The 2022 Venice Biennale - A Multicultural Exhibition (30min)

 

(30min)

This video features Mary Lynn Buchanan walking us through parts of the 2022 Venice Biennale. The Venice Biennale is held once a year in Venice, Italy and features cultural exhibits from artists all over the world. Mary Lynn Buchanan starts off by walking us through the Central Pavilion, which features artwork from over 200 artists from 58 countries. The Central Pavilion has a different theme every year and the theme for 2022 was titled "Milk of Dreams." It is inspired by the book by Leonara Carrington "in which the surrealist artist describes a magical world where life is consistently re-envisioned through the prism of the imagination.” The curator of the exhibit, Cecilia Alemani, chose three themes of focus for the exhibits: “representation of bodies and their metamorphosis,” “relationship between individuals and technologies,” and “connection between bodies and the earth.” 

The Milk of Dreams, Curated by Cecilia Alemani, The 59th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy, April 23 - October 27, 2022 (courtesy of https://www.christinaquarles.com/)

Christina Quarles, A Little Fall of Rain, 2020, Acrylic on canvas, 72 x 84 in 

One of the artists that were shown in the video that I particularly enjoyed was Christina Quarles. Christina Quarles is an American artist who writes on her website, "As a Queer, cis-woman, born to a black father and a white mother, I engage with the world from a position that is multiply situated. My project is informed by my daily experience with ambiguity and seeks to dismantle assumptions of our fixed subjectivity through images that challenge the viewer to contend with the disorganized body in a state of excess." Christina's paintings feature themes of ambiguity, racial and sexual identity, and being queer. I find her approach to painting to be so pleasing; the colors she uses and patterns she works into the figures she paints are exciting. Locating the distorted figure through abstracted shapes is not only symbolic of finding oneself or another in an unconventional way, but it is also beautiful to look at. 

Yunchul Kim, Chroma V, Acylic, aluminum, polymer, LED, Motor, microcontroller,  Korean Pavillion, Venice Biennale 2022 (courtesy of https://yunchulkim.net/)

The Venice Biennale also features 29 National Pavilions. Each Pavilion is dedicated to a different country, where an artist of their choosing is exhibited. This year at the Republic of Korea Pavilion, an artist by the name of Yunchil Kim is featured with his exhibition titled "Jeer." Yunchul Kim is a transdisciplinary artist and musician who, according to his website, focuses on integrating technology, science, music, and poetry into his work. His exhibition, "Jeer," is described as a "body of entaglements." Mary Lynn Buchanan describes the work as a series of reactions featuring movement that is meant to remind us of the "constant motion of life," and how our bodies sense and react to our environment. I find myself drawn to this exhibition; the twisting forms are beautifully colorful and contain individual parts that are always moving. It feels to me like small, lively, individual parts coming together to create a connected entanglement. 

Mary Lynn Buchanan's video features many more artists and descriptions of their work. These are just a couple of my favorites. I wish I could have been there to see the works in person, but I am glad she has dedicated her channel to sharing these exhibits with her viewers!