Official Biennale - Giardini

 Yes, we did make it to the official Biennale. Our guide, Hélène, suggested her favorite pavilions. As we didn't have the energy to troop through all of them, we took her suggestions for the most part.

First was the international pavilion, which contains a lodge-podge of artists from a variety of countries. There were two standouts.

Mrialini Mukherjee


Paula Rego


I definitely want to see more of these two artists.

The official American entry was by Simone Leigh. Another highlight. First, she erased the rather ugly facade of the pavilion, which is done in a stodgy federal style, and completely made it her own. Her sculptures are monumental, and reclaim a strong history of Blackness in America and the world. My pictures weren't able to do justice to the works (and it was a bit crowded, I think it would have been better to see them in a more contemplative setting). We had talked with our guide who enthused about the work, and it was great looking at them with an informed eye. The pavilion was much admired. Well, more than admired, she won one of the two Golden Lion awards presented this year.








Another standout was the Danish pavilion, We Walked the Earth. Hyperrealistic figures of a centaur-like race in an unreal situation of death and despair. It was profoundly affecting. The female figure was so realistic as to be heartbreaking, lying dead in the midst of childbirth.




And one quick shot from the Nordic pavilion. It has been taken over by an exhibit of Sami artists, the only indigenous peoples in Europe really. The art itself was hard to photograph, but I took a shot at the erasure that they made of the pavilion name, covering it with tree bark as a statement of own control. A clever and beautiful political statement.




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