First Impressions of a Venice Biennale Torn Apart by the Present
Artnet’s critic reports mixed first impressions of “In Minor Keys,” the main exhibition of the 61st Venice Biennale, which opens to the public on Saturday and was completed by five collaborators after curator Koyo Kouoh of Cape Town died of cancer last year. The article says the Biennale has been destabilized by politics and procedure, including the resignation of the festival jury last week after controversy around a statement indicating Israel and Russia would not be considered for prizes, leading to the replacement of juried awards with a Eurovision-style people’s choice vote. It highlights works and artists including Big Chief Demond Melanchon’s large red feathered costume-sculpture in the renovated Central Pavilion, Tammy Nguyen’s paintings, Guadalupe Maravilla’s assemblages in the Arsenale, and Ayrson Heráclito’s metal sculptures and ink sketches. The critic notes Kouoh’s emphasis on artists from Africa and cites a section connected to Michael Armitage’s Nairobi Contemporary Art Institute featuring 20th-century East African figurative painters such as Josephine Alacu, Godfrey Banadda, and Peter Mulinda, while also describing a sense of déjà vu across the roughly 110 participating artists and collectives.
From This Briefing
This story was covered in Biennale Uprisings, Looted Legacies Unravel