Hi Fans! Welcome to the second 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.

There is still time to catch The 7th Busan Biennale – taking place in Korea’s largest fishing town with theme of Living in Evolution (which needs no further explanation). We could not find any reviews of the best and worst stuff to see but Sherwine Jones, who writes Gyeongjublog.com, says he enjoys this event more then Christmas because there are always lots of wacky art installations and, unlike the pretentious contemporary art galleries up in Seoul, (we at The Biennial Project know this only too well), the work at The Busan Biennale is both playful and provocative. This Biennale runs until November 20th and from the looks of it I would have to agree with Shewine. The main exhibits are also conveniently located near the motels of Haeudae Beach.

For more information

http://2010.busanbiennale.org/eng/02/01.php

Heng-gil Han & Dennis Oppenheim @ Busan Biennale

Prospect New Orleans 1.5 which, according to their website, http://www.prospectneworleans.org, is the premiere biennial of international contemporary art in the U.S.is set to kick off on November 6th and will run until Feb 19, 2011. Along with artists born and still working in New Orleans, approximately one-third of Prospect.1.5’s participants are native New Orleanians who have since moved away, several of whom will be exhibiting in their hometown for the first time through Prospect.1.5. In addition, the exhibition program will showcase the latest generation of young artists who have adopted New Orleans as their home, many moving to the city since Hurricane Katrina five years ago. With the world’s focus once again on the Gulf region following this summer’s devastating oil spill, Prospect.1.5 calls attention to the significance – and vibrancy – of New Orleans’ arts community.This venue seems to need some flow so you are encouraged to go and encouraged to give them your money. Some of the exhibits sound totally cool. For instance "The Angola Project" will feature works by prisoners from Angola State Penitentiary.WE are planning on going so you should as well.

Also for you clay-like people, The New Hampshire Institute of Art is pleased to announce Ceramics Biennial Exhibition 2010, a national juried exhibition for clay artists. So fire up your kilns, because this prestious international event is opening up November 8th in Mancester, NH.

Finally, what all you self promoting fans of ours really want!!! A link to a Call for Applications for The 12th Istanbul Biennial!!! For information on this go to http://www.iksv.org/bienal/english/bienal.asp?cid=106. Applications are due on December 31, 2010 - so you had better get moving on this if fame and recognition are what you desire. Who knows, maybe we can show side by side. If you make it, Kebabs are on us after the opening reception. See you there!!!

   As Biennial Project Artists, it almost goes without saying that our Inner Selves are right On Target, and do not need improvement. 

But, it must be said, our current outer selves are not entirely in alignment with our Inner Fabulousness.

And Outer Fabulousness is obviously important in the Art World.  When projecting an image of Brooding Genius and Much-Hipper-than-Thou Coolness, the packaging really needs to support the product.

Because art is nothing if not a search   life’s Fundamental Truths, and the truth is that no one wants to look at fat ugly people. This is why, in commercials and movies about artists, the artists are always Thin And Gorgeous.

We however, unlike many lesser artists before us, are not going to let our lack of complete physical perfection hold us back.

Instead, we have embarked upon a Bold Campaign of Self-Perfectification which we call are proud to introduce to you as Less of Us -The Biennial Project Guide to Better LivingTM.

The Less of UsTM project has recently taken on Added Urgency since we have been selected to host a group of Famous International Artists for a Fabulous Week-Long Art-and-Party-Saturated Bacchanal at the 2011 Venice Biennale.  We just MUST be perfect by then!

We will Set Sail for Venice in a mere three months from today (gulp!) – dare we say it – we must lose 45 lbs. in 90 days!

Yes, we can, and we must say it here aloud for All the World to Hear – we must shout it from the rooftops -

WE WILL EAT LESS,

WE WILL LIVE BETTER

AND WE WILL EXERCISE MORE!

 STAY TUNED FOR THE FABULOUS RESULTS!!!!

