The writer Jorge Luis Borges once referred to his friend the artist Xul Solar as “one of the most singular events of our era.” Those in New York have the opportunity to see an important selection of works by the two friends in an exhibition at the Americas Society. Curated by Gabriela Rangel, the show sheds new light on the work of Borges and, through the lens of friendship, reveals the multifaceted artistic and intellectual project that he and Solar shared.
2013 Venice Biennale
Posted inArt
The Artistic Vision of an Artist Who Almost Disappeared
VENICE — Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei’s six-part “S.A.C.R.E.D.” (2011–2013) is a stark installation that sits underneath a round heavenly fresco by late Baroque artist Sebastiano Ricci and surrounded by works by other well-known Italian Old Masters.
Posted inArt
In Venice, A Dream Reborn
SONCINO, Italy — Having just returned from Venice, with its literal acres of art, crowded parties, Arsenale hikes, and tourists wielding umbrellas through the rain, one exhibition left me gratefully awed. Ca’ d’Oro, an example of late Gothic architecture built between 1421 and 1440, is one of most beautifully preserved palazzos along the Grand Canal.
Posted inArt
Seeing the Invisible in a Humanitarian Crisis
BERLIN — In a visually stunning multichannel video installation, “The Enclave” (2013), Richard Mosse has created an immersive environment that plunges the viewer into the heart of the ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The installation in the Irish Pavilion at the Venice Biennale consists of multiple screens positioned throughout the center of the room; they are transparent scrims, so you can see the projection simultaneously from both sides.
Posted inArt
Overlooked African-American Explorer at Center of Bahamian Venice Pavilion
The Bahamas is making its Venice Biennale debut this year with a look at one of history’s overlooked Arctic explorers, a man who may have even been the first to set foot on the North Pole.
Posted inOpinion
How Diverse Is the Venice Biennale?
A special report in the June 2013 edition of The Art Newspaper delves into the question of diversity, or lack thereof, of artists in the international art olympics that is the 55th Venice Biennale.
Posted inArt
The Impossible Desire of the Encyclopedic Palace
VENICE — After all of the seeing and being seen, it was a huge relief to enter Il Palazzo Enciclopedico (The Encyclopedic Palace), curated by Massimiliano Gioni, the youngest artistic director of La Biennale in 110 years. This museum-like exhibition featuring work from over 150 artists from 38 countries made throughout the past century is split between two massive locations: the Central Pavilion at the Giardini, and the Arsenale, which is roughly twelve times the size of an American football field.
Posted inArt
Shock of the View: Seeing and Scene at the Venice Biennale
VENICE — Nothing quite captured the absurdity that is the vernissage of La Biennale better than Ragnar Kjartansson’s fishing boat, the S. S. Hangover, floating through a barrel-vaulted and colonnaded boat parking structure carrying six horn players performing British composer Gavin Bryars’ “White’s SS” (1977) as Tilda Swinton looked on elegantly from a grassy beach at the end of the massive Arsenale. Yes, I actually saw Tilda Swinton. I died.
Posted inNews
Resistance to Turkey’s Protest Violence Reaches the Venice Biennale [UPDATED]
In the last few days, the world is watching Turkey erupt in protest after Turkish authorities responded with shocking violence to peaceful protesters trying to save a small park in central Istanbul. A solidarity protest took place on the opening day of the Venice Biennale, and another arose at New York’s Zuccotti Park.
