The artistic community is used to defending ourselves against attacks on our freedom of expression from outside our ranks. Things that life clearly teaches us artists – that freedom of expression is essential, that censorship is wrongheaded, and that it is necessary to distinguish between representation and endorsement – are not always understood by those outside the arts.

As such, artists have a long and proud tradition of leading the fight for the unfettered expression of ideas that is central to any kind of society worth living in.

So it comes as especially disturbing news to have such censorship come from within an institution that exists so close to New England’s artistic soul – The Massachusetts College of Art and Design - the only publicly funded free-standing art school in the United States, and the place that many of us got our start down this merry path of poverty and good times.

We wish it weren’t true, but unfortunately it is. Talented Biennial Project collaborator and friend Maj-Britt Pedersen has been hard at work honing her considerable skills studying in the fashion department at MassArt, only to be censored in the presentation of her work by her own teachers.

This is just sad. In Maj-Britt’s own words: 

“For the Spring semester of Sophomore year (mine was this past Spring), MassArt all fashion students are given an assignment to create a non-textile garment. This means a garment made out of something that is not fabric.

After brainstorming for some time, I chose cigarette packs. I have been a smoker since I was 13 so they play a part in my daily life. I didn't want to choose something "cute" or too easy. I feel cigarette packing holds incredible, ornate, iconic graphic design.

We were supervised closely throughout the process. Upon completion I received an "A" on my dress. I also received the honor of having it chosen to be in the 2015 MassArt Vision fashion show at The Park Plaza Castle.

At the end of the semester, we were advised to hold onto our garments because we would have an opportunity in the fall to have them displayed in a storefront in Copley Place.

This past Wednesday I attended my department's fashion forum to gain information on the upcoming year. While there, some students were instructed to leave their dresses on the dress forms. I raised my hand and said how I was never informed to bring my garment, perhaps it wasn't chosen? Jane Avery of the fashion department responded that they decided that the material of my dress made it too controversial for display in a public space. But it's a beautiful dress. I shook my head and laughed it off.

The following day I was more perturbed about the decision. In today's world of Donald Trump and heroin overdoses, how could a dress constructed of cigarette packs be deemed too controversial? Cigarettes are not illegal. Nowhere on the dress does it tell anyone they should smoke. In fact, the bust is made up of the warnings. I asked Jane Avery that afternoon for a specific reason. She replied she couldn't give me one. She mumbled something about children, said the faculty had decided. Mentioned if a dress had been made from guns, they would have decided the same thing. Then she said sorry in a sing song voice as if I were in kindergarten.

I personally don't think my dress is offensive, I don't think it would negatively affect children. I think it might make people laugh or perhaps strike up a conversation. Anyhow, I am being denied a great opportunity for exposure as well as losing confidence in my mentors' artistic integrity.”

So, basically, the faculty of the fashion department at MassArt deemed Maj-Britt’s cigarette pack dress "too controversial for display in a public space". Denying her an opportunity to exhibit her work that is such a valuable part of art school. After choosing it for display in their fashion show. Thoughts?

“Venice is like eating an entire box of chocolate liqueurs in one go.” Truman Capote

We clearly run with a pretty cool crowd. And none is cooler than our long-time collaborator – artist and writer Kelly Stevens - pictured above  left at The Biennial Project’s reception at the Venice Biennale in May. And we are ever so proud to share with you her reactions to the 2015 Venice Biennale:      

                                                                                                                          “As tourists flock to see the spectacles of the World’s Fair in Milan, another “must-see” event is only minutes away in Venice, Italy. The Venice Biennale is considered the World’s Fair of art with 53 countries participating and presenting extraordinary pieces of work. Originating in 1895, the Biennale is a major contemporary art exhibition which takes place once every two years.

This year’s Biennale experience was again exceptional. On my visit through the national pavilions, each country approached the Biennale’s theme “All the World’s Futures” in unique ways. Some art installations triggered deep emotions while others offered a more whimsical experience. And others clearly had expressive political statement.

Needless to say, a diverse range of emotional experiences can be expected as one makes their way through the Biennale.

Among my favorites this year, the large scale installations appealed to me the most. France’s “Revolutions” by Celeste Boursier-Mougenot included trees which subtly moved through the art space in front of patiently waiting onlookers lounging on nearby foam steps.

The eclectic Canadian pavilion similarly was intriguing as I experienced a transformative journey beginning within a convenience store before eventually ending in a life-sized Pachinko game where the curious can put a quarter in the slot and see its path.