As International Art Rock Stars, Biennial Project Members live large.  We dream large, we think large, we create large, and, of course, we vacation large.  Never content to rest on our considerable laurels, Biennial Project Members are always out there living on the edge - trying new and exciting activities. seeking thrills, testing the limits of our body’s endurance - driven by an unquenchable thirst for new experience. Thus, one recent idyllic summer afternoon, when reason might have told us to remain in the hammock reading The Enquirer, we instead took up the considerable challenge of Rope Swinging.  At first all went well.  There was, after all, no need to be afraid -

The first plunge – an entrancing mix of grace and athleticism -

The second plunge – from even more fearsome heights -

Then, as it often does with those cursed with the need to ignore those voices that tell you when enough is enough, tragedy struck!

The results, documented fearlessly below, would have been enough to send any mere mortal running screaming to the refuge of the nearest ER!

But not someone born to that Band of Fratricidal Siblings known to the world as The Biennial Project! Oh We Few, We Happy Few! We know an opportunity for self promoting heroism when we see it!  As Shakespeare put it (paraphrased and shortened a little of course – we don’t have all day, and that Old English thing gets irritating) -

    If we are marked to die, we are now
    To do our country loss; and if to live,
    The fewer men, the greater share of honour.
    By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,
    But if it be a sin to covet honour,
    I am the most offending soul alive.
    He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
    Will stand a tip-toe when this day is named,
    He that shall live this day, and see old age,
    Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
    Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.
    Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
    But he'll remember, with advantages,
    What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
    Familiar in his mouth as household words-
   Anna, Eric, Laura-
    Be in their flowing cups freshly remembered.
    This story shall the good man teach his son;
    From this day to the ending of the world,
    But we in it shall be remembered-
    We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
    And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
    Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
    And hold their manhoods cheap,

etc, etc, more stuff about problems in England or France or something, you get the idea.

The point is that we are brave, really brave, and so instead of going to the hospital,

We took pictures! Lots of pictures!  Brave, heroic pictures!  Talk about your Triumph over Adversity!

We see a lifetime movie coming out of this!

Yours in Heroism,

THE BIENNIAL PROJECT

As usual the competition was fierce - but in the end we knew who it had to be. One contestant had clearly risen above the rest to take her place in the annals of Biennial Project History.

With a selfless dedication to The Work of the Project, she has added her indelible signature to Our Oeuvre.  Our tireless intern, Emilie Kershaw, truly merits the distinction of being The Biennial Project’s Fan of the Month for August 2010. You too can share the palpable excitement of the Award Ceremony below:

What more can we tell you about our beloved Emilie? Really words don’t do her justice, but here are a few anyway, pulled from her online dating profile:

Work

I'm working at a theater company as the Director of Development. I just started there and love working in a creative environment with people who are passionate about what they do. My 5-year plan would be to eventually work with an international, traveling, performing arts company. 10 year plan is to own my own company : )

The six things she could never do without

-Avocados
-Piano
-Living near a body of water
-Creativity
-Authenticity
-Contagious Laughter

Now, isn’t she just a Catch? We certainly think so. 

Emilie Kershaw, creative, authentic, avocado-eating Biennial Project Fan, here’s to you!

(Thanks again to our super-genius webmaster Paul Kenneth Weiner for event pics!)

We told you we’d get around to making you famous too, didn’t we?  Well, that day has come! At the most recent of our many Glamorous High-Level Art Receptions, we unveiled the hot new Biennial Project Game, in which contestants vie for valuable prizes by completing the provocative and conceptually complex sentence What I #?!@ About The Biennial Project!

And although the many Important Art World Movers and Shakers amongst our guests had trouble at first pulling themselves away from our Absorbing And Well-Crafted Wall Art,

     once they got going they loved it!

Check out the excerpts from this Fun-Filled Evening below, and be on the lookout for The Biennial Project Game to appear again where ever the Coolest People can be found!

