Vizcachilla archaeological site, in the surrounding area of Yerbas Buenas, 20 km from the Rio Grande.

Satellite imagery Rogers' works are of such proportions that they have been captured in photographs taken by satellite from distances between above the earth's surface. They can be easily observed in Google Earth's satellite imagery which has been used to create a tour of the 'Rhythms of Life' Land art project.

Works

Solo exhibitions and displays 2019—Scott Livesey Galleries, Armadale, Victoria, Australia: Kairos 2019—Dominik Mersch Gallery, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia: Frisson 2019—Deakin University Art Gallery, Burwood, Victoria, Australia: Retrospective Andrew Rogers Evolution 2018—National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia: Andrew Rogers maquettes and Sculptures 1996–2016 2017—European Cultural Centre, Collateral Exhibition to the 57th Venice Biennale, Palazzo Mora, Venice, Italy: We Are 2017—National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia: We Are 2017—Mossgreen Gallery, Armadale, Victoria, Australia: We Are 2015—Geelong Gallery, Geelong, Australia: Geoglyphs - the land art projects of Andrew Rogers 2015—McClelland Sculpture Park+Gallery, Langwarrin, Australia: Andrew Rogers A Retrospective - Maquettes 1996–2015 2014—University of Sydney, Australia: individuals, donated from artist, found in front of the Faculty of Law Building 2013—Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza, City of New York, New York, USA: Individuals, May - September 2013—Elgiz Cagdas Sanat Müzesim, Istanbul, 18 April – 18 June 2012—Center for Contemporary Arts Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA: Rhythms of Life 2012—Aidekman Arts Center, Tufts University Art Gallery, Massachusetts, USA: Global Land Art: Projects by Andrew Rogers 2012—Hammer gallery, Zurich, Switzerland: Rhythms of Life 2012—Nevada Museum of Art, Nevada, USA: Andrew Rogers Contemporary Geoglyphs 2011—Art Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey: Andrew Rogers Time and Space 2011—Momentum, Berlin, Germany: Time and Space: Drawing on the Earth 2011—18th Street Arts Center, Santa Monica, California USA: Time and Space 2009—White Box Gallery, 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, California USA 2007—William Mora Gallery, Richmond, Australia 2005—Victorian Arts Centre, Melbourne, Australia 2004—Grounds for Sculpture, New Jersey, U.S.A. 2004—Gomboc Sculpture Park, W.A. Australia 2003—Deakin University "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 2022—Sculpture by the Sea, Sydney, NSW, Australia 2021—Scott Livesey Galleries, Prahran, Victoria, Australia 2019—Sydney Contemporary, Sydney, NSW, Australia 2019—Desert x 2019, Parallel Project, Rhythms of Life, Yucca Valley, California, USA 2018—Sculpture by the Sea, Sydney, NSW, Australia 2018—Wynne Exhibition, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australia 2017—Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi, Sydney, NSW, Australia 2017—Sculpture by the Sea, Barangaroo, Sydney, NSW Australia 2017—Mossgreen Gallery, Armadale, Victoria, Australia* 2016—Sculpture Inside, Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe, WA, Australia 2015—Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi, Sydney, NSW, Australia 2015—Gasworks, Victoria, Australia: From Nature* 2014—Sculpture By the Sea, Sculpture Inside, Cottesloe, WA, Australia 2014—Lorne Sculpture Biennale, Victoria, Australia 2013—Art Miami, Miami, Florida, USA 2013—Sculpture by the Sea, Sydney, NSW, Australia 2013—Sydney Contemporary, Sydney, Australia 2013—Pulse Art Fair, New York, USA 2013—Art Stage Singapore, Singapore 2012—Scope Basel, Switzerland 2012—The Wynne Exhibition, Art Gallery of New South Wales 2011—The Sculpture Foundation and the City of West Hollywood, California USA: Elemental 2011—Sculpture by the Sea, Sydney, NSW, Australia 2011—Sculpture by the Sea, Aarhus, Denmark 2011—Scope Basel, Switzerland 2011—Rassegna Internazionale Di Scultura Di Roma 2010—Sculpture by the Sea, Sydney, NSW, Australia 2010—Scope Basel, Switzerland 2010—Art Karlsruhe, Germany 2009—Yeshiva University Museum, New York, US 2008—Soho Galleries, Sydney, NSW, Australia 2007—Sculpture By the Sea, Cottesloe, WA, 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 Gallery, Victoria, Australia 2003—Soho Galleries, Sydney, NSW, Australia 2002—Art Singapore - Contemporary Asian Art, Singapore 2002—Soho Galleries, Sydney, NSW, Australia 2001—SOFA Chicago, US 1998—Grounds for Sculpture, New Jersey, US 1998—La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia 1997—Sculpture at Heidelberg Medical Centre, Victoria, Australia 1994—4th Australian Contemporary Art Fair

Awards (finalist) 2018—Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales 2014—McClelland Contemporary Sculpture Survey & Award, Langwarrin, Victoria, Australia 2012—Mt Buller Sculpture Award, Victoria, Australia 2012—Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales 2012—McClelland Contemporary Sculpture Survey & Award, Langwarrin, Victoria, Australia 2011—Sculpture by the Sea, Sydney, NSW, Australia 2011—Sculpture by the Sea, Aarhus, Denmark 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