Roni Horn, Gold Field (1980-82), via Sophie Kitching for Art Observed

Taking over the Punta Della Dogana for the dizzying months of the Biennale is Slip of the Tongue, a Danh Vo curated exhibition in collaboration with Palazzo Grassi and The Pinault Collection.  Slip of the Tongue features the work of 35 artists, including pieces from Felix Gonzalez- Torres, Andres Serrano, David Hammons, Sigmar Polke, David Wojnarowicz and the curator himself.  Working in conjunction with a large number of artists, the artist-run show is a first for the exhibition space. (more…)

Aurel Schmidt with a work from New Gods, via Art Observed

Recently, artist Aurel Schmidt launched another entry in her series of unexpected pop-up shows, bringing her uniquely visceral, surrealist drawings to an uninhabited apartment on St. Marks Place downtown.  It was a rough and ready affair, with works installed across the hauntingly empty rooms of the walk-up (one work was mounted near the kitchen sink, while another sat above the laundry machine), and a number of the artist’s friends on hand, making it feel more like a casual gathering than a gallery show.  In one room, guests were treated to an impromptu concert by Devonté Hynes (a.k.a. Blood Orange), while Schmidt welcomed guests and showed them around the space.

(more…)

The court case over the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice has begun, a lawsuit by the collector’s grandson to prevent the Guggenheim Foundation from showing any works not in the collection within the museum space, “alleging it breaks with the original arrangement that Peggy wanted and which should be respected after her death,” according to plaintiff Sandro Rumney. (more…)

Santa Maria della Misericordia church converted in THE MOSQUE: The First Mosque in the Historic City of Venice (2015) by Christoph Büchel, all photos by Sophie Kitching for Art Observed

Historically, there have been no mosques in the city of Venice.  Despite the port city’s history as an open gateway to the East and a point of trade that facilitated new cultural, artistic and scientific developments to spread across Europe from trade with the Ottoman Empire and beyond, the city has never permitted the construction or reconstitution of a site of worship for its Muslim population.  Today, in the heated political climate that surrounds international conflicts, not to mention the recent Italian (and, at large, European) controversy regarding immigration from Syria, Lebanon and other regions in North Africa and the Middle East, the prospects for a dedicated Islamic worship site seems even less likely.  For the time being, however, the Venice Biennale has changed this scenario, as the Swiss-born, Iceland-based artist Christoph Büchel opened his frankly-titled installation THE MOSQUE: The First Mosque in the Historic City of Venice this month. (more…)

Golden Lion for Best Pavilion amongst Rene Gabri and Ayreen Anastas, When counting loses its sense (2015), via Sophie Kitching for Art Observed

In 1915, during the clashes of WWI, the Ottoman Empire set out on a path of systemic destruction of its Armenian subjects, massacring male Armenians or forcing them into conscripted labor, while leading women, children and the infirm on arduous death marches off into the Syrian desert.  The brutal and politically contentious genocide killed, on estimate, up to 1.5 million citizens, and stands as one of the Twentieth Century’s most horrific episodes of war.  Even so, the political body of Turkey still refuses to acknowledge the term genocide in relation to these war crimes, and the historical scars of the killings run through the distributed population of the Armenian diaspora worldwide. (more…)

Céleste Boursier-Mougenot, Rêvolutions (2015), French Pavilion, via Sophie Kitching for Art Observed

Running concurrently with the Central Pavilion’s curated exhibition, the respective National Pavilions on view at the Giardini and Arsenale are one of Venice’s defining aspects.  Featuring important solo exhibitions for both emerging and career artists, carefully-curated group shows and special projects, each pavilion’s focus allows the international perspective of the Biennale to truly take shape. (more…)

Adrian Piper, Everything #21 (2010-2013)

The awards for the 56th Venice Biennale have been announced, with the Armenian National Pavilion taking home the Golden Lion for best exhibition, Adrian Piper winning the Golden Lion for best artist in the main exhibition, and El Anatsui winning the Lifetime Achievement award.  A full list of awards is included below: (more…)

