Here are five standouts from the 2024 Venice Biennale.
Pacita Abad,You Have to Blend In, Before You Stand Out, 1995.
Oil, painted cloth, sequins, buttons on stitched and padded canvas.
Photo: Matteo De Mayda
Aloise,LAngleterre Trone de Dehli, 195160.
Colored pencils on two sheets of paper sewn together, 70 98 cm.
Collection Christine et Jean-David Mermod.
Photo: Andrea Avezzu
60th International Art Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia, Stranieri Ovunque Foreigners Everywhere.
Courtesy: La Biennale di Venezia.
Self-taught artistsAloiseandMadge Gillare two names I learned at the Central Pavilion and wont soon forget.
Pacita Abad,You Have to Blend In, Before You Stand Out, 1995. Oil, painted cloth, sequins, buttons on stitched and padded canvas. 294.6 × 297.2 cm. Pacita Abad Art Estate
Marlene Gilson,Building the Stockade at Eureka, 2021.
Acrylic on linen, 100 x 120 cm.
60th International Art Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia, Stranieri Ovunque Foreigners Everywhere.
Aloïse,L’Angleterre – Trône de Dehli, 1951–60. Colored pencils on two sheets of paper sewn together, 70 × 98 cm. Collection Christine et Jean-David Mermod. 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, “Stranieri Ovunque – Foreigners Everywhere.” Courtesy: La Biennale di Venezia.
Courtesy: La Biennale di Venezia.
Works by Indigenous artists were among the most fascinating and memorable at the Biennale.
Pavilion of Egypt,Drama 1882.
Marlene Gilson,Building the Stockade at Eureka, 2021. Acrylic on linen, 100 x 120 cm. Collection Martin Browne. 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, “Stranieri Ovunque – Foreigners Everywhere.” Courtesy: La Biennale di Venezia.
60th International Art Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia.
But I was floored by Wael Shawkys 45-minute filmDrama 1882in theEgyptian Pavilion.
Its sure to be one of the most powerful and mesmerizing pieces of performance I’ll see this year.
Pavilion of Egypt,Drama 1882. 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. Courtesy: La Biennale di Venezia; photograph: Matteo de Mayda
The adjacentSerbian Pavilionwas similarly engrossing.
I also found theSwiss Pavilioncompelling (not to mention funny, a rare thing on the Biennale grounds).
Anna Weyant,Chest, 2020.
Anna Weyant,Chest, 2020. Oil on canvas, 60.6 x 45.7 cm. Private collection, Europe.
Oil on canvas, 60.6 x 45.7 cm.
Private collection, Europe.
