Hi Fans! Welcome to the third installment of Global Biennialism Digest – the feature in which we search far and wide for the most up-to-the minute info about the coolest Biennial Exhibits out there, and provide links related to submission opportunities, exhibition dates, and interesting biennial reviews, as well as fun sites that delve into the biennialism phenomenon.
We Love letters from our readers, especially ones with suggestions on how to improve our Biennial Coverage. We reicieved a letter from Luciana Capuano Massine from Brazil as to why we did not cover The San Paulo Biennial 10 which was going on at the very moment I was writing the last update .We would love to cover each and every Biennial but that would require way too much time and focus. This is not a comprehensive report and our mind flies in many different directions being that we are world renown artists and all. Luciana, we at The Biennial Project would love to hear your impression of the San Paulo Biennial if you had a chance to see it. Seriously!! The same goes to all our fans. If you happen to catch a biennial, big or small tell us what you thought of it and maybe, just maybe we will include you in future Global Biennial Digests. We look forward to hearing from you!!!
Back to our report!!!!!
Going RIGHT NOW until the end of February is The 8th Shanghai Biennale. I would give you the link but it does not seem to be working. I read here why from Lauren Mack who is a freelance journalist located in Taipei.
‘It appears the Shanghai Biennale’s official website has been temporarily blocked worldwide (presumably by Chinese authorities who have been cracking down on artists recently. Over the weekend artist Ai Weiwei was put under house arrest, which prevented him from attending an event at his gallery in Shanghai). Once the website is back up, I will post a note on the Blog. The links I have here will once again work once the Shanghai Biennale’s official site is back online. I apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused.
This really seems to suck big time!!
Anyhow this biennale asks the question of who is controlling the direction economically and politically of contemporary art? Is it the artists or the Art Market? In China it appears to be the ruling government. We at the Biennial project wish we had finished our submission for the Shanghai's Biennale on time because questions of controls the art world is what we want to know Whose ass should we really plant our ruby red lips on? Maybe in some manner we have already contributed to this dialogue. Here is an interesting article we found of an interview of a BANK involved in this Biennale.
http://en.artintern.net/index.php/news/main/html/1/1398
Such an interesting interview for a Biennial that is being held in a communist country which denies freedom of expression but uses the free market for economic profitability!!! Maybe its time too put down the chopsticks and stick them with our forks.
If you want to see really big art in a really big way be sure to check out The Texas Biennial, which is a project of Big Medium (cute) a non-profit based in Austin. All of the artists were chosen from Texas, the home state of Biennial Project member and world renowned Art Rock Star Laura Rollins (currently residing in Greenwich, CT). This Biennial is slated to open in Austin Texas April 15. Somehow this only seems right for a state that votes to not pay taxes. Did you know that Austin is the only major Texas City that has no ordinance against women appearing topless in public? "Keep Austin Weird" has become a local motto. We at The Biennial Project encourage you to attend this event and catch sight of strange bosoms. Road trip to Marfa anyone?
CLICK HERE FOR TEXAS SIZED INFO
Hi Biennial Project Fans Worldwide, here’s something you seriously won’t want to miss. There’s a fantastic show up in Boston that naturally includes cool work by US, but also has really incredible work by members of a Hip Cutting-Edge Artist Collaborative named Atlantic Works. The title of the show is Guaranteed Stolen, and it deals provocatively with the issue of appropriation in the Arts. Here’s the link to the show -
Atlantic Works Gallery Guaranteed Stolen Show
And here’s a link to the Flattering Review of the show in The Boston Globe -
Boston Globe Review
Now, don’t be dismayed if you haven’t caught this show yet, there’s another reception
Thursday January 20th from 6-9PM.
To give you just a taste of the cool work in the show, here’s one immensely clever work that is on display -
Now, don’t even think of asking us, we’ll NEVER tell who the artist behind this lovely takeoff is!
