Barbara Chase-Riboud Speaks Out on Declining US Biennale Pavilion
The sculptor told the Financial Times that “this was not the moment” to represent the nation at the Venice Biennale.
The fog surrounding the United States’s controversial pavilion exhibition at the 61st Venice Biennale has yet to lift as the international event inches closer, but one artist who was asked to represent the US has spoken out about her decision to decline the opportunity. In a statement, artist and author Barbara Chase-Riboud told the Financial Times that it was “not the moment.”
The American-French sculptor whose dichotomous sculpture practice was recently celebrated in an exhibition across eight Parisian museums, was among the initial artists fielded by the recently formed American Arts Conservancy (AAC) to represent the US for the 2026 Biennale. The New York Times recently reported that both she and renowned photographer William Eggleston also declined AAC's exhibition commission opportunity, leading the fledgling organization to move forward with Mexico-based American abstract sculptor Alma Allen.
“Participating in the 61st Venice Biennale would have been splendid,” Chase-Riboud told the Financial Times. “Art is the only thing that proves that anything has ever happened in the world. For me, as a world citizen, this was not the moment.”
Chase-Riboud did not address reports that she and Eggleston declined the opportunity to avoid associations with the Trump administration. Hyperallergic has contacted both artists for comment.
The selection process for the US pavilion artist for the 61st Biennale was jolted last May as the US State Department Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, which took over the task from the National Endowment for the Arts, updated the grant submission guidelines in accordance with President Donald Trump's dismantling of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives at a federal level.
The new guidelines for the $375,000 pavilion exhibition grant outlined that the selected proposal must “promote American values” with the expectation that the chosen artist would demonstrate their “ability to showcase American exceptionalism and innovation.”
Having already thrown a wrench in the process, the Trump administration also reduced the timeframe to prepare for the exhibition to eight months. The State Department reportedly greenlit and then reneged on a proposal by artist Robert Lazzarini and curator John Ravenal after negotiations fell through with the pair's institutional partner, the University of South Florida's Contemporary Art Museum.
In November, the State Department announced that Allen and independent curator Jeffrey Uslip had been selected to represent the US through the AAC commission.
There is little information available about the AAC, its funding model, and other key details surrounding its 2025 formation. The nonprofit was created by Jenni Parido, a former pet supply shop founder in Tampa, Florida, who worked in tandem with the State Department's Art in Embassies Director Erin (Elmore) Scavino, wife of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino.
Hyperallergic has contacted the AAC for comment.
