WHAT TO SEE at Le Biennale di Venezia
July 7, 2022
Padiglione Centrale, Photo by Andrea Avezzu – Courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia.
The Venice Biennale is an international cultural exhibition hosted in Venice, Italy by the Biennale foundation. The Biennale, established in 1895, makes it the oldest of its kind. This year, 2022, is the 59th Art Biennale, curated by Italian curator Cecilia Alemani entitled “The Milk of Dreams” after a book by British-born Mexican surrealist painter Leonora Carrington.
The Art Biennale is one of the world׳s largest and most important contemporary visual art exhibitions.
The Biennale is open from April 23 to November 27, 2022.
So, if you are planning on visiting the Biennale this year – Here is what you shouldn’t miss!
This year, my personal favorite pavilions dealt with two main subjects: Movement and Identity. The movement is both physical, and technological as well as the movement of objects, ideas, and people around the world. Here are three of my favorite pavilions that I think are a must-see:
The Korean Pavilion
Artist: Kim Yun-Chul | Curator: Lee Young-chul
The major works in the Korean pavilion move and change frequently as they work on the connection between inside and outside, between the exhibition space and the nature outside it. The Korean pavilion displays six artworks by artist Kim Yun-Chul, including fluid and chromatic kinetic installations. The idea behind this pavilion and its works of art is that there are both motion in stillness and stillness in motion. Both the pavilion area and the works of art interact with the outdoor space. The space appears to grow indefinitely, creating a vortex.
“Chroma V” (2022) Arts council Korea.
Kim Yun-Chul pursues to give the visitors a full-sense experience as viewers of his work, and he succeeds in it.
In the image, you can see “Chroma V” which is a kinetic installation consisting of 382 cells that are comprised of very translucent laminating polymers that give the artwork a glittering sheen. The installation is a 50-meter-long parametric structure, reminiscent of fish skin. The internal kinetic device deforms the polymer layers on their surface, allowing them to alter brightness and color.
Arcaneglo Sassolino, Diplomazija Astuta (2022), Malta pavilion at the Venice Biennale. Photo by Massimo-Penzo.
The Malta Pavilion
Artist: Arcangelo Sassolino | Curators: Keith Sciberras & Jeffrey Uslip
Arcangelo Sassolino is melting 400 pounds of steel each day in a poignant tribute to Caravaggio’s “The Beheading of St. John the Baptist, which he made in Malta.
The work is at once a technological marvel (the artist uses induction technology to liquify 400 pounds of steel each day) and a reference to one of Malta’s most historic Baroque paintings; traversing 1608 to 2022.
Stepping into the room through the black curtains and witnessing the moment the steel melts was a truly unforgettable experience. It is like watching a rain of fire in a dark atmosphere where the
ground on which the rain falls to is water. At first glance, you have no idea what you׳re looking at. This work is a must-see in my opinion.
Ilit Azoulay, ‘Queendom’ panel, 2022, inkjet print. Courtesy: the artist, Braverman Gallery and the Museum for Islamic Art, Jerusalem.
The Israeli Pavilion
Artist: Ilit Azoulay | Curator: Dr. Shelley Harten
ILIT AZOULAY is representing the Israeli Pavilion this year with Queendom (מַלְכּוּת).
Azoulay is best known for recomposing images according to data gained from a thorough research process. In Queendom, Azoulay continues with her familiar artistic technique which begins with
photography and continues with digital editing, creating completely new images.
The archive with which Azoulay worked is a collection of photographs of medieval metal vessels from the Middle East owned by the Museum for Islamic Art in Jerusalem and taken by historian David Storm Rice, who, like Azoulay, utilized the camera as a scanner.
Azoulay’s new images are much more democratic than the original photograph and, in this work, she seeks to challenge the male-dominated and national sets of knowledge and information transfer. Queendom shows 7 panoramic photomontages alongside collaborative sound work and architectural interventions such as the relocation of the main entrance of the Israeli pavilion from West to East.
As mentioned, the incredible research of both identity and movement is an important fundamental ground in the 59th Biennale. In my three favorite works from the international pavilions (Korea, Israel, and Malta), you see at a glance this kind of research and the way the talented artist dealt with it.
On view in our gallery:
Ilit Azoulay, Mirror Stage, 2013, Inkjet print, 144 x 288 cm, 57 x 113, Edition 2/5
For more artworks by Ilit Azoulay visit our website