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130611: Venice Biennial 54th Venice Biennial – ILLUMInazioni – ILLUMInations
Venice Biennial
54th Venice Biennial – ILLUMInazioni – ILLUMInations
04.06.11 – 27.11.11
All signs point to the future
At the two locations of the Venice Biennial there are two venues that are more prominent than others: the first room in the Arsenale and the large hall in the big pavilion. This year's Biennial, curated by Bice Curiger, presents both rooms in contrast to one another: Song Dong blocks the generous space with a labyrinth of cloakroom doors at the Arsenale. In contrast, the Padiglione is opened by three (unfortunately badly presented) Tintorettos, which are meant to introduce the main theme “ILUMInazioni – ILLUMInations”. While Song Dong’s Para-Pavilion, which accommodates works by his colleagues, articulates a state of encryption, of obstructed view, of difficult access, Tintoretto’s paintings symbolize brightness, opening, and simultaneously, dramatically overwhelms the audience.
This contrastive pair turns out to be a meaningful bracket for the works of the other 81 artists. Despite Curiger’s title, numerous works represent the opposite: the obscure, mysterious, encrypted, surreal: like the mysterious film by Nathaniel Mellors, who lets an odd family resort to questionably motivated actions; or the work by Emily Wardill in which glamorously dressed protagonists recite works by John Ruskin behind Gothic glass windows. The object photography by Annette Kelm and Elad Lassry are difficult to decipher; and Franz West’s Para-Pavilion, fitted with works by Gelitin, Octavian Trautmannsdorff, Roland Kollnitz and numerous others fosters an orderly chaos in an unconventional hybrid of private accommodation and public gallery display.
At the other end of this scale you will find works that devote themselves to light – such as Philippe Parreno’s blinking and rather banal light bulbs, James Turrell’s adequately known light room, Haroon Mirza’s electric installations - at times accompanied by unpleasant sounds, or Urs Fischer’s candles, gently burning down in the form of a Raptus group by Giambologna, his office chair or the artist Rudolf Stingel, which, in the end, will have all melted to a heap of wax.
Extremely gratifying is the large percentage of promising young positions (by - in addition to those already mentioned: Ida Ekbland, Rashid Johnson, Cyprien Gaillard or Mohamed Bourouissa), and, in contrast, almost disturbing, the not very exciting performance by established artists: except for Cindy Sherman, who successfully came up with a new invention, and David Goldblatt, whose documentations about rueful criminals takes on a successful synthesis with Monika Sosnowska’s Para-Pavilion, the Big Names were disappointing: Marizio Pavillon rehashes one of his earlier works by scattering pigeons throughout the pavilion, Monica Bonvicini’s stylish show-stairs in no way reflect the power of her earlier works, Fischli/Weiss designed a boring installation and Christopher Wool is no longer able to enthral anyone with his hundredth edition of paintings that imitate screen-prints.
That’s how the younger generation stole the show and, with this powerful signal, rejected any culture pessimism. No need to worry about a lack of young talent.
By Nina Schedlmayer
La Biennale di Venezia
30122 Venezia, Giardini della Biennale
http://www.labiennale.org/
Opening hours: daily 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., clos
Mehr Texte von translated and summarized by: Liz Wollner-Grandville
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130611
Österreichischer Pavillon - La Biennale di Venezia
30122 Venezia, Giardini della Biennale
https://www.biennalekneblscheirl.at
Öffnungszeiten: täglich 11 - 19 h, Fr, Sa bis 20 h,
Montag geschlossen außer 25/07, 15/08, 5/09, 19/09, 31/10, 21/11
Österreichischer Pavillon - La Biennale di Venezia
30122 Venezia, Giardini della Biennale
https://www.biennalekneblscheirl.at
Öffnungszeiten: täglich 11 - 19 h, Fr, Sa bis 20 h,
Montag geschlossen außer 25/07, 15/08, 5/09, 19/09, 31/10, 21/11
