Venice Biennale 2019 | Highlights

Venice Biennale curator Paolo Baratta (center) with 58. Art Biennale curator Ralph Rugoff (right) at the opening press conference

A Walk Through The Art – Best of: Venice Biennale 2019

 
A Walk Through The Art is a format that provides our readers with photo galleries presenting a selection of highlights from massive exhibitions, in order to help them navigate these events.

All photos © Matilde Soligno/Droste Effect (unless otherwise stated)

The 58th International Art Exhibition, titled May You Live In Interesting Times, is curated by Ralph Rugoff and organized by La Biennale di Venezia, chaired by Paolo Baratta. The Venice Biennale 2019 is open to the public from May 11th to November 24th.

The main venues are traditionally the Biennale Gardens, comprising a number of national pavilions as well as the Central Pavilion, and the Arsenale, presenting the 79 artists invited to participate in May You Live In Interesting Times, as well as more national pavilions – among which the Italian Pavilion, curated by Milovan Farronato. The Venice Biennale 2019 also includes 21 collateral events held in venues throughout the marine city.

The preview days (May 8-10), open only to press and industry professionals, were – as usual – very busy, in terms of the number of attendees, events and presentations.

OPENING DAYS

On May 11, the Jury of the Venice Biennale 2019 – comprising Stephanie Rosenthal (President of the Jury, Germany), Defne Ayas (Turkey/Netherlands), Cristiana Collu (Italy), Sunjung Kim (Korea), and Hamza Walker (USA) – chose the winners for this edition.
The Golden Lion for Best National Participation went to Lithuania for Sun & Sea (Marina) by Lina Lapelyte, Vaiva Grainyte and Rugile Barzdziukaite (curated by Lucia Pietroiusti), a lyric reflection on climate change and contemporary society; “a critique of leisure and of our times” that succeeded thanks to its “inventive use of the venue to present a Brechtian opera”, according to the Jury.
The Golden Lion for the Best Participant artist went instead to Arthur Jafa for his 2019 film The White Album.

Lina Lapelyte, Vaiva Grainyte and Rugile Barzdziukaite, Lithuanian Pavilion at Magazzino No. 42
Winner of the Golden Lion
Photo Alessandra Troncone

Special Mention as National Participation was awarded to Belgium, where artist duo Jos de Gruyter & Harald Thys presented the entertaining installation Mondo Cane, comprising “a series of fictional characters in the form of mechanised puppets based on folkloric stereotypes,” meant to humorously represent typical figures from Europe’s past and present, spanning from the Middle Ages to today’s society.

Jos de Gruyter and Harald Thys, Belgian Pavilion
Special Mention
Photo Matilde Soligno

While the Silver Lion for a Promising Young Participant was assigned to Cypriot Haris Epaminonda, the Jury decided to award Special Mentions to 2 more women artists, Teresa Margolles (Mexico) – who addressed the plight of women disappearances in her home country – and Otobong Nkanga (Nigeria).
Lastly, the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement went to Jimmie Durham (USA).

Teresa Margolles, Arsenale
Special Mention
Photo Manuela Buttiglione

Otobong Nkanga, Arsenale
Special Mention
Photo Manuela Buttiglione

In line with the current socio-political climate, a large part of the presented artwork (including the ones that were awarded) was chosen in an attempt to showcase previously under-represented categories of artists: women and non-white artists.

Moreover, a number of pieces where directly dedicated to themes that have become relevant again in present times. For instance, Jitish Kallat’s installation Covering Letter, in the group show at the Indian Pavilion, was dedicated to an atmospheric (literally made of smoke) presentation of a brief letter written by Mahatma Gandhi to Adolf Hitler in 1939, an appeal for peace in the wake of the start of World War II.

Jitish Kallat, Covering Letter
Indian Pavilion
Photo Matilde Soligno

Hito Steyerl’s video installation Leonardo’s Submarine, presented at the Central Pavilion of the Giardini, is both a site-specific homage to the city of Venice and a reprise of Leonardo da Vinci’s project for his war machine – as well as a focus on the artist-scientist’s condemnation of every form of war and man-made destruction.

For Barca Nostra (outside the Arsenale), Christoph Büchel underwent a long bureaucratic procedure that allowed him to recover from the sea bottom and bring to Venice one of the many African migrant ships that sank far from the shore they longed to reach – their port of entrance to Europe.

Christoph Büchel, Barca Nostra at Arsenale
Photo Matilde Soligno

Traces of Disappearing (In Three Acts) by Igor Grubić (Croatian Pavilion at Calle Corner) is an effort of 13 years aiming at rendering Croatia’s transition from Soviet-aligned country to capitalist economy.

An environmental theme is present in Laure Prouvost’s Deep see blue surrounding you (French Pavilion, Giardini).

Tavares Strachan’s Robert Henry Lawrance Jr. (Arsenale) gives proper burial – one that is in front of our eyes – to the African-American astronaut of the same name, who died during a mission and was subject (even in death) to great discrimination and defamation due to his race.

And so on.

Enjoy the following series of photo galleries, which will hopefully help you navigate the many valuable artworks presented at this 58th Biennale Arte.

GIARDINI DELLA BIENNALE

ARSENALE

COLLATERAL EVENTS AND OTHER VENUES IN TOWN

All installation photos © Matilde Soligno/Droste Effect (unless otherwise stated)
 

Venice Biennale 2019, May You Live In Interesting Times, May 11th – November 24th.