The art which struck me the most deeply, however, was “A Key in the Hand” by Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota. The massive art work gave me a feeling of intense connection with humanity and the world with its spider web of red yarn, keys and ancient Japanese fishing boats. This installation reminded me that life and death are about the journey and the connection of stories and people. In essence, everything is significant and matters because we all have the power to make the world a better place.

Of all the amazing installations present in this year’s Biennale, this one allowed me to best connect with the theme of this year’s event. In a world which is becoming increasingly smaller, the relevance and importance of human and natural connections is likewise increasing. And indeed, all the world’s futures depend on how we respect, cherish, and act upon these connections. Being able to visualize this concept in such dramatic fashion was certainly powerful, and one of the many reasons this year’s Biennale is an event not to be missed.”

Kelly Stevens, 2015

The Biennial Project Venice Biennale 2015 Artist Trading Cards have arrived! Created by the internationally-feared minds behind The Biennial Project – these cards are a must for those wanting a behind the scenes look at the art and artists of the 56th Venice Biennale! Whether you are lucky enough to go to the Venice Biennale and see the art for yourself, or just want an insider’s look into today’s “it” artists, these guides are your must-have accessory of the season. The Biennale Project profiles 56 of the lucky bastards who currently define success in the art world. From drinking with Damien Hurst to making art from your collector’s breast milk – learn how these artists made it to the top, and gain valuable tools that you can put to use in your own artistic practice. Available now for a limited time for the incredible price of $40 – these limited edition mini-masterpieces won’t last long! And because we’re nice, here’s a sneak peak of a few of our artist profiles, beginning with Yvonne Apiyo from KENYA – the ONLY artist from KENYA chosen to show her work in the KENYAN pavilion in Venice – who came to our fabulous party in Venice and did an interview with Biennial Project Press – and is so goddamned nice and talented and wonderful that we have to think less of the Swiss for not electing her to office. Feast your eyes………….

It's rough being an american if you are not a total asshole.

Violent racism, economic desperation, hideous drone armies killing children in our name, blind kittens without homes - you know, none of this is the sort of stuff a normal person can get too excited about.

Well, tomorrow we promise to go back to watching the endless rivers of blood flow, but for today, for fucking once, we have something profoundly wonderful to celebrate.

"They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right. The judgment of the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit is reversed. It is so ordered."

And yes we know it is jut a start, but hey, let us have our moment here, OK?

XXOO,

The Biennial Project

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Its been half-a-year since the Opening Champagne Reception for ArtVenice Biennale 3. We, The Biennial Project only just realized that we haven’t told you, our loyal supporters, about our time in Venice. Well, in case you were wondering, ArtVenice Biennale 3 was an astonishing success! The location on VIA GARIBALDI was better then imagined. Every big gun in the art world meandered up and down this street looking for dinner and then found us or maybe they were looking for us and then found dinner. The art work being exhibited digitally drew the best glitterati into our gallery.  The attendees got the must have Biennial Project bag, a free glass(or two, or three, or four…) of prosecco  and then stayed to admire all the art that was on view. We met hundreds of art loving hoi polloi from all over the world, ideas were exchanges, connections were made and maybe one or two people found romance. An immense triumph!!

The evening started off with The Live Art Performance by The Biennial Project’s ArtVenice Biennale 3 Artist in Residence, Tom Estes called ‘'Parallax: Other Realms’. We were thrilled, with the help of the entrants on AVB3, to give this artist from London an opportunity and a venue to express his creativity. The performance coincided with Estes' time at the newly founded The Biennial Project Residency Project at the V70 building in Venice.

Yvonne Amolo gave an enthralling and capitvating talk, presented a video and even yodeled for us.  Yvonne Amolo, the only actual ethnic Kenyan in this Kenyan pavilion  has won awards for her film about racism. Being the only ethnic Kenyan representing Kenya in this year’s Biennale was the hottest topic of conversation during the Opening week of The 56th Venice Biennale. This very issue that sparked the debate on the socio economic and nationalistic issues involved in the process of putting together an evenly and fairly represented global art exhibit.Yvonne was kind enough to take a lot of questions from our attendees regarding this hot button issue.

