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| ▲ This photo, shows some of the art pieces exhibited at the 59th Venice Biennale. (Yonhap) |
SEOUL, Apr. 20 (Yonhap) -- The world's largest and most prestigious International Art Exhibition, Venice Biennale started its pre-opening on the 20th (KST) and will be on a 7-month journey until November 22nd.
The Venice Biennale, which started in 1895 and is now in its 59th year, is considered the best Biennale in terms of history, tradition and influence.
Traditionally, the Venice Biennale hosts art exhibitions in odd-numbered years and architecture exhibitions in even-numbered years.
However, due to COVID-19, the architecture exhibition was postponed to 2021 from 2020 and the art exhibition too will be held in a even-numbered year. This is the first exhibition in three years since 2019.
The essence of unique and original contemporary art will be shown through the national pavilion that the general director personally planned yet once again, and in the pavilions of each country.
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▲ This photo, shows this year's director of the Venice Biennale, Cecilia Alemani. (Yonhap) |
This time, the theme of the exhibition directed by Cecilia Alemani, an Italian Chief Curator of High Line Art in New York, United states is "The Milk of Dreams."
"The Milk of Dreams" takes its title from a book by Leonora Carrington (1971-2011), a surrealist painter who painted images of animals living in an imaginary world.
The exhibition focuses on three thematic areas in particular, namely the representation of bodies and their metamorphoses, the relationship between individuals and technologies, and the connection between bodies and the Earth. A total of 213 people and 58 countries were invited to the national pavilion.
Of these, 180 artists are new participants to the Venice Biennale and 90% of the participant list is filled with women.
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| ▲ This photo, provided by the Venice Biennale website, shows the screenshot of the Uzbekistan Pavilion. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ This photo, provided by the Venice Biennale website, shows the screenshot of the