At the entrance to the Biennale’s Central Pavilion, via Sophie Kitching for Art Observed

The Central Pavilion in Venice’s Giardini is the second site for All the World’s Futures, the main curatorial project around which the Biennale centers itself.  Featuring another series of artists spread out inside the exhibition space’s remarkable white facade, the exhibition continues its investigation of debris and late capitalism through a more playful, yet equally critical set of works from its counterpart at the Arsenale. (more…)

Peter Doig, Rain in the Port of Spain (White Oak) (2015), all photos by Sophie Kitching for Art Observed

Venetian Ettore Tito was one of the first stars of the Venice Biennale at its inception, presenting his work in almost every one of the early exhibitions through at 1920.  The artist’s colorful compositions often tinged with a slightly surreal, impressionist edge, were a prize of the Italian state in the early decades of the twentieth century, and often filled rooms during the first exhibitions in the city.

It’s a fitting parallel then, that the Scottish-born Peter Doig would be tapped for an exhibit at the former home of the artist, and current location of the Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa.  Presenting a body of new works, including fourteen paintings and an additional six large-scale canvases, the exhibition’s intimate locale and rich history offers a strong parallel for Doig’s own interpretive and illusory meditations on modernity, memory and fantasy.

(more…)

Cy Twombly, Paesaggio (1986), via Sophie Kitching for Art Observed

Undeniably one the greatest artists of 20th century, Cy Twombly‘s work is currently on display at the Ca’ Pesaro International Gallery in Venice, offering an in-depth look at the American artist, and his long residence in Italy.  Combining work from Twombly’s last series produced in 2011, an early painting on wood from 1951, and sculptural work from late in his career, this show delivers on its promise of a look at the artist’s career, while avoiding the demands of an exhaustive survey of his practice.  (more…)

Ibrahim Mahama, Out of Bounds (2015), via Sophie Kitching for Art Observed

The first open hours have come and gone in the City of Bridges today, and the 56th edition of the Venice Biennale, All the World’s Futures is now open.  Welcoming 89 different countries to exhibit in the city, with 29 in the Arsenale, 31 in the Central Pavilion, and an additional 29 spread across in the City itself, the exhibition is a monumental affair, with a number of auxiliary events, openings and parties.

(more…)

Adrian Ghenie will now be represented by Thaddaeus Ropac, with the news coming shortly before the artist opens his solo exhibition at the Romanian Pavilion.  Ghenie will open his first exhibition at Ropac’s Paris Marais gallery this October. (more…)

Controversy has struck at the Venice Biennale this year, after the Kenyan government officially denounced its national pavilion at the exhibition this year, and accused the curators awarded to the space of misrepresenting themselves as affiliated with the nation’s arts community while presenting a predominantly Chinese body of artists.   “We hereby declare that the artists are in no way Kenyan,” a statement from the Kenyan government states.  “Neither through birth nor naturalization and have no business using OUR NAME or flying OUR FLAG at the art Olympics. We demand that the government act by not only stopping the use of the Kenyan name and flying of the Kenyan flag at the Venice Biennale but also demanding the false information be pulled down from all publicity material including the Venice Biennale website.” (more…)

The Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at this year’s Venice Biennale will go to Ghanian artist El Anatsui.  “The Golden Lion Award acknowledges not just his recent successes internationally, but also his artistic influence amongst two generations of artists working in West Africa,” says Biennale Director Paolo Baratta. “It is also an acknowledgment of the sustained, crucial work he has done as an artist, mentor and teacher for the past forty-five years.” (more…)

This year’s Armenian pavilion at the Venice Biennale will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the massacre of more than one million Armenians by Ottoman Turks during the First World War.  The exhibition, titled Armenity and held on San Lazzaro degli Armeni island (home to the Armenian Catholic Monastery), will feature works by artist Sarkis, and is curated by Adelina Cüberyan von Fürstenberg, who has often worked with the artist.  “It is very important for me to keep the production going, for culture but also to keep the dialogue open,” Sarkis  says.  “We are the link between two pavilions. We are the breath. Whoever thinks otherwise is free to think so, of course.” (more…)

