“Poor boys!” says a young Danish artist to someone waiting in front of her country’s pavilion, which she will find “a little embarrassing”. glass at this year’s Bienal Curator Cecilia Alemani, who lives in New York, wanted it that way, that is, mainly female and as diverse as possible.
It is no coincidence that the motto of the 59th Bienal (“The Milk of Dreams”) was borrowed from a children’s book by British surrealist Leonora Carrington, and at the opening, two representatives of the Black Community, Simone Leigh and Sonia Byce, received a Lion of Gold and became the German Katharina Fritsch and the Chilean Cecilia Vicuña were honored with one for their life’s work.
Strong women everywhere you look. In this country, the signs were recognized and queer duo Ashley Hans Scheirl and Jakob Lena Knebl entered the race. In the elegant Hoffmann Pavilion, the two showcase a colorful universe of painting, sculpture and design, which provoke a spontaneous “Wow!” of many who enter.
View of the Austrian Pavilion © Photographer, Hirtenfelder
In the Danish pavilion, the climate is much more moderate. Here are two centaurs, the male of which is hanging dead from the ceiling while the mare appears to be sleeping. Not far from there, a horse ham recalls the battles and slaughterhouses of our day. Not necessarily embarrassing, but disturbing.
Hyper-realistic horse lady in the Danish pavilion © Photographer, Hirtenfelder
A few meters away, police officers fled the rain under the cover of the Nordic pavilion to protect their Russian counterpart, who was hit by occasional demonstrations. This year is empty because the originally selected artists boycotted their own exhibition. “If the citizens of Ukraine are hiding in shelters and the protesters in Russia are being silenced, I cannot present my work at the Russian Pavilion,” Alexandra Sukhareva, 39, said on Instagram.
German conceptual artist Maria Eichhorn also boldly declined. Instead of filling her country’s pavilion with life, she removed parts of the interior plaster and opened the floor to make visible the structural changes of 1938 – a rather flimsy attempt at a Nazi archaeological confrontation.
premature nationalism
Russia and Germany are making it clear in different ways that the roughly 80 country flags are no longer up to date, even though Ukraine, which is housed in the arsenal with China and other major nations, would be very happy to have its own office. of representation in the Giardini, as a sign of its sovereignty.
But there is another way: while Switzerland features large cluster figures of a Moroccan woman with French roots, the Dutch have left their pavilion entirely to Estonia – a rare example of national altruism.
Some countries put their indigenous people in the spotlight. One finds Sami culture in the Scandinavian pavilion or Paul Gauguin’s South Sea colonial fantasies in New Zealanders. With Malgorzata Mirgas-Tas, Poland sent a Roma artist to Venice for the first time. It shows huge textile images modeled on Italian Renaissance frescoes.
The American pavilion, with its monumental sculptures by Simone Leigh, and the British pavilion, where Sonia Boyce celebrates the singing power of five black singers, are also worth mentioning. Belgium offers the nicest look with a cinematic collage of children’s games from around the world, while Korea technically shines with Yunchul Kim’s kinetic sculptures.
However, Cecilia Alemani’s main exhibition has greater visual value, so long lines in front of the pavilions (up to an hour) are only worthwhile for those staying in the lagoon town for several days. Patience is needed in front of the temple of French art, where cinema and live tango pay homage to the Algerian filmmaker Zineb Sedira, and in front of that of the Greeks, where you can follow a modern version of “Oedipus” thanks to VR glasses.
“Time Capsule” with Kogelnik and Jürgenssen
“The Milk of Dreams,” which Alemani distilled from contemporary art, on the other hand, tastes sweet and is full of fantastical creatures. Three Austrians also contributed posthumously. In a kind of “time capsule”, there are surreal body images of the designer Birgit Jürgenssen, the great pop art Kiki Kogelnik and the little-known Viennese Rosa Rosà, alias Edith von Haynau, who once moved to Italy to join the futurists here. His hybrid creatures are seen for the first time at the Bienal.
Kiki Kogelnik is present at Arsenal with 13 body images from the 1960s © Photographer, Hirtenfelder
The same applies to most of the more than 200 female artists, which is why you will find big names mainly in the 30 or so “Eventi Collaterali” and in the dozens of footboard exhibitions. After all, good deals are also made on the sidelines of the Bienal. While Anselm Kiefer is playing in one of the halls of the Doge’s Palace, you can marvel at Georg Baselitz at Palazzo Grimani and Marlene Dumas at Palazzo Grassi. Salzburg gallery owner Thaddäus Ropac brought several draft horses with him, including Joseph Beuys and Arnulf Rainer. The late Hermann Nitsch is also commemorated at the Giudecca, and photos of the Klagenfurt stadium forest hang in Palazzo Mora.
However, the most frequently photographed objects are probably Carole A. Feuerman’s hyper-realistic bikini girl and a painting robot. You can find both of them in the cafe opposite the Giardini. Needless to say, the android is a lady. She has sold millions of photos and goes by the beautiful name Ai-Da.