Barbara Chase-Riboud Says She Declined US Pavilion Offer Because It Was ‘Not the Moment’
Barbara Chase-Riboud said she declined an offer to represent the US at the 61st Venice Biennale because, as she told the Financial Times, “as a world citizen, this was not the moment,” according to ARTnews. The New York Times reported that Chase-Riboud and photographer William Eggleston (who has not commented publicly) were both approached before the American Arts Conservancy—founded in 2025 by Jenni Parido—selected Mexico-based American sculptor Alma Allen, with curator Jeffrey Uslip, for the pavilion. The article notes that sculptor Robert Lazzarini has also said his proposal was initially selected but later withdrawn amid what he described as bureaucratic issues. Allen said he faced no directives about content and told the New York Times his work is not political in party terms, while dealer Jeff Poe told the Financial Times the pavilion may present “vanilla, modernist” work that does not address current events; the pavilion is set to open in May with the rest of the Biennale.
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This story was covered in Biennales Under Fire, A.I. Rewrites the Canon