Alexandra Peers covers the Venice Biennale announcement in New York Magazine:
This year’s Biennale is the largest ever, with 77 nations hosting
art pavilions, including first-time exhibitors United Arab Emirates and
the Vatican (now in negotiations). “It’s the biggest art show in the
world,” notes Birnbaum.Generally, the Venice Biennale has tremendous impact on the market and on artists’ careers.
Biennale president Paolo Baratta stressed that Birnbaum’s job is “not
to give the latest quotation on the market for contemporary art.” But
many deals started in Venice are consummated at the huge Art Basel fair
that opens in Switzerland later the same week.Birnbaum’s hometown picks include political artist and peace activist
Paul Chan, best known for his “7 Lights” multimedia show at the New
Museum; local filmmaker and artist Tony Conrad; Yoko Ono, whose work
will include performance and poetry and who will receive a “Golden
Lion” for lifetime achievement at the show; and artist duo
Guyton\Walker, who will do “very painterly things … big paintings” and
will be prominently displayed in the show, said the curator.Some of the other New York artists who got into the Biennale exhibition
are Joan Jonas, Rachel Harrison, Spencer Finch, Rirkrit Tiravanija, and
Jorge Ortero-Pailos.
New Yorkers to Storm the Venice Biennale (Culture Vulture/New York)