Also included in this show, is a Body of Photographic Work from The Biennial Project’s series The Biennial Project in the Arts. This installment is titled The Biennial Project in the Arts – Chelsea, New York, December 2010. It documents The Biennial Project’s ongoing efforts to lend our Considerable Cachet to art exhibits around the world – in effect collaborating with the original artists Ex Post Facto, and thus contributing to a critical discourse about the nature and mutability of artistic practice and the viability of the “art object” within the post-modern framework, and well as opening a much needed dialogue about the exclusion of the viewer within the contemporary gallery paradigm. This work also touches upon issues of feminism and the construction of the female gaze, press freedom in a world of corporate sponsorship, the relevance of organized and alternative religious practice, the suppression of gay identity, and many other super important topics. Here are a few examples to wet your tongue -
And, just a tiny little subtle reminder – check out the
Venice Gift Registry
Venice Gift Registry
YES YOU CAN impact the future of art history! The Excitement is Palpable as The Biennial Project plans Our Upcoming Assault on The 54th Venice Biennale. Our First Choice is of course to have you there with us for the whole thing (read down a few blog posts for the invite, and for god’s sake, let us know Right Away if you want to come, because The Villa is filling up as fast as you can say Life-Changing Experience).
Venice Gift Registry
But even if you can’t come, you can still have an impact on The Most Important Art Event in the World by helping us make the whole thing happen - by providing us with the most important kind of support – the financial kind! You don’t have money you say, well of course you don’t silly, none of us do. That’s why we’ve made sure that there are opportunities for participation suited to every budget.
Venice Gift Registry
For only pennies a day, you can make sure that a worthy artist does not go to bed hungry, thirsty or lonely in The City That Never Really Dries Out. Make your mark on the Art World today!
Assistance is needed with Housing…..…Food……..Beverages……
Venice Gift Registry
Escort Services………
and many more Important and Necessary Components of a Successful Art Trip.
Venice Gift Registry
Don’t miss your chance to participate in the Performance Art Extravaganza that is The Biennial Project’s 2011 Venice Tour. You’ll be speaking up for artists the world over who are tired of toiling in anonymity. It’s so easy. Just click on the link below (or above) to see the variety of Support Possibilities Available, and select exactly the level and type of support you choose to provide. You’ll be glad you did. Every contributor at the $25 level or above will receive an autographed Polaroid of a Genuine Biennial Project Artist making use of your generous gift to take the Art World By Storm. The cost of Polaroid film alone makes this A Good Investment!
Venice Gift Registry
Well, first things first—The Biennial Project would like to wish a very Happy New Year to you and yours!! With 2011 finally on the books we here at The Project will be setting our collective sights on preparing for our much anticipated trip to the 54th Venice Biennale!! As we get ever closer we will be providing a series of Venice-themed-tidbits to get our Faithful Fans pumped up too…..
Dorothy so immortally said in The Wizard of Oz, “there’s no place like home”—thus, we take a moment to report on our very own American Pavilion…..and the winner is….or rather, the WINNERS ARE: Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla! This dynamic art duo from San Juan Puerto Rico have been working together since 1995 and according to the New York Times their work “explores art, politics, and international identity.”
alloracalzadilla.com
The selection of our New Found Friends is noteworthy on several counts. Specifically, this is the first time a “collaborative” has been selected vs. a single artist…..so CLEARLY the way is paved for The Biennial Project! In addition this is the first time that the American Pavilion will showcase a combo of performance and installation….so did I mention The Biennial Project???
Commissioner of the US Pavilion at the 2011 Venice Biennale is Lisa Freiman, chair of the department of contemporary art at the Indianapolis Museum of Art—thus demonstrating that the OH-SO-PICTURESQUE city of Indianapolis can dish up more than Peyton Manning, Colts football, David Letterman and NASCAR racing.
According to our Exclusive Inside Sources, the art will be comprised of works developed specifically in response to the US Pavilion site. The exhibition will analyze contemporary geopolitics through the lens of spectacular nationalistic and competitive enterprises such as the Olympic Games, international commerce, war, the military-industrial complex and even the Biennale itself…..AHEM! Hello curators out there all over the world—DID WE MENTION THE MOMENTOUS AND GROUND-BREAKING IMPORTANT WORK OF THE BIENNIAL PROJECT???????? OBVIOUSLY we are influencing the Art World at the very Highest Levels!
And if there are still naysayers and doubting Thomases and Thomasinas out there we will close with this pearl of wisdom:
The Department of State has long been supportive of the arts as an integral component of our foreign policy. Without the need for translation, the arts have the unique ability of helping us reach beyond differences to embrace our common humanity,” said Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs Ann Stock.
See—we told you that our Important Work was in fact SAVING THE WORLD!