Cover Image - Handiwirman Saputra, "Hari ini Kemarin Esok (Today Tomorrow’s Yesterday)" (detail) from the series of "No Roots, No Shoots," 2018. 2 panels (diptych), Acrylic on linen. 58th International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia, "May You Live In Interesting Times." Photo by Francesco Galli. Courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia. Header Image - Alex Da Corte, "Rubber Pencil Devil," 2019. Mixed media. 58th International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia, "May You Live In Interesting Times." Photo by Andrea Avezzù. Courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia.
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BY: PROVOKR Editors
Since its inception in 1895, the Venice Biennale has become one of the most important events in the art world. Every two years, curators, dealers, collectors, and anyone else who is interested, descend upon the ancient floating city of Venice to see art from around the world (along with a little or a lot of spectacle.) While this year was more diverse than ever, there was a feeling that artists everywhere were grappling with our unfamiliar and complex present and future.
The Venice Biennale is unique because of its dual approach. On one hand, each participating country can show what they want for their national pavilion, but the Venice Biennale has also traditionally given curators the chance to assemble the participating artists into a sprawling exhibition. For this biennale, the reins were given over to Ralph Rugoff. Mr. Rugoff, who is also the director of London’s Hayward Gallery, decided to use fewer artists than in past years. However, he asked for at least two works of art from each artist. He also split this exhibition in two. One section is shown in the Arsenale (a former Naval yard) and the other in the Giardini. These two exhibitions have the same name: May You Live in Interesting Times. The exhibitions are sort of like fraternal twins, they are certainly related but show differences in their theme and style.
May You Live in Interesting Times is not an exhibition aimed towards lofty, utopian goals. Instead, Rugoff proposes an exhibition that shows different kinds of thinking, reasoning, and reckoning with the world around us. Culture at this moment is messy, ultra-nuanced, and changing faster than we can manage it, so with various strategies in play, it makes sense for two iterations of the same exhibition. Art is a way of thinking, not some sort of saving grace, as Rugoff acknowledges in a statement that “art cannot stem the rise of nationalist movements and authoritarian governments in different parts of the world, for instance, nor can it alleviate the tragic fate of displaced peoples across the globe.” Interesting times, indeed.
Christoph Büchel. “Barca Nostra,” 2018-2019. Shipwreck 18th of April 2015. 58th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, “May You Live In Interesting Times.” Photo by Andrea Avezzù. Courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia.
Kaari Upson, “THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS OUTSIDE,” 2017-2019. Mixed media. 58th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, “May You Live In Interesting Times.” Photo by Italo Rondinella. Courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia.
Sun Yuan and Peng Yu, “Can’t Help Myself,” 2016. Mixed media. 58th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, “May You Live In Interesting Times.” Photo by Francesco Galli. Courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia.
Stan Douglas, “Doppelgänger,” 2019. Two-channel video installation. 58th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, “May You Live In Interesting Times.” Photo by Jack Hems. Courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia.
Pavilion of UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Martin Puryear: “Liberty / Libertà.” 58th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. Photo by Francesco Galli. Courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia.
Pavilion of UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Martin Puryear: “Liberty / Libertà.” 58th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. Photo by Francesco Galli. Courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia.
Anicka Yi, “Biologizing the Machine (tentacular trouble),” 2019. Algae, acrylic, LEDs, animatronic moths, water, pumps. 58th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, “May You Live In Interesting Times.” Photo by Italo Rondinella. Courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia.
Njideka Akunyili Crosby. Various works, 2013-2019. Mixed media. 58th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, “May You Live In Interesting Times.” Courtesy the artist, Victoria Miro, David Zwirner, and La Biennale di Venezia.
Handiwirman Saputra, “Hari ini Kemarin Esok (Today Tomorrow’s Yesterday)” from the series of “No Roots, No Shoots,” 2018. 2 panels (diptych), Acrylic on linen. 58th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, “May You Live In Interesting Times.” Photo by Francesco Galli. Courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia.
Alex Da Corte, “Rubber Pencil Devil,” 2019. Mixed media. 58th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, “May You Live In Interesting Times.” Photo by Andrea Avezzù. Courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia.
