Venice Biennale 2013 (La Biennale di Venezia) is the closest thing art has to the Olympics. The 55th International Art Exhibition attempts to capture the rich diversity of the art-world, with all it’s unexpected sights and sounds. Established in 1895, the Venice Biennale is the oldest and most important event on the international contemporary visual arts calendar. It is also the world’s largest non-commercial art exhibition, and this year it features shows from 88 countries across the entire city. More than 150 artists are taking part in the Biennale, and the event attracts more than 350,000 world-wide visitors – from artists, art-lovers and collectors.

This year the event was directed by Massimiliano Gioni, a highly acclaimed contemporary art curator. Artistic Director of Fondazione Nicola Trussardi in Milan since 2003 and Associate Director of the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York since 2007, Gioni brought together the even titled “Il Palazzo Enciclopedico” which takes place in Venice from June, 1st to November, 24th 2013.

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Bang, 2010-2013, by Ai Weiwei at the German Pavilion. Installation consist of  886 three-legged timber antique stools and explores the craft traditions of Chine, ideas of cultural value and history within the context of contemporary art. This expansive structure speaks of the increasing volumes of organisms in our world’s mega-cities, where the single stool can be interpreted as a metaphor for the individual. Images © Roman Mensing.

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The exhibition, curated by Chu-young Lee, brings together the most significant contemporary Korean artists, who reinterpreted and transformed the period room of Spazio Lightbox. The works on display covers different media and include installations, sculptures, videos, paintings and photos realized by 16 artists.

photo yellowtrace.com.au

photo yellowtrace.com.au

“Danaë” by conceptual artist Vadim Zakharov was inspired by Greek mythology. Created for the Russian Pavilion and curated by Udo Kittelman, the installation centers on the flow of custom-made golden coins (each representing One Danaë), symbolizing fertility and abundance. Only women are allowed to enter the room where golden coins fall from the sky. Female visitors are protected by a transparent umbrella, and allowed to take a handful of coins. These are then brought to an adjacent room to be hand-lifted to the upper floor from where they fall again and again.

photo yellowtrace.com.au

photo yellowtrace.com.au

Rudolf Stingel at the Palazzo Grassi, the estate of billionaire collector François Pinault. The exhibition is curated by the artist in partnership with Elena Geuna, and it was specifically designed for the 3-storey, 5000sqm building located on the Grand Canal. Exclusive story about this exhibition will be published on Yellowtrace later this week.

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Richard Mosse with The Enclave at the Irish Pavilion. Mosse’s practice resides at the intersection of documentary journalism and contemporary art.

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Ai Weiwei presents a sculptural installation ‘Straight’, composed of 150 tons of steel bar recovered from the sites of the collapsed schools in Sichuan following the earth quake in 2008, which took the lives of more than five thousand school children. The Chinese artist has had all of the retrieved metal parts straightened as if new, and arranged in stacks. The installation creates an eery feeling of sadness in memory of those whose lives were lost – the action of adjusting the pieces serving as a metaphor of the artist trying to make things right.

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Spanish pavilion featured work of a present-day archeologist, Lara Almarcegui. Curated by Octavio Zaya, Almarcegui’s installation was a towering mountain of construction materials – roofing tiles, cement rubble and bricks turned into gravel. Almarcegui’s practice is informed by her heightened awareness of the city, investigating urban transformation. She focuses on studying the often overlooked elements which make up a place.

via yellowtrace.com.au