Venice
Biennale Special – Around Town Friday Openings
Isola
di San Giorgio Maggiore
Michelangelo
Pistoletto – Alighiero Boetti - Pae White
Robert
Rauschenberg and Andy Warhol
Brian
Mc Cormack
On
the magical Island of San Giorgio Maggiore, right across from the Piazza San
Marco, far from tourists, you can enjoy five beautiful exhibitions located in
the Basilica di San Giorgio Maggiore and in the Fondazione Cini complex.
Basilica di San Giorgio Maggiore
Michelangelo
Pistoletto – One and One Makes Three
“Love Difference encapsulates a concept which goes beyond a
rational notion of ‘tolerance’ for what is diverse and penetrates directly into
the sphere of feelings (…). The first thing to accept, in an open, sensitive
and warm fashion, are the differences between people and social groups, in
order to finally give meaning to the word ‘humanity’.”
Michelangelo Pistoletto
Michelangelo Pistoletto – One and One Makes Three
In
the Basilica di San Giorgio Maggiore, until November 26, Conceptual artist and protagonist
of the Arte Povera movement Michelangelo Pistoletto – One and One Makes Three,
is curated by Lorenzo Fiaschi. The exhibition, conceived for the Basilica of
San Giorgio Maggiore and for the adjoining spaces is a reflection that directly
addresses the destiny of humankind and the urgent need for a social change. In
the exhibition Michelangelo Pistoletto, explores contemporary issues relating
to today’s globalized society, presenting works inspired by the acceptance of
differences and by political, religious and racial tolerance, promoted through
creativity aiming to improve society.
Michelangelo
Pistoletto - Love Differences –
1975-2017
Michelangelo
Pistoletto – ConTatto – 2007
“‘Art
takes on religion’ means that art actively takes possession of those
structures, such as religion, which rule thought; not with a view to replacing
them itself, but in order to substitute them with a different interpretative
system, a system intended to enhance people’s capacity to exert the functions
of their own thought.”
Michelangelo
Pistoletto
Michelangelo
Pistoletto - The Time of Judgment –
2009-2017
In
The Time of Judgment, the four most widespread religions in the world –
Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism – are each prompted to reflect upon
themselves in a moment of radical self-confession. Each religion is represented
by a symbolic element placed in front of a mirror: a statue of Buddha, a prayer
mat facing Mecca, a kneeler. The exception is Judaism, presented as mirrors in
the form of the tables of the law.
Stanze del Vetro
Pae
White - Qwalala
A
monumental new site specific sculpture, until November 30, Qwalala by American
artist Pae White was commissioned by the Stanze del Vetro, and is placed in
their garden The work consists of a curving wall made from 3,000 solid glass
bricks, each hand-cast: 75 meters long and 2.4 meters tall. Qwalala is a Native
American Pomo word and references the meandering flow of the Gualala River in
Northern California, which the work echoes. The wall explores the limits of
glass as a building material. The result can be seen both as a sculpture that
is evocative of architecture and as architecture that is evocative of
sculpture.
Alighiero
Boetti: Minimum/Maximum
The
exhibition, Alighiero Boetti: Minimum/Maximum, until July 12, is curated by
Luca Massimo Barbero and focuses on the contrast between the minimum and
maximum formats of the main series of works created by Alighiero Boetti from
1967 to 1994. The largest and smallest works from the following series are on
show: Map (1972-1994), Everything (1986-94), Postal Work (1973-76) and Covers
(1984). The aim is to highlight how, in Boetti’s art, the method of conceptual
construction of a work in element independent of its material size and
spectacularity.
Above. Alighiero Boetti: Minimum/Maximum - exhibition view.
Alighiero
Boetti: Minimum/Maximum
Map
Alighiero
Boetti
Lavoro
Postale (permutazione) – 1970
Alighiero
Boetti
Mettere
al Mondo il Mondo – 1972-73
Ballpoint
pen on paper laid on canvas
Photograph and
copyright Christopher Makos, 1983, christophermakos.com – courtesy
Faurschou Foundation
Fondazione Giorgio Cini
Robert Rauschenberg and Andy Warhol
- “Us Silkscreeners…”
Robert
Rauschenberg - Late Series
The
exhibition, Robert Rauschenberg and Andy Warhol
- “Us Silkscreeners…”
and Late Series, is on show until August 28 at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini. The
show takes the story of the very first silkscreen paintings by
Rauschenberg and Warhol as its point of departure, namely Rauschenberg’s
Renascence and Warhol’s Dollar Bills Series, both completed in 1962. In the
spring of that same year a meeting between the two artists took place, which
marked the beginning of a new direction in photo transferring, that would not
only impact the artist’s own career, but would also influence the art scene at
large, thus, forming Rauschenberg and Warhol’s legacy. Despite employing
silkscreens in different ways, both artists shared a common starting point that
year, in 1962.
Andy Warhol and Robert
Rauschenberg at the Pergamon Museum - 1983
Robert
Rauschenberg – Renascence – 1962
silkscreen
and oil on canvas
Andy
Warhol – Rauschenberg – 1962 – silkscreen
Andy
Warhol – One Dollar Bill (Back) – 1962 – silkscreen
Robert
Rauschenberg – Intersection (Night Shade) – 1991
Robert
Rauschenberg – Random Want (Scenarios) - 2003
Robert
Rauschenberg – Orange Fill (Runt) – 2007
Fondazione
Giorgio Cini
Bryan
Mc Cormack - Yesterday/Today/Tomorrow: Traceability is Credibility
The
Irish artist Bryan Mc Cormack retells the odyssey of refugees in an
installation promoted by the Fondazione Giorgio Cini in the exhibition Yesterday/Today/Tomorrow:
Traceability is Credibility, until August 13. It is the result of conceptual
work on the current migrant phenomenon. The core of the installation is the visualization
of the European refugee crisis and the beginning of a research project to
collect, preserve and interpret the visual data, aimed at giving the refugees
their own, independent voice. The artist has spent over one year in dozens of
camps across Europe where he worked with hundreds of refugees from a multitude
of nationalities to asked them to draw three sketches on three sheets of paper
with coloured pens. They were asked to sketch their past life (Yesterday),
their present life (Today), and to imagine their future (Tomorrow). The
drawings have been gathered together and are used as “visual blocks” for the
centrepiece of the installation.
Yesterday
Today
Tomorrow
Bryan
Mc Cormack - Yesterday/Today/Tomorrow: Traceability is Credibility