FUTURE OF THE WORLD.
Katie de Tilly walks us through some of the exhibitions presented at this year’s Venice Biennale; who curated them, which artists featured and what exhibits stand out. She also directs us through the city to see other arty highlights that run in tandem to this world-leading art exhibition, as well as where to view centuries-old Italian masters.
The Venice Biennale is the preeminent art event of the world. It pulls together the global stock of artists, art lovers, museums and collectors into the majestic sinking city which glistens with beauty in every and any direction your eye might fall. Now in its 56th edition, it started in 1895 with one exhibition hall that attracted 224,000 visitors, even at that time. The event has expanded throughout the city to include hundreds of exhibition venues. This year Nigerian-born curator Okwui Enwezor entitled the exhibition All of the World’s Futures and invited 139 artists from 53 countries; many of them from countries who do not have official representation at the Biennale.
The Venice Biennale is many things at once. There are the main curated sections at the Giardini, a garden sprouting buildings called pavilions that are owned and designed by various countries, and the Arsenale, a desolate old shipyard of grand halls converted into exhibition spaces. As well as these there are many museum exhibitions and collateral art events sprinkled throughout the city’s winding canals. It would take weeks to see all of the events thus there is no need to stress but rather relax and take in as much as you can without forgetting to enjoy the food, wine and palatial scenery of Venice.
Curator Okwui Enwezor’s Biennale attempts at a political awareness campaign of where the world is today. He addresses this through the choice of artworks and global concerns such as neoliberal systems, postcolonial realities and the struggles of feminism. He interjects exhibitions throughout with performances that lure you out of the malaise of viewing thousands of static art objects to reawaken the senses and thinking behind his theme.
The national pavilions of the countries of the world start to be mapped out in the Giardini. The best pavilions were by far that of Korea, curated by Tate curator Sook-Kyung Lee, and that of Japan. The Korean pavilion had work by artist-duo Moon Kyungwon and Jeon Joonho. The Ways of Folding Space & Flying, a new multi-channel film installation, explores an archaeological quest into human civilization that interweaves history with visions of the future as told through a future retrospective narrative. The artists attempt to make sense of what they perceive as a fundamental function of art in our increasingly uncertain and precarious environment. They propose ways of imagining the future where existing notions of art and creativity may no longer be relevant.
The Japanese pavilion, created by artist Chiharu Shiota, had a room of entwined red yarn creating a maze of colour. Some 50,000 keys were tied to the web and a boat was seen mystically through the tangle. After being confronted with the deaths of several intimate friends and family in recent years, Shiota has converted these experiences into the lingua franca of pure and sublime art without averting her eyes from the reality – that all human beings must face life and death but that each of us must do so individually. Her work references the pain and suffering due to the aftermath of the Great East Japan earthquake.
YBA artist, Sarah Lucas, created the UK pavilion, whose sexually fun world of sculptural works were an amusing addition on the sometimes hard path of absorbing so much visual imagery. The Hong Kong pavilion was converted into a labyrinth of dark rooms. This year’s artist Tsang Kin-wah was curated by M+ chief curator, Doryun Chong, and Stella Fong. The Infinite Nothing consists of four stand-alone video installations that, together, form a narrative of transformative journeys through stages in life, exploring a perpetual cycle of self-inquiry and discovery. The work brings together a host of philosophical concepts expressed through metaphors and allegories, along with religious symbolisms and popular cultural references.
One of the highlights each year is the Palazzo Fortuny, an old Venetian family palace that hosts contemporary exhibitions to the backdrop of the house and its artefacts. The exhibition this year, titled Proportio, was organised by the Axel and May Vervoordt Foundation. It plays on the concept of proportions and the sacred geometry of the golden ratio and how it is used by artists, scientists, architects and philosophers. Both scientific as well as visually balancing, the artists from all parts of the globe are presented with such finesse and purity that the works both shout and whisper to each other (until November 22. See fortuny.visitmuve.it).
Beyond the contemporary, the works of art created throughout the centuries in Italy are jaw-droppingly amazing. Every church in Venice houses exquisite paintings and sculptures – but for the apogee of viewing Venice’s greatest painter, Tintoretto, go to the Scuola Grande di San Rocco and make sure you go to the top floor where the ceilings and walls contain a plenitude of paintings by the master at his grandest moment of creation (scuolagrandesanrocco.it).
Whether you are a seasoned or just curious art traveller, the Venice Biennale is the ultimate art event in the world. It runs until November 22 and the best time to go is when the crowds of summer have melted away, from September to November (labiennale.org/en). My Art Guide gives you the best listings and maps to take you through the city and plan your trip (myartguides.com/venice-art-biennale-2015).
KATIE DE TILLY
Regular Art Spy columnist Katie de Tilly is the owner of 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, which represents Wang Keping and anothermountainman among others. She is also the co-founder of the Chai Wan Mei Art and Design Festival and arts platform H-KAGE.
The opinions expressed in this column are the author’s own.
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