Venice Biennale
Collateral Event – Glasstress 2015 Gotika Exhibition. At Palazzo Franchetti,
until November 22, the exhibition Glasstress 2015 Gotika is a joint project
between The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg and the Fondazione Berengo
and is curated by Dr. Dimitri Ozerkov, Director of Hermitage 20 / 21 Project
for Contemporary Art and Adriano Berengo of Berengo Studio. It is an
exploration of the effect that Gothic and medieval ideas have had on the modern
conscience and contemporary art. Glasstress 2015 Gotika combines historical
medieval glass and objects from the Hermitage’s collection that have rarely if
ever been seen by the public and contemporary art works created in glass by
internationally renowned artists who were invited by the curators to work with
the glass masters in the furnaces of Murano. The artists, who are from over 20
countries, were asked to respond to the Gothic concept in their creations in
glass.
Above. Adel Abidin – The
Reward – 2015 – pryex glass, overlook the Grand Canal and are framed by the
Gothic windows of the palazzo.
Below. Armor from The
State Hermitage Museum – St. Petersburg.
detail photograph by
Francesco Allegretto – courtesy Glasstress
Palazzo Franchetti –
Glasstress 2015 Gotika. At Palazzo Franchetti, Glasstress not only harmonizes with the
neo-gothic interior of the spaces and the palazzo’s Gothic windows, it also
refers to the Gothic architecture of Venice, the Gothic capital of the world.
Above. Penny Byrne – Hurt
Locker – 2015 – glass and wire.
Palazzo Franchetti –
Glasstress 2015 Gotika. The projects all refer, directly or indirectly, to
Gothic style and mythology, religious themes, King Arthur, alchemy, techniques
of stained glass making and the sounds of broken crystal, the main reference
remaining is the glass itself.
Above. Song Dong – Glass
Big Brother – 2015 – glass and metal and Armor from The State Hermitage Museum
– St. Petersburg.
Tony Cragg – Untitled – 2015 – glass
Marian Goodman and Patrizia
Spadafora
Palazzo Franchetti –
Glasstress 2015 Gotika. A showcase with inspirational historical works from The
State Hermitage Museum – St. Petersburg’s main collection of Gothic and
neo-gothic oeuvre are in dialogue with the newly commissioned works made in glass
in the furnaces in Murano. Gothic monstrances, reliquaries, and crosses done
with and out of glass and other medieval objects from the Hertimage archives,
some of which have never been seen by the public are exhibited with the
contemporary works.
Joana Vasconcelos – Via Iluminata –
2015 – glass and textile matter
Hans Op De Beeck – The Frozen
Vanitas – 2015 – glass
Petah Coyne – Mirror Mirror – 2015 –
mixed media
Dede Young and Petah Coyne
photograph by Francesco Allegretto –
courtesy Glasstress
Wael Shawky – Cabaret Crusades, The
Secrets of Karbalaa
glass marionettes - 2014 – glass,
fabric, enamel and thread
Pascale Marthine Tayou – Colonne
Coloniale – 2015 - glass
Palazzo Franchetti –
Glasstress 2015 Gotika. During the research for the show, Californian artist
Bart Dorsa rediscovered the statue of Jeanne d’Arc in the southern transept of
Notre-Dame de Paris. Categorically, the central female symbol of Dorsa's work
has its place in the sanctuary of the new Gothic ideal. Crystal clear and filled with light, the
sculpture is devoid of corporeality, despite its meticulously accurate
representation of the body. Here the process of crystallization, both literally
and metaphorically (as defined by Stendhal) is in action.
Above. Bart Dorsa – Relic
Glass #1 – 2015 – glass and silver.
Palazzo Franchetti - Keon
VanMechelen – Awakener/Lifebank
Palazzo Franchetti – Glasstress 2015
Gotika. The top floor of Palazzo Franchetti was the former site of the Banca di
Venezia. Here, the Belgian artist Keon Vanmechelen installed a ‘gene bank’ of
heritage seeds from around the world, including those sourced from AVRDC – The
World Vegetable Center in Arusha and a selection made by Piergiorgio De Filippi
in collaboration with Slow Food. The interactive multi-sensorial garden forms
the central part of this work including two colossal bronze hands, glass jars
containing thousands of rare varieties of seeds and references to the artist’s
Cosmopolitan Chicken Project; a cross-breeding programme where the chicken
becomes the universal symbol for all species. Based on these same ingredients,
renowned chef Pietro Leemann has created a new culinary combination ‘The Shape
of Life’ which will be served to Biennale visitors at the B Restaurant on
Murano. This restaurant is located next to Fondazione Berengo where the Awakener/Lifebank
installation of the Dromedary, Mushroom and Chicken breeding takes place.
photographs by manfredi bellati
Keon VanMechelen – Awakener/Lifebank
The “Gothic Garden”
dedicated to bio-diversity with a monumental installation featuring ancient
seeds and interactive, multi-sensory spaces.