Biennale di Venezia 2009
by The Venice Biennial directed by Daniel Biernbaum and supported by indivisdual curators is a very good place to be visisted when you are interested in contemporary fine arts. It opened this weekend and will be open until 22nd November 2009.
Venice is a great city not comparable to Barcelona in its laid back coolness style but has a nice flair and the people are mostly very friendly and helpful. Driving along the canale Grande in a boat is very relaxing and a cool breeze in your face you can forget your problems until a wave hits water in your face and brings you back into this world.
The Italian Pavilion has been enlarged from 800 to 1.800 square meters and the Giardino delle Vergini (Garden of the Vergins) amount to an additional Arsenale site of 6.000 square meteres. All in all there is a total of 50.000 sq m in the Giardini and 38.000 sq. m. in the Arsenale as additional sites all around the city.
A very interesting show named: „Distortion“ is located in a small street leading up to the left, after crossing the bridge coming from Arsenale, walking towards Giardini and has been organised by some English artists including Matthew Collishaw.
There is two other interesting off-site exhibitions there and defintely worth talking the five minute stroll away from the main sites alongside a small side canale.
A very happy moment was when I saw that my befriended artist Rihard Wentworth is showing at the arsenale and I immediately recognised his works when I passed by. Another artist I worked with at Lisson Gallery is Ceal Floyer and she shows a very calm and nice work from her tree series. Congratulations Ceal and Richard!
The Chilenian artist Iván Navarro has been a great discovery and we spoke about his participation in my autumn exhibition that will start in Graz and then travel the world with new cooperation partners found here in Venice in San Francisco (USA) and Brasil.
On recommendation of Daniel Biernbaum (Director of the Biennial) the international board has selected Yoko Ono and John Baldessari for the Golden Lion for their life work which was a very great pleasure for me to hear, as these two artists really deserve this official recognition.
More from the Giardini tomorrow.
All the best,
Daniela Haberz
http://www.parasite-net.eu/project/biennale_di_venezia_2009
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