http://www.grahamhay.com.au
  • index
  • Now
  • Video
  • art
    • ceramic_paper_clay
    • not_fired_paper_clay
    • paper_sculpture
    • performance_art
    • video_art
    • commissions
  • cv
    • qualifications
    • exhibitions
    • collections
    • projects
    • awards
    • reviews
    • writing
    • details
  • teaching
    • classes
    • workshop / symposia
  • paperclay
    • articles >
      • miller1994
      • Fowler2006
      • Ellery1995
      • campbell1997
      • ellery1994
      • farrow1987
      • gartside1993
      • gartside1994
      • gault2004cap.html
      • gault1994cap
      • gault1993icadr
      • gault1992cm
      • harrison1998
      • hay2012dipsticking
      • hay2007pcrevolution
      • hay2007whyburn
      • hay2006update
      • hay2005pyre
      • hay1996more
      • juvonen1997
      • 2006DilekOzdemir
    • internationalpaperclayevents >
      • 2016symposium-usa
      • 2010paperclaytoday
      • 2008PotterCouncil
      • 2007Norway
      • conference2000
      • icsinvite
    • paperclayartists
    • paperclaydiscussions
    • suppliers
  • Email

The 2017 Venice Biennale

Review by artist Graham Hay
Flop or not?  Is the Venice Biennale a time warp in the global art world, or does it promise us an artistic redemption through transformation ?

After a week and half in May and another week in August visiting as many exhibitions as possible, it was impossible to see even half of the artwork.  The many formal and informal art guides offered maps, and so time efficient ways, to see the over 200 exhibitions running concurrently May to November. However, like the medusa's head in Damion Herist's "Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable" exhibition, it solidified my existing perceptions.
Reviews of Herist's huge twin exhibitions have ranged from bad to good.  The Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable title 
Arsenale: SHIMABUKU (b. 1969 Japan, lives and works in Naha), "Oldest and Newest Tools of Human Beings", 2016. 4 prehistoric Axes, 4 smart phones, Vitrine with glass. His video "shapening a MacBook Air" of him doing just that and then using it to cut vegetables provided light relief from an overload of too serious art. — at Arsenale Biennale Di Venezia.
Conclusion
Of course the sensible thing is to conclude that the truth about the Venice Biennale lies somewhere between the binary opposites of flop and not.  I'm not sure I want to moderately please and ​moderately annoy all readers...
click invitation / annual e-newsletter (Mail chimp).            Website update 11 May 2022. ​​ All content and images on this site is © to the acknowledged  artists, authors or photographer.  See links  to their preferred online presence.  Unauthorised reproduction is prohibited by law.​Purchase online a licence to use images of Graham Hays' art via https://viscopy.net.au/   privacy policy.   Website update 2 April 2022. ​​
  • index
  • Now
  • Video
  • art
    • ceramic_paper_clay
    • not_fired_paper_clay
    • paper_sculpture
    • performance_art
    • video_art
    • commissions
  • cv
    • qualifications
    • exhibitions
    • collections
    • projects
    • awards
    • reviews
    • writing
    • details
  • teaching
    • classes
    • workshop / symposia
  • paperclay
    • articles >
      • miller1994
      • Fowler2006
      • Ellery1995
      • campbell1997
      • ellery1994
      • farrow1987
      • gartside1993
      • gartside1994
      • gault2004cap.html
      • gault1994cap
      • gault1993icadr
      • gault1992cm
      • harrison1998
      • hay2012dipsticking
      • hay2007pcrevolution
      • hay2007whyburn
      • hay2006update
      • hay2005pyre
      • hay1996more
      • juvonen1997
      • 2006DilekOzdemir
    • internationalpaperclayevents >
      • 2016symposium-usa
      • 2010paperclaytoday
      • 2008PotterCouncil
      • 2007Norway
      • conference2000
      • icsinvite
    • paperclayartists
    • paperclaydiscussions
    • suppliers
  • Email