Viewing articles tagged with 'Venice'

Central Pavilion, Arsenale, Venice, Italy

Venice Biennale 2019: Jon Rafman: Dream Journal

The feature film ‘Dream Journal’ presented at the Venice Biennale is the result of three years of exploration into 3D simulated environments (2016-2019). Throughout an extremely dense 94 minutes, Rafman radically experiments with imaginary worlds populated by a plethora of obscene biotech mutants. CGI reveals the dark vitality of techno-materialism that melds post-human forms with chimerical beasts, monstrous insects and Japanese sexual perversions. Review by Piotr Bockowski

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Republic of Korea Pavilion, Giardini, Venice, Italy

Venice Biennale 2019: History Has Failed Us, but No Matter

The title of the pavilion is ‘History Has Failed Us But No Matter’, curated by Hyunjim Kim, and nods to a struggle against the social and geopolitical framework that a person is born into, yet simultaneously, understanding yourself in relation to this framework. Kim has worked with three female artists; a first in the pavilion's history. Together the artists, Hwayeon Nam, siren eun young jung and Jane Jin Kaise, challenge ideas related to tradition and the canon of gender, mediating on the emancipatory potential of tradition (opposed to tradition being a barrier) for East Asian women. Review by Laura O’Leary

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Estonia Pavilion, c/o Legno & Legno, Giudecca 211, Venice, Italy

Venice Biennale 2019: Kris Lemsalu: Birth V – Hi and Bye

The reverie of the crowd is suddenly interrupted by the sound of a drum, accompanied by isolated notes on a synthesiser announcing the beginning of a ritual. Three straw hats appear to be floating over the heads of the crowd towards the entrance, a trio of shamans perched on a moving chariot. Review by Angela Blanc

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Indian Pavilion, Arsenale, Venice, Italy

Venice Biennale 2019: Our time for a future caring

Pranamita Borgohain speaks to some of the artists, organisers, and key voices behind the Indian Pavilion at the 58th Venice Biennale.

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French Pavilion, Giardini, Venice, Italy

Venice Biennale 2019: Laure Prouvost: Deep See Blue Surrounding You

A frenetic filmed odyssey from the utopian Tours Nuages tower blocks of Nanterre in the Parisian suburbs, via the vast expanse of the Marseillais coastline and ending in the grubby canals of Venice, ‘Deep See Blue Surrounding You’ comprises frantic scenes that last just seconds, cutting back to raspberries under rocks, horse hooves on orange peel, performers spewing lettuce, the plump frisson of eyeballs and bum cheeks, and the various jellies of assorted sea creatures. Review by Jessica Saxby

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Denmark Pavilion, Giardini, Venice, Italy

Venice Biennale 2019: Larissa Sansour: Heirloom

Danish-Palestinian artist Larissa Sansour’s project for the Danish Pavilion at this year’s Venice Biennale is comprised of two key elements: a sculptural installation comprising a large, dark orb; and a science-fiction film titled’ In Vitro’, depicting the relationship between two women after an ecological disaster has driven them to live underground. Review by Anna Souter

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V-A-C Collection, Palazzo delle Zattere, Dorsoduro 1401, Venice

The Electric Comma: V-A-C Collection

Taking its title from Shannon Ebner’s installation The Electric Comma, the exhibition focuses on shifts in language, perception and understanding in the age of artificial intelligence. Through varied practices and from different backgrounds, participating artists deal with the negotiations between the conscious mind and today’s pervasive learning machine, imagining pathways of exchange between human and nonhuman, ranging from the poetic and intuitive to the algorithmical and analytical.

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Scotland Pavilion, Chiesa di Santa Caterina, Fondamenta Santa Caterina, 30121, Cannaregio

Venice Biennale 2017: Rachel Maclean: Spite Your Face

The large portrait format screen in place of the altar of the deconsecrated church creates an ambience of a religious service and the audience are made to sit in pews. Maclean's previous work has taken Old Testament stories retelling them as contemporary fables that poked fun at cults and fads. 'Spite Your Face' presents the story of Pinocchio – one of those children's tales that having only known from the cleaned up Disney version is far darker than I assumed. Review by Piers Masterson

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Estonia Pavilion, Palazzo Malipiero, San Samuele Square, San Marco 3199, 2nd floor, Venice, Italy

Venice Biennale 2017: Katja Novitskova: If Only You Could See What I’ve Seen with Your Eyes

Outside the entrance of the Estonian Pavilion in the 57th Venice Biennale, the phrase ‘If only you could see what I’ve seen with your eyes’ is printed on a poster in glowing red type. Katja Novitskova’s exhibition title originates from the 1982 post-apocalyptic film ‘Blade Runner’ and points toward several themes that run throughout the exhibition. Review by Ashley Janke

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Singapore Pavilion, Arsenale, Venice, Italy

Venice Biennale 2017: Dapunta Hyang: Transmission of Knowledge by Zai Kuning

Stones hanging from ropes around the boat and two piles of books covered in beeswax give the impression that the whole scene is the recreation of an archaeological excavation. Review by Piers Masterson

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Republic of Korea Pavilion, Giardini, Venice, Italy

Venice Biennale 2017: Counterbalance: The Stone & The Mountain

In ‘Counterbalance: The Stone & The Mountain’ curated by Lee Daehyung, artists Cody Choi and Lee Wan use the individual to explore the contradictions of life within the global capitalist system. Amy Jones reviews

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ALMA ZEVI, Salizzada San Samuele, 3357, 30124 Venice, Italy

John Smith: Films in Sheep’s Clothing

In an increasingly earnest art world, visitors to Alma Zevi’s gallery off the main sway of the Grand Canal can take relief in the comedic value of mistranslation and mistaken identity. John Smith’s films - showcased for the first time in Italy in Zevi’s solo exhibition – are arranged into an artful, tightly curated presentation, and span Smith’s forty-year involvement at the frontline of British conceptual film-making. Review by Olivia Paterson

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Korean Pavilion, Il Padiglione Coreano Biennale di Venezia, Giardini di Castello 30122 Venice

Venice Biennale 2015 - Moon Kyungwon & Jeon Joonho: The Ways of Folding Space & Flying

A sense of groundlessness flows throughout this image laboratory, where the notion of creativity and the artist’s hand are rendered redundant amidst the overload and future drowning of history. Review by Joseph Constable

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British Pavilion, Viale Giardini Pubblici, 30122 Venezia, Italy

Venice Biennale 2015 - Sarah Lucas: I SCREAM DADDIO

The heavily political and theoretical tone of this year’s Biennale makes Lucas’ work seem even brasher and somehow at odds with the other, sometimes earnest and frequently socially engaged, works on display. Review by Will Gresson

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