Excellent Art Photos Courtesy our Outstanding Webmaster Paul K. Weiner

The excitement in Boston over the New Biennial Project Show is palpable. No really, we’ve gotten great reviews. Real reviews, in actual publications, not written by ourselves. Both The Weekly Dig and The Phoenix love us!

 Here is the text of The Weekly Dig Review -

GREETINGS FROM BIENNIALAND

They are the world, they are the children

By J. PATRICK BROWN

Once every two years, the art world gathers together to conspire against its uncool older brother, the real world, with a self-congratulatory shindig showcasing works by the In-Right-Now-crowd, who wear the blackest all-black outfits and smoke the foulest cloves. Artists. As seen on TV.

This event is known as a Biennale. It is the bizarre marriage of a coming-out party and a wrestling match, with the militantly goateed crawling over each other for a coveted, career-making, who-needs-law-school-now-Dad spot among local art darlings. The original and most prestigious Biennale has been held in Vienna since 1895, and remains the ultima parola in brut-sipping nod-fests.

Just as the wrestling event Royal Rumble spawned the World Championship Wrestling knock-off World War 3, Vienna's biennial has inspired imitators of varying degrees of paleness all over the globe. In fact, over the last 20 years, they've multiplied rapidly, jumping from a mere 17 in 1980s to over 60 currently active. So when Bumfucksville decided it could not deny the world a forum for its myriad contributions to the world's rich creative tapestry, out would come a fresh crop of turtle-necked wunderkind chuckling softly at your opinions while munching on soda crackers. Clearly, something had to be done.

Fortunately, a group of Bostonians knew exactly what these exercises in the excruciating were missing: them.

And a new exhibit at the Atlantic Works Gallery documents the misadventures of four Boston artists who hit up five biennials in three different countries, gatecrashing snoot-fests over the globe, rallying behind the entirely reasonable question: "Why not us?"

"We're the quintessential outsiders who want to be insiders," explains Laura Rollins, the quartet's ringleader. "Everyone who is making art wants to be famous. As it concerns visual art, we're interested in how people get into these exhibits. I mean, are there secrets? Are there strategies? Why can't we be one of those people?"

To that end, Rollins and friends decided to join the festivities, come hell or high water(color). They showed up unannounced, creating a public spectacle, dressing in outlandish garb—in other words, acting like those artists everyone keeps hearing about.

"We get a panoply of responses. Some people are appalled, some people think it's the funniest thing ever, and some people are dying to find the same answers [we were looking for]."

The group lovingly crafted goodie-bags for the curators, helpfully handed out bio-hazard flyers to passers-by, and in Vienna, they even hosted an unofficial closing ceremony.

"It's not like [the Biennale Organization] actually approved us having the ceremony," says Rollins. "We just did it—we ripped off their logo and their font from their press material, and printed up some invitations ... the theme [for the Biennale] was 'Making Worlds' ... so we got a karaoke machine set up outside the main gate and played songs with 'world' as their theme. 'We Are the World' was the easiest one, everyone knew that."

This Thursday's opening reception documents the group's collision course with fame, and despite a few bruises and the odd bloody fingernail from clawing their way to the top, one thing comes through quite clear:

"We had fun," Rollins says with a smile, "in spades. We had a very good time, no doubt."

Yes, yes, we know they confused Vienna and Venice, but otherwise they got it right, wouldn’t you say?  We told you this thing had legs.  And to think you could have bought Biennial Project Stock right at the beginning. So jump on board now so you won’t be kicking yourself in a year or two. 

Of course,The Opening Itself was also amazing, with a gaggle of Cool and Hip Arty Types in attendance for the festivities.

                          We were our usual charming selves!

And, as always, endeavored to deflect attention from ourselves

                                to our Important Work.

And because we know that seeing our work and hanging out with us are important to you, we are inviting you and yours to an Exclusive Second Reception for Greetings from Biennialandto be held this coming Thursday, August 19th, from 6-9pm, at the Atlantic Works Gallery (atlanticworks.org for more info). See you there, and in the meantime, remember, Be Bold, Be Dazzling, Be Fabulous!

