Hello again after a (much too) long time away. I was lucky enough to spend my summer in Italy. Seven fabulous weeks. Everything is beautiful, the food and wine are delicious, the history is rich and long and, best of all, there is so much spectacular art! I wanted to keep up with the blog, but I just wasn't able to find the time, but now that I am back, I want to at least post a few pictures and comments here on the Venice Bienniale, so here goes.
There are two main exhibition sites for the Biennale, where visitors pay for tickets and are inundated with hours worth of art viewing. These are the Giardini and the Arsenale, both in Venice's eastern Castello district. The Giardini, the word itself meaning gardens or park, is a lush environment with permanent pavilions scattered about the grounds. The permanent pavilions are testament to the site's long history as host to one of the artworld's preeminent exhibition events. The Giardini hosts thirty nations, from Australia to Venezuela. The Giardini is also the location for the Bienniale's Central Pavilion, a very large, curated collection of work by individual artists, around this year's theme, Illumination.
There are two main exhibition sites for the Biennale, where visitors pay for tickets and are inundated with hours worth of art viewing. These are the Giardini and the Arsenale, both in Venice's eastern Castello district. The Giardini, the word itself meaning gardens or park, is a lush environment with permanent pavilions scattered about the grounds. The permanent pavilions are testament to the site's long history as host to one of the artworld's preeminent exhibition events. The Giardini hosts thirty nations, from Australia to Venezuela. The Giardini is also the location for the Bienniale's Central Pavilion, a very large, curated collection of work by individual artists, around this year's theme, Illumination.
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| Giardini, approaching the Central Pavilion |
The Arsenale is a vast sprawl of former ship building facilities converted into exhibition space. The fortifications of stone and brick are still in various states of disrepair. These buildings are dilapidated remnants of Venetian naval power. It is an eerie place that somehow proves to be an apt exhibition space for contemporary art. The ghosts of Venetian fleets still linger in the immense spaces and though water is always nearby, there is the strange feeling of being in a barren desert.
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| one building on the grounds of the Arsenale |
Along with the Giardini and Arsenale spaces, there are pavilions scattered all over Venice that are open free to the public. These are various indoor and outdoor spaces temporarily hosting art from many more countries, not included in the two main exhibition sites.
Like any large exhibition where thousands of artworks are on display, one is bound to see a wide variety of the good, the bad and the ugly. I also found myself in front of or surrounded by things that were just plain weird. One thing I was very aware of was the proclivity for new media and video art. I am still coming to terms with my feelings about the profuse amount of video work, but some of it was interesting. The masterpiece of the medium was The Clock by Christian Marclay, winner of the prestigious Golden Lion Award. The film is 24 hours and it plays in a darkened space at the Arsenale, peopled with lounging visitors in an array of comfy white couches. In The Clock Marclay has meticulously collected and edited together clips from various films that have one thing in common - all have a clock or watch telling the real time. As you watch the clips flowing seamlessly into one another you are taken into another reality while continuously reminded of the actual passage of time. There is not a continuous narrative, but the film holds viewer attention with moments of suspense, drama, comedy, and heartbreak. One cannot help but feel a sense of intrigue and it is compelling to sit for long stretches of time in anticipation of what will come next. It is an commentary on the concept of time, its passage and how we use it.
Here's a link to an an obviously bootlegged video on vimeo
There was so much to see that I could really go on all day. However, I will try to keep it short here and just list a few of my favorites:
At the Giardini there was Christian Boltansky at the French pavilion, Sigalit Landau at the Isreali pavilion and a cool animation by Tabaimo at the Japanese pavilion. Also interesting were the pavilions of Great Britain (installation by Mike Nelson) and Denmark (a curated show called Speech Matters with work by various artists.)
I liked a number of things in the Central Pavilion. A couple of things I took special note of were the poetic text-based work of Swedish artist Karl Holmqvist as well as the detailed stitchery of outsider artist Jeanne Natalie Wintsch. A highlight was the display of masterpieces by Ventetian Renaissance painter Jacopo Tintoretto.
At the Arsenale my favorite works were the melting sculptures by Urs Fischer and Marclay's The Clock. The Indian pavilion really stood out for me with its illustrative installations by Praneet Soi and elegant woodblock prints by Zarina Hashmi.
Like any large exhibition where thousands of artworks are on display, one is bound to see a wide variety of the good, the bad and the ugly. I also found myself in front of or surrounded by things that were just plain weird. One thing I was very aware of was the proclivity for new media and video art. I am still coming to terms with my feelings about the profuse amount of video work, but some of it was interesting. The masterpiece of the medium was The Clock by Christian Marclay, winner of the prestigious Golden Lion Award. The film is 24 hours and it plays in a darkened space at the Arsenale, peopled with lounging visitors in an array of comfy white couches. In The Clock Marclay has meticulously collected and edited together clips from various films that have one thing in common - all have a clock or watch telling the real time. As you watch the clips flowing seamlessly into one another you are taken into another reality while continuously reminded of the actual passage of time. There is not a continuous narrative, but the film holds viewer attention with moments of suspense, drama, comedy, and heartbreak. One cannot help but feel a sense of intrigue and it is compelling to sit for long stretches of time in anticipation of what will come next. It is an commentary on the concept of time, its passage and how we use it.
Here's a link to an an obviously bootlegged video on vimeo
There was so much to see that I could really go on all day. However, I will try to keep it short here and just list a few of my favorites:
At the Giardini there was Christian Boltansky at the French pavilion, Sigalit Landau at the Isreali pavilion and a cool animation by Tabaimo at the Japanese pavilion. Also interesting were the pavilions of Great Britain (installation by Mike Nelson) and Denmark (a curated show called Speech Matters with work by various artists.)
I liked a number of things in the Central Pavilion. A couple of things I took special note of were the poetic text-based work of Swedish artist Karl Holmqvist as well as the detailed stitchery of outsider artist Jeanne Natalie Wintsch. A highlight was the display of masterpieces by Ventetian Renaissance painter Jacopo Tintoretto.
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| Karl Holmqvist, fragment of a full room installation |
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| Jeanne Natalie Wintsch |
At the Arsenale my favorite works were the melting sculptures by Urs Fischer and Marclay's The Clock. The Indian pavilion really stood out for me with its illustrative installations by Praneet Soi and elegant woodblock prints by Zarina Hashmi.
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| Praneet Soi, detail view |
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| Zarina Hashmi |
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| Zarina Hashmi, Stars |
As far as photography, I enjoyed seeing the work of Luigi Ghirri, David Goldblatt, Elad Lassry, and Taryn Simon, but was kind of disappointed that I only discovered one photographer that I had not heard of before, that being Annette Kelm.
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| Annette Kelm |
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