Anne Imhof, Faust (2017), via Art Observed

Images capture. They calcify. Within space and time, images appear to sustain a frozen existence with a kind of false grace that suppresses the perpetual change and motion that could be posed as all that which, for lack of a more concise term, is not the image itself.  The dialectic between motion and image, fluidity and representation, is the central conflict of Faust, Anne Imhof’s Golden Lion-winning performance for the German Pavillion at the 57th Venice Biennale. (more…)

Phyllida Barlow, Folly at the British Pavilion, via Art Observed

Spread out across the Giardini and the various storehouses and spaces inside the Arsenale, the Venice Biennale‘s annual invitations to various nations around the globe serves to offer a counterpoint to the sprawling main exhibition, Viva Arte Viva.  Presented by individual curators and supported by art institutions back home, the shows offer not only a selection of singular voices from around the globe, but equally a look at the various national discourses of each country’s artistic institutions and infrastructure, a point that equally sets it as a strong conversation piece against the curatorial discipline of the main exhibition’s lone organizer, in this case Centre Pompidou’s Christine Macel.

Jana Zelibska at the Czech Republic Pavilion, via Art Observed

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Anne Imhof’s Faust at the German Pavilion, via Art Observed

The Golden Lions have been announced for this year’s edition of the Venice Biennale, with Anne Imhof and Franz Erhard Walther taking top honors for their work in the German National Pavilion and Main Exhibition, respectively.  The full list of winners is included below.   (more…)