Dear all,

The 59th International Art Exhibition, generically known as Venice La Biennale, ended on Sunday, November 27, 2022.

The annual event, which alternates between art and architecture, has been the most significant forum for contemporary art in the world since 1895.

Titled “The Milk of Dreams,” from a children’s book by Leonora Carrington and curated by Italian Cecilia Alemani, this year's art showcase began on April 23 and featured:

* 213 artists from 58 countries in both the Central Pavilion and the Arsenale;

* Another 1,400 works representing 80 other national pavilions; and

* Other exhibitions (including those from Amselm Kiefer, Anish Kapoor, Antony Gormley, Bosco Sodi, Marc Quinn, Bruce Nauman, Marlene Dumas, and Louise Nevelson), which transformed Venetian palazzos into amazing backdrops for art.

In all, the entire effort was a success, challenging our imaginations in one of the greatest open air cities of the world.

Here are some photos from my time at the 2022 Biennale.

Israeli artist Ilit Azoulay (pictured above) turned the stark Israeli Pavilion in Giardini into QUEENDOM, creating a series of large-scale panoramic photomontages with a collaborative sound installation, rewriting this history of KINGDOM.

Giardini is reminiscent of a world’s fair, housing dozens of national pavilions each sympolizing a given country’s national ideals. Here Simone Leigh’s Sovereignty pays homage to a long history of Black femme collectivity, communality and care. Considering the neo-classical US Pavilion itself as a sculpture, Leigh installed a thatch roofing that resembles a 1930s West African palace, challenging a new perspective on the history of architecture.

In “Re-enchanting the World” — displayed in the Poland Pavilion and inspired by the Palazzo Schifanoia in Ferrara — artist Matgorzata Mirga-Tas inserts her Roma culture into twelve large-format textile installations, reversing the stereotypical narrative. Hers is a non-violent process to change the world’s errant paths and help regain a sense of community and rebuild relationships with others.

Katharina Fritsch born in Essen in 1956 was awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement. Her elephant is exhibited in the central pavilion of the Biennale at the Giardini. It is a life-size sculpture made in 1987 on the model of a stuffed animal, in polyster. It represents matriarchy of wise elephants who guide their flock on their migration.

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As Albert Einstein once said: “The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whoever does not know it and can no longer wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead and his eyes are dimmed.”

Until the next one,

Alice

IMAGES

All photos, unless otherwise noted, courtesy of Alice Lonfat-Chu; The lead-In photo is a partial image of Matgorzata Mirga-Tas’ tapestry.