BIENNALE ARTE 57. Venice Biennale.
VIVA ARTE VIVA 2017
Having never been to the Venice Biennale before this was a defining trip for my practice & for that part of all artists that needs feeding with a good old art show. It is impossible to cover the whole show as it covers 2 expansive pavilion sites, Arsenale & Giardini plus many more galleries across the city. This will cover my highlights from the 2 pavilion sites as it was all I could cover on a 48hour ticket.
Arsenale
This site is an historic, redeveloped military dock consisting of an expansive space with simple architecture. It features brick pillars, a long corridor with spaces to either side & high wooden beam ceilings. Very adaptable for art & easy to follow in order to cover all of the exhibits.
In the dark cool, bare brick space the first work that you come across is the brightly coloured construction of Rasheed Araeen. These Pink, Orange, Green & Purple cubes are stacked & balanced in the space allowing the viewers to travel through them. Allowing interaction with the the wonderful crisp shadows that are produced from the spot lights above. This first space is called Pavilion of the common, the entire space is divided in to 7 themes. Here the work is very formal. Much of the work uses Line, Form, Shape, is sculptural & has a minimal feel.
A little further round the space brightens up & there are more shapes on the walls & floor. Around the outside (on the floor & walls) is the work of Franz Erhard Walther & in the centre of the space (between pillars on the floor) is Martin Cordiano.
Walther's Cotton, Fabric & wood WallFormation 'Memory Base (Three Quotations)' 1983 from his Wallformation series are seen half way between Painting & Sculpture. Although they are from the the early to mid 1980s they immediately feel like IKEA or flatpack furniture hacks. A recent boom in modifying self build furnishings that has been excelled by social media & internet channels. The fabric sections are also reminiscent of those heavy door curtains that stop the elements in the entrances to cafes, bars & restaurants in cold windy countries. There is a domestic feel to this work which is added to by the interaction or "total involvement of the body" which is encouraged as viewers are allowed to interact with the floor pieces. There is a richness in the Colours, Materials used & a palpable quality throughout.
There is an interaction with Walther's work that covers the walls around the space with the work of Cordiano which sits in the centre. Staying with the domestic theme of Common Places these structures represents the foot prints of architecture or rooms of a house. They can not move easily once in place. however inside each one is a chalk ball which can move within its confines & would leave a trace if it did so. These two works show us something half built or elements that are ready for use. They both use scale to their advantage revealing a surprise with the insertion of a human body. The bold colours & simple shapes take on a second function when they are too big to use or interact with planting both works in the realm of Painting/Sculpture/Architecture.
Moving into the Pavilion of the Earth viewers are faced with more organic shapes & materials. One large scale works here is Julian Charriere's Future Fossil Spaces, 2017. Evoking a feel of "Science Fiction Architecture" this work comments on process of mining for Lithium for use in Batteries in mobile phones & computers. Quoted to be a damaging process for the environment & likened to the process of pumping oil. Both sources will be exhausted by the relentlessness of human consumption. Once more this work is activated by the movement of people through it. Towering structures & low pedestals all fill this space, working with mass & volume of the forms that construct this work.
The Pavilion of Traditions follows with another 13 artists works. Here there are many skilled works on show with an emphasis on making. Here you can see the time & effort that the artists put into making their work from scratch. There is a real sense of handmade & dedicated labour. The following 3 artists Achraf Touloub, Irina Korina & Yee Sookyung stood out as the quality of their work was outstanding in addition to translating the theme of Traditions.
Skipping ahead a few themes lands you in the Pavilion of Colour & who better than Sheila Hicks with her work Escalade Beyond Chromatic Lands (2016 -17) to serve as the backdrop for this space. I feel this work needs little commentary so here are some images.
The final Highlight is Man with Axe - Venice 2017 by Liliana Porter. This work is in the Pavilion of Time & Infinity. porter's work showcases miniature dioramas taking place on an expansive knee high plinth culminating in a man with an Axe who seems to me smashing all of the tiny ceramics in the space. It would be easy to spend hours looking at all of the tiny little pieces of this work, following the stories. Tiny human figures interact in the space with the larger ceramics & toys. One scene that is unfolding is the assassination of JFK, his presidential cavalcade can be seen amongst the rubble of stuff with a marks man in the distance aiming a rifle. Its a crazy mass of bits & bobs arranged so perfectly in order to bring order to the chaos.
So, this post covers most of the work at Arsenale that is not a country pavilion (Country Pavilions will come nextin a separate post). In fact this work is pretty much all housed in the length of the driveway in the image below. These are only a few of my personal highlights & brings a tiny percentage of the many artists to the fore. Of course if you are heading to the Biennale before it finishes in November then there is so much to see at Arsenale, a whole days worth.
Left Arsenale site.