Photo by Will Furtado
La Biennale di Venezia – the mother of all art biennales; the Olympic Games of art – is back for its 56th run. Curated by Okwui Enwezor, with “All of the World’s Futures” as a theme, it promises to be political; and it gets there right from the outset with Oscar Murillo’s long black drapes hanging in front the Central Pavilion at Giardini (“signalling devices in now bastard territory,” 2015).
Once inside, the feeling remains demure and profound; no funny business here. The immense space is populated by mostly old works (Christian Boltanski’s “L’Homme qui toussse,” 1969, or Marcel Broodthaers with “The Winter Garden II”, 1974), that Mr Enwezor carefully selected to represent the various perspectives our world has to offer on the history of art, capital and humanity. There are really affecting works like Senegalese Fatou Kande Senghor’s doc “Giving Birth,” 2015, about an elderly female sculptor in an African village who fears her art will die with her. However, the prevalent thread is society’s relationship with money, epitomised by Isaac Julien’s video installation “KAPITAL”, 2013, that points out “you can’t talk about capital without mentioning passion, morality, desire…”
Jeremy Deller, 56th Venice Biennale. Photo by Will Furtado
At the end of the pavilion I stumble upon the lovely Jeremy Deller and his large banner that reads “Hello, today you have a day off.” It would make anyone chuckle but the 2014 piece with the same title, which is accompanied a the larger installation, actually makes reference to “Zero Hour contracts,” a type of underemployment in Britain. A serious topic, but as always Deller manages to lace the social with the humorous (which lightens up the overall mood).
Off to the national pavilions and in the midst of disappointments it’s Canada that provides a surprisingly entertaining and critical pavilion. The “Canadassimo”, 2015, a three-part installation framed in scaffolding by collective BGL, replicates a typical Quebecois convenience store: a space crowded with shelves fully stocked with tins and household essentials, many of which have blurred text on their labels, alluding to blind consumerism. It takes you to a different world, some sort of suburban wonderland. Through the door (or down the rabbit hole), we enter a new room which feels like a workshop packed to the ceiling with used items from the store and banal dross; that familiar accumulation rife in a “first world” country near you.
BGL, Canadassimo, 2015. Work in progress for the Canada Pavilion for the 56th International Art Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia, 2014. Photo copyright Ivan Binet Courtesy of BGL, Parisian Laundry, Montreal, and Diaz Contemporary, Toronto
A nice surprise is the Greek pavilion, where there’s also a replica of a shop that sells animal hides and leather (Agrimiká) together with a movie about the owner. In Maria Papadimitriou’s “Why Look at Animals? AGRIMIKÁ,” 2015, the candid and critical speaker explains the fluctuations of the business while taking us through a great part of the history of modern Greece. Her enthralling and honest presentation sparks concerns about traditions, politics and history to economics and ethics – an original and effortless take on the Biennale’s theme.
Outside the British Pavilion. Photo by Will Furtado
As I’m almost mesmerised into slumber by the floating pine trees outside the French pavilion I am suddenly revived by a metal band playing conspicuously at the top of the main artery of the pavilions area. One girl on drums, another on guitar, both looking fierce in golden dresses and heavy face make up. “Too much drugs,” they sing and they don’t just draw the crowds, they steal the whole show. The Brits have arrived and rock the Biennale like it’s 1999 (when Pulp played a live gig). In fact, they’re jamming so hard that even the visitors inside the neighbouring German pavilion stop to stare out of the window at the electrifying performance which kickstarts Sarah Lucas’s majestic and phallic exhibition. One artgoer sighs: “That’s how it used to be in the UK…”
Text by Will Furtado
Check back for more coverage of the 56th Venice Biennale
Sarah Lucas’ British Council commission is at la Biennale di Venezia from 9 May until 22 November 2015. www.britishcouncil.org/visualarts
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