‘I Want to Create Awareness’: After a Terrifying Diagnosis, Artist Ugo Rondinone Is Organizing a High-Profile Auction to Benefit Cancer Research

When the artist Ugo Rondinone
was diagnosed with an aggressive form of bladder cancer in May 2017
he felt alone and terribly uninformed. 

Rondinone had never heard of
bladder cancer nor known anyone who had been diagnosed with
it. “I was looking for
support groups, but there were none. That made the situation even
scarier because the side effects of the therapy are quite
cruel,” the artist tells
artnet News. “It was completely unknown
territory.” 

That’s why the artist, now 56, is turning his attention toward raising awareness
of the disease, which remains obscure to the much of the larger
public despite being one of the seven most diagnosed forms of cancer in the country,
taking more than 15,000 lives annually. Consequently, funding for
bladder cancer research pales in comparison to other
forms.

Later this month, Rondinone will
sponsor “STOP BLADDER CANCER,” an auction at Sotheby’s New York to
benefit bladder cancer treatment research at Weill Medical College,
where researchers (including Rondinone’s own oncologist) are
working to develop new forms of immunotherapy treatments targeting
the disease.

The sale will feature work by
Rondinone and 14 other artists, including Sarah Lucas, Oscar
Murillo, Elizabeth Peyton, and Pat Steir. The works will go on view
to the public from September 20–25. The sale will take place on the
evening of the 26th as part of Sotheby’s Contemporary Curated
auction. Prices range from an estimated $7,000 to $220,000; the
whole collection is expected to go for upwards of $1
million. 

Rondinone took a year off of
work and travel. He canceled his museum shows and turned many of
his day-to-day duties over to his exhibition manager. Few knew of
his situation. But after learning more about the cancer and its
lack of funding in the US, the artist knew that coming forward with
his own diagnosis was a way of bringing attention to the
cause. 

“I want to create awareness and
put a spotlight on the cancer,” he says,
adding that he hopes
the auction and the message behind it will stretch beyond just the
art world. “Maybe new support groups can be formed in New York
City.”

After his diagnosis, Rondinone
began a progressive form of immunotherapy treatment and,
fortunately, it worked. By September of 2017, his cancer was in
remission. Though he must remain on medication for 10 years—the
period of time in which the disease is most likely to
return—Rondidone was, and still is, cancer free. 

“STOP BLADDER CANCER” will be
on view from September 20-25 at Sotheby’s New York. The auction
will take place the evening of September 26. 

The post ‘I Want to Create Awareness’: After a Terrifying
Diagnosis, Artist Ugo Rondinone Is Organizing a High-Profile
Auction to Benefit Cancer Research appeared first on artnet
News.