LA BIENNALE DI VENEZIA

VENICE – As a recent graduate of Duke’s Art, Art History & Visual Studies Department, I could not imagine a more fitting dream graduation trip than a ticket to The Venice Biennale. Celebrating its 56th year, this International Exposition figures as the proverbial “Olympics of Art.” The event brings together over 136 artists from 53 countries, and engages with 44 satellite events throughout the city. Many countries present their artworks in the nationally delineated pavilions of the Giardini, mapping different aesthetics and ideologies across the globe. Other works are housed in the Arsenale, a collection of restored 16th Century buildings, or are installed in sites around the city.

This year’s show celebrates the 120th Anniversary of the first edition of the Venice Biennale in 1895. Okwui Enwezor, Nigerian curator, art critic and writer, was elected as the show’s Artistic Director to choreograph the interplay of the exhibition’s three thematic subheadings, or “filters:”Garden of Disorder, Liveliness: On Epic Duration, and Reading Capital. President of la Biennale di Venezia Paolo Baratta elaborates on the concepts behind All The World’s Futures:

“The world before us today exhibits deep divisions and wounds, pronounced inequalities and uncertainties as to the future. Despite the great progress made in knowledge and technology, we are currently negotiating an ‘age of anxiety’. And once more, the Biennale observes the relationship between art and the development of the human, social, and political world, as external forces and phenomena loom large over it. Our aim is to investigate how the tensions of the outside world act on the sensitivities and the vital and expressive energies of artists, on their desires and their inner song. One of the reasons the Biennale invited Okwui Enwezor as curator was for his special sensitivity in this regard.”

Photo includes works by Emily Kame Kngwarreye (b. Australia, ca. 1910); Ellen Gallager (b. USA, 1965); Huma Bhabha (b. Pakistan, 1962).

Walker Evans (b. USA, 1903-1975), Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, Allie Mae Burroughs, 1936.

Venice at any time of year is a coveted destination for travelers, but for the duration of the Biennale—this year from May 9th to November 22nd— the charming canals and historical Venetian architecture are supplemented by the world’s finest in art, dance, theater and cinema. The city seems at once ancient and in vogue, lending a rich backdrop to contemporary art that defines our present, as well as all our world’s futures.

P.S. As an added bonus, I got to take home a souvenir! Argentine artist Rirkrit Tiravanija  sold bricks from his installation Untitled (14,086 unfired) for €10 each, with proceeds benefiting ISCOS, a nonprofit that supports workers’ rights in China.

Rirkrit Tiravanija (b. Argentina, 1961), Untitled 2015 (14,086 unfired)

STRANDBEESTS IN MIAMI

MIAMI — Curious crowds gathered on Miami Beach Thursday morning to see Dutch artist Theo Jansen’s intricate sculptures. Named “Strandbeests” by their inventor, these wind-powered creatures are constructed from PVC pipes, sails and plastic bottles. Jansen uses these simple materials to equip the Strandbeests with the ability to walk, store wind power, change direction when they sense water, and anchor themselves during a storm. Even after 25 years of work, Jansen continues to experiment with his “animals” to make them ever more sustainable for an autonomous life on the beach.

Watch a video of the Strandbeests in motion.

The presentation at Art Basel in Miami Beach previews the first major U.S. tour of Theo Jansen’s Strandbeests organized by the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM). I had the pleasure of meeting the artist himself, and he mentioned that he loves visiting universities. Perhaps we’ll see him present his Strandbeests at Duke someday!

VENICE BIENNALE TOP TEN

The 56th edition of Venice’s Esposizione Internazionale d’Arte features 89 National Participations. The artworks are exhibited in the historical Pavilions at the Giardini, the Arsenale and around the city of Venice. Recently graduated Duke student and Nasher Museum intern Nicole Rudden gives us her favorite ten pieces from Okwui Enwezor’s “All The World’s Futures.”

Pictured and listed below, is Nicole’s Top Ten list of the best of The Venice Biennale 2015:

1. Chiharu Shiota (b. 1972, Japan), The Key in the Hand.

2. Céleste Boursier-Mougenot (b. 1961, France), rêvolutions, 2015.

3. Wangechi Mutu (b. 1972, Kenya), Forbidden Fruit Picker, 2015.

4. Tiffany Chung (b. 1969, Vietnam), UNHCR Red Dot Series – Tracking the Syrian Humanitarian Crisis April – December 2012, 2014-2015.

5. Xu Bing (b. 1955, China), Phoenix, 2010.

6. Marco Maggi (b. 1957, Uruguay), Global Myopia II, 2015.

7. Bruce Nauman (b. 1941, USA) American Violence, 1981-1982.

8. The Propeller Group (Vietnam), The AK-47 vs. The M16, 2015.

9. Kay Hassan (b. 1956, South Africa), Untitled, 2015.

10. Juan Carlos Distéfano (b. 1933 Argentina), The Enlightened II, 2000-2002.

MIAMI PUBLIC

MIAMI – Beyond all of the fantastic art inside the convention center, Art Basel Miami offers “sectors” that allow viewers to explore the many dimensions of Modern and contemporary art. These events include films, talks, and my favorite— public art. Accessible to everyone, the Public sector offers visitors a chance to see outdoor sculptures, interventions and performances, all sited within an open exhibition format at Collins Park.

Alfredo Jaar, Culture = Capital, 2014.

After walking around the Public installations, I drove to my favorite tapas restaurant in Miami’s Design District. The Wynwood Kitchen and Bar is situated amongst the Wynwood Walls, a series of buildings decorated by some of the world’s top street artists. Since its inception in 2009, the Wynwood Walls program has seen over 50 artists representing 16 countries and has covered over 80,000 square feet of wall. My table overlooked a stretch of works by Shepard Fairey, who also designed the murals behind the bar.

Returning to my car post-lunch, I found a fitting last sight for my trip before heading back to Duke. Celebrating the very activity that brings crowds from all over the world to Art Basel Miami Beach, a group of graffiti artists were hard at work that day making new art of their own.

ART BASEL MIAMI BEACH

MIAMI — Tuesday at 11 a.m. I was granted an all-access press pass to Art Basel—possibly the most instantaneous ego-inflation a 21-year-old art student can experience. No-line entry to all venues, complimentary cocktails in the VIP lounges and gallery owners asking for my (nonexistent) business card. Even to a native South Floridian, Miami feels glamorous amid the trendy crowds and colorful artworks of Art Basel.

With the main event not set to open until the following day, I headed for the beach. Housed in an oceanfront tent, UNTITLED is a curated art fair for international galleries and nonprofit art spaces with a focus on emerging and midcareer contemporary art. It is fitting that Miami attracts a large body of works by artists of Latino descent. I found myself drawn in particular to the large, threaded sculptures of Adrian Esparza, a Texan artist featured at both the Max Estrella and the Cindy Rucker Gallery booths. Esparza weaves the vivid colors of the serape from his native Mexico into minimal geometric shapes, deconstructing the craft of blanket making to visualize how cultural identity can become unraveled through the process of immigration. The series was all the more provocative in its Miami setting, a place known for its dense population of Latin American and Caribbean immigrants.

Adrian Esparza, Untitled serape diptych, 2013. wood, paint, nails, serape.

All throughout the tent I had noticed guests toting rolled-up papers in plastic umbrella bags. UNTITLED produced a series of original posters designed for the exhibition by various artists, and they were waiting in stacks by the door. After collecting nearly one of each, I made my way back onto the sands of South Beach.

UNTITLED is definitely a must-see for Art Basel goers— especially those looking for an excuse to pack a bathing suit in their day bag.