Ugo Rondinone’s the alphabet of my mothers and fathers is a semi-autobiographical work which is dedicated to his Italian parents who in the early 1960’s immigrated from Italy to Switzerland. This work is also an homage to all the Italian Americans who in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s were attracted to Long Island by economic opportunity and the availability of farmland as an alternative to the harsh living conditions of New York city.

This 26-panel work represents the 26 letters of the alphabet - each panel is dedicated to one letter of the alphabet and comprises mainly pre-industrial hand made farming implements and a variety of kitchen and household tools.

The origins of this work began with the discovery of hand made agricultural implements in a small studio which was part of a property on the North Fork of Long Island where Rondinone and his late partner, John Giorno spent their summers.

The artist describes in an interview for the Parrish Art Museum, how he began to experiment with these found objects by applying and covering them in gold-leaf: “it was as if this handmade tool, a rusty tool, became a jewel.”

Since 2020, Rondinone continued to find many more handmade tools on farms and in garage sales mostly on Long Island. These farm tools as well as kitchen and household utensils once collected, were gilded in gold leaf in his studio and arranged on white painted plywood panels at 90-degree angles.

Rondinone created a second life for these utilitarian objects that, as he notes, were made with great care and love in the first place. By exhibiting them as part of a work of art, these tools receive the renewed attention befitting their creation.