An exhibition of work by Peter Doig has been announced at the Palazzetto Tito in Venice, coinciding with the opening the Biennale later this year.  The exhibition will feature a number of Doig’s large scale works, as well as several intimate pieces.   (more…)

The Wall Street Journal profiles curator Okwui Enwezor this week, the head of next year’s Venice Biennale, tracing his early move from Nigeria to New York City, and his monumental impact on the global state of contemporary art today.  “The art world was very Eurocentric and very westerncentric, and it needed strong curators to change it,” says Els van der Plas, the general director of the Dutch National Opera & Ballet.  “Enwezor positioned several projects in a very strong way, which gave a different view of the world and different views on the history of post-colonialism, of what Africa contributed to the world’s development and of how different countries in Africa are positioned in the world debate.” (more…)

The court case between relatives of Peggy Guggenheim and the Guggenheim Foundation has been decided in favor of the museum.  The ruling was issued in a Paris courtroom this week, giving the museum free reign to show art as it deems fitting at the collector’s Venice palazzo.  “The Foundation is proud to have faithfully carried out the wishes of Peggy Guggenheim for more than thirty years by preserving her collection intact in the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, restoring and maintaining the Palazzo as a public museum and contributing to the knowledge of modern and contemporary art in Italy,” the Guggenheim said in a statement. (more…)

Jeremy Deller has announced that he will be releasing a free, downloadable version of his work from the 2012 British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.  The adaptation of English Magic will be released on July 7th as part of a commission by Own Art, a nonprofit aimed at encouraging new contemporary art collectors to buy their first works. (more…)

Artist Joan Jonas will represent the United States at the Venice Biennale next year, the New York Times reports.  The pioneering video and performance artist was selected by the State Department’s bureau of educational and cultural affairs, and will create a site-specific work at the U.S. pavilion.   “Joan has been a visionary for such a long time,’’ says Paul C. Ha, the director of the M.I.T. List Visual Arts Center, and commissioner of the exhibition. “Yet she hasn’t had much exposure in Venice.’’ (more…)

The British Pavilion at next year’s Venice Biennale will spotlight the work of Sarah Lucas, the BBC reports.  “Having consistently pushed the limits of her practice, there’s a sense that Lucas – seemingly more active than ever – is coming into her own,” says Gregor Muir, executive director of the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, and a member of the selection committee. (more…)

The heirs of Peggy Guggenheim have filed a lawsuit against the Solomon Guggenheim Foundation, alleging that the foundation has failed to comply with the conditions of her gifts, and has placed her collection in storage to make room for various exhibitions in her Venice estate.   “They are totally disrespecting my great grandmother’s legacy… it’s appalling; it’s a big disappointment,” says Sindbad Rumney, the great grandson of Peggy Guggenheim.  “Basically… what we’ve [discovered] is that if you have the right amount of money and you have a collection, you can show it at the Peggy Guggenheim in Venice.” (more…)

The Prada Foundation has announced its planned exhibition for the 2015 Venice Biennale, focusing on sound art and the relationship between art objects and musical instruments.  The Art or Sound will take place at the Serenissima at the Ca’ Corner della Regina palazzo, from June 7 to November 3, 2014, and will include works by John Cage, Richard Artschwager and Laurie Anderson.   (more…)

The Venice Biennale will reportedly move its opening date up a month, The Art Newspaper reports.  Scheduled to open on May 9th next year, the new dates are forcing art fairs to readjust their scheduling plans for that summer.  “We haven’t finalized the 2015 dates yet, but we’re aware of the potential crunch points in the calendar next year and are looking to make a decision in the forthcoming weeks,” says a spokeswoman for Frieze. (more…)