P.S. Thanks to cool Biennial Project friends Paul Weiner, Mitchel Ahern, and Mark Hoffman for event pics!

Well this being famous thing just keeps getting better and better.  Last week The Biennial Project was on it's way to an important meeting with Sebastian Smee of the Boston Globe to discuss publicity for our upcoming show (opening Thursday August 5th, as if you needed any reminding!).  Anyway, as we were driving along in The Biennialmobile, a sparkling silver truck pulled alongside us, with the driver and his passenger waving and shouting.  For a moment we wondered who we had cut off this time, or more likely the Damn Paparazzi found us picking our noses again, until we realized that they were smiling and pointing at our Biennial Project Logos. We decided to risk rolling down the window a bit, at which point the (yes really attractive) couple yelled "The Biennial Project!  You're great!  We love you guys!".  Unsolicited accolades from great-looking people on the on ramp to 93 south!  Surely life just does not get much better than this! Wanting to give back to our public, we yelled at them "Join our Fan Club", to which they naturally replied "We already have!".  Being artists, we thought to snap a photo and get their contact info.   

So that's how smoking hot Fernando De Oliviera, excellent artist, truck-driving man, Biennial Project Fan, came to be this month's Biennial Project Fan of the Month!  Here's to you Fernando!!!
Check out his work at http://www.fernandodeoliveira.com/

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ATLANTIC WORKS GALLERY

PRESENTS

GREETINGS from BIENNIALAND

New Works Documenting the Journeys of

The Biennial Project

Opening Reception:  August 5, 6-9 pm:  80 Border Street, East Boston

East Boston, MA, USA August, 2010—From August 5 to August 28, 2010, Atlantic Works Gallery presents  GREETINGS from BIENNIALAND:  New Works Documenting the Journeys of  The Biennial Project.

The last year and a half has been just an amazing time for The Biennial Project!  From Baja to Montreal  to Venice (yup, the one in Italy) to New York to Worcester  the globe-trotting merry band of fun-loving artists have participated  in some of the world’s most celebrated art extravaganzas...and in so doing, hobnobbed with some pretty special (read famous) folks.  There were so many memorable moments!

One very special highlight no doubt was a personal private meeting in February with brand new BFF, Gary Carrion-Muyayari, curator of the world-reknowned 2010 Whitney Biennial held at New York’s Whitney Museum of American Art.  Oh the excitement!!  And the photo opp!!

Another Truly Amazing Moment was hosting the Closing Ceremony at the uber-prestigious 2009 Venice Biennale.  Artists and patrons mingling and yes, singing together as afternoon faded to dusk along Venice’s famed Grand Canal.  Ah, Venice….

As The Biennial Project’s popularity and international presence continues to skyrocket, it is hard to recall at times the group’s humble origins—born in a dilapidated and nearly abandoned warehouse less than three years ago in East Boston.  Yet with their bold “It’s About Us” mantra and unflinching pursuit of Art World Fame and Recognition,   “The Project”  has scratched and clawed  (in true diva style) its way to the top of the Art World Heap……and thankfully they have the photos and videos and charts and maps to prove it!                 

The public is invited to attend the OPENING RECEPTION  on Thursday, August 5 from 6 to 9pm and to visit the gallery during the following hours:  Fridays 2 – 6pm and Saturdays 2 – 6pm.  The public is also invited to attend the Atlantic Works Gallery’s monthly THIRD THURSDAY SHINDIG on Thursday, August 19 from 6 to 9pm.

To schedule a private press viewing and interview at a more convenient time, please contact Laura Rollins, 617.877.8249.

Begun in 2003, ATLANTIC WORKS GALLERY, “East Boston’s Collaborative Space for Art and Ideas,” is a member-operated gallery located on the top floor of 80 Border Street on the waterfront of East Boston.   It is T-accessible (near the Maverick T stop on the Blue Line) and parking space is usually ample.  For detailed directions and other information about members and past and future shows, please see atlanticworks.org