We also had a stimulating and spurring performance from Leslie Rogers brought to life 'Wesley Wodgers: Camera Cop'

Leslie Rogers performs 'Wesley Wodgers: Camera Cop':

https://youtu.be/w0KA3_0SEbQ

Though, clearly, the highlight of the show was seeing all our entrant's images shown in a digital display that ran for the entire reception. Many of the ArtVenice Biennale 3chosen artists came to Venice to attend the gala and many of them spoke about their work. Some of these included Artemis Herber, Finishing School, James Lipovac, Justin Augspurg, Katherine Sweetman, Lauren Gidwitz, Markus Blaus, Matthew Keller, Rebecca Potter,Victor Salvo, Walter Kopec and Zebbler Peter Berdovsky and a few others.

Try watching this video on www.youtube.com, or enable JavaScript if it is disabled in your browser.

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300 ans d'errance by Christine Comeau

The ArtVenice Biennale 3 attracted an extraordinary amount of exceptionally strong art from artists from every corner of the world.

Feast your eyes on all the superlative work included in the show:

ArtVenice Biennale 3 Selected Artists

Jurying such strong work was extremely satisfying but difficult. Even more challenging was picking the winners from so much excellent work. We say all of these artists deserve prizes!

Fortunately we had the support of our illustrious group of international jurors – one chosen from each of the continents – to help us with this.

Each of these successful artists poured over all the accepted art and spent a lot of time picking their winners. As artists themselves, they took this process very seriously, and we are proud to announce their decisions:

Sui Jianguo (Asia), internationally acclaimed Chinese sculptor, represented by Pace Gallery.  pacegallery.com/artists/459/sui-jianguo

“I have reviewed all the works in the collection several times. My second choice goes to artist Szilvia Gyorgy.

My final pick goes to Hubert Dobler.  I mostly appreciate his work for combining the elements of body, space, video and other objects, with an underlying imagination, to express unique and regional characteristics, with cultural spirit, romantic yet concrete."

Marlene Sarroff (Australia) well-known artist, critic and gallerist. marlenesarroff.com

“What a fantastic line up of entries. I have chosen these two favorites:

1.  Tamara Van San. Very impressed by the organic nature of the work, the incredible play and freedom, within what sometimes is thought to be quite a rigid medium. The successful spatial arrangements of the works come together to make a most exciting installation.

2. Hubert Dobler. The marks are powerful. The suggestion of some quite aggressive action having taken place. The  unrestrained abandonment that disrupts the pristine space like a juvenile crime scene. Very masculine and youthful, but at the same time the marks have a mesmerising attraction that exudes rhythm, and movement."

Francisco Bassim (South America) 2011 Venezuela Representative to the  Venice  Biennale.  facebook.com/bassimarte

“I have chosen the work of Rachel Shatil, because it feels to me warm-hearted and it breaks with formality. It is like the summation of many things in few words; it captures a wonderful moment, causing this simple and wild image to hold all the humanity possible in an inanimate object.”

Zsolt Asztalos (Europe) 2013 Hungary Representative to the Venice Biennale, as well as a member of The 2015 Biennial Project Venice Biennale Entourage.   asztaloszsolt.com

“I choose Moira Agius. In her work the material and the inmaterial world come together in the same time. We can realise how the everyday life melts into transcendence. The artist demands the viewers to contemplate and to complete their deep absorption.”

Aissa Deebi (Africa) 2013 Palestinian Representative to the Venice Biennale and co-curator of the Palestinian Pavilion. aissadeebi.com

“This is my selection. Christine Comeau’s performance work, that has a social practice aspect. She is dealing with issues of exile, displacement and nomadism. I think her work is outstanding and she deserves to be selected for the award.”

Ian Boissonnault (North American) –  Artist and gallerist  on staff at Art New England.  facebook.com/i.boissonnault

"The Ian Boissonnault Biennial Project Its About Us North American Great Justice Primary Number One Prize goes to Christine Comeau  for her Cone People. We all wanted to know so much more about this piece, we were really drawn in, and the people involved for the most part looked like they were into the fact that they were in big conical orange outfits on carts. was it a part of a video? or a performance? the image haunted us for days in a good Patrick Swayze way. TELL US MORE.”

In addition to the work thoughtfully chosen by our esteemed international jurors, We The Biennial Project are proud to announce the following additional winners: Dara Lorenzo, Graehound,  Hildy Maze, Justin Augspurg, Megan Michalak, Paul Weiner, Svetlana Swinimer, Vladimira Sedlakova, and Walter Kopec.

Check out all the winning work:

AVB WINNERS SLIDESHOW

And it’s probably clear by now, but the AVB3 Grand Prize Triple Platinum Super Winners Best in Show Awards must go to Hubert Dobler and Christine Comeau for being the fav’s of so many.

More on both of them to come!

GASOLINE 2 by Hubert Dobler

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The Biennial Project presents

ArtVenice Biennale 3 Champagne Reception

Monday, May 4, 2015 6:00pm - 10:00pm 

VIA GARIBALDI 1791 Sestiere Castello Venezia, Italia

           image by Adamo Macri  http://adamomacri.blogspot.com/

The internationally renowned artist collaborative The Biennial Project is pleased to announce the  ArtVenice Biennale 3 Champagne Reception.

The ArtVenice Biennale 3 Champagne Reception is a large screen digital presentation being held at a delightful gallery space between The Arsenale and The Giardini in Venice, Italy during the Prestigious Press Preview Week of The Venice Biennale 56!!

All the  work from selected our international call for work will be displayed all night long via large screen video projections. The Biennial Project received over 1200 entries from more than 35 countries for this exclusive show!

image by Christine Comeau   http://christinecomeau.com/

Unlike most exhibition opportunities, this one is actually organized by ARTISTS – people who totally comprehend that you put your goddamned heart and soul into your work.

In addition to the winners that have been selected by The Biennial Project, ArtVenice Biennale 3 has 7 special prizes chosen by 7 internationally successful jurors representing each of the seven continents.

image by Szilvia Gyorgy  http://www.szilverworks.com/

Come early at 5pm and see The Live Art Performance by Tom Estes at ‘'Parallax: Other Realms’. The performance will coincide with Estes' time at the newly founded Biennial Project Residency Project at the V70 building in Venice.

Also included in our reception will be a brief talk and images from the only actual ethnic Kenyan in this Kenyan pavilion — Yvonne Amolo, who has won awards for her film about racism.

The Biennial Project, your host of this event, is an artist collaborative whose goal is to explore the nature and understand the perception of biennials within the art world and, in so doing, to develop a collective body of work that will be exhibited in as many biennials as possible – especially the really cool ones.

ARTISTS SELECTED FOR INCLUSION IN THE ARTVENICE BIENNALE 3

      image by Michael St.Germain  http://mikesartnook.blogspot.com/

ARTVENICE BIENNALE 3 FACEBOOK INVITE

We are proud to announce that the response to the call to entry for the ArtVenice Biennale 3 has been remarkable – we have already received hundreds of entries from 24 countries! And the deadline for entries is not even until Match 15th! Here is some more info about our excellent jurors:

JURORS:  All work will be juried by the internationally known art collective The Biennial Project, plus 7 internationally successful jurors representing each of the seven continents – who will each choose a Special Juror’s Prize Artist.

ENTER THE ARTVENICE BIENNALE 3 NOW

The Seven Art Star Special Prize Jurors are:

Marlene Sarroff (Australia) well known artist, critic and gallerist. Marlene is on the right in the pic on the right, having just done an interview with Critical Run organizers at the 54th Venice Biennale

malenesarroff.com

ENTER THE ARTVENICE BIENNALE 3 NOW

Francisco Bassim (South America) 2011 Venezuela Representative to the  Venice  Biennale – seen at left with Biennial Project member Anna Salmeron. 

www.facebook.com/bassimarte

ENTER THE ARTVENICE BIENNALE 3 NOW

Albert Yonathan Setyawan (Asia) 2013 Indonesia Representative to the Venice Biennale (center)

albertyonathansetyawan.com

Zsolt Asztalos (Europe) 2013 Hungary Representative to the Venice Biennale (right) asztaloszsolt.com

ENTER THE ARTVENICE 3 BIENNALE NOW

Aissa Deebi (Africa) 2013 Palestinian Representative to the Venice Biennale and co-curator of the Palestinian Pavilion.

aissadeebi.com

ENTER THE ARTVENICE 3 BIENNALE NOW

Person from Antarctica (Antarctica) – we are working on this.

And of course the world famous collaborative The Biennial Project will select the recipient of The North American Prize. We will be assisted in this by artist and gallerist Ian Boissonnault – currently on staff at Art New England.

facebook.com/i.boissonnault

So many great jurors – so much great art! And you too can be part of the most exiting and lively show of the Spring season. Enter your work now – remember – the deadline is March 15th!

ENTER THE ARTVENICE 3 BIENNALE NOW

http://youtu.be/2mv2pwj9KLA