At last year’s Venice Biennale, the Swiss-born, New York-based artist Ugo Rondinone presented his highly anticipated Burn Shine Fly exhibition in the 13th century Scuola Grande San Giovanni Evangelista church. One of the most ambitious installations on display comprised seven life-size flying figures, suspended from the ceiling and camouflaged as clouds. Six were moulded on trapeze artists; one on the 20-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer. ‘When I see him moving on the court, I see a man who can fly by catching the ball so I thought it was a good fit to [make him into] a flying person,’ said Rondinone of his decision to include Federer in the installation.

Federer secretly modelled for the work while out of action due to injury. During the creative process, the tennis star was suspended from the ceiling in a harness in nothing but his underwear, his face, hands and feet covered in silicone. His participation in the installation was revealed to the public for the first time during the Biennale. For Federer it was a physically challenging but rewarding experience. ‘This is something exciting in itself as it takes you out of your normal world and it sort of throws you into another world,’ he said. ‘But in art, I’m a little bit new and I’ve still got so much to learn.’ Portrait of a Champion, a short film produced by NBCUniversal in partnership with Credit Suisse, follows Federer’s transformation into Rondinone’s flying figure known as Cloud Six. It is now available to watch on Credit-suisse.com.

Contact us for more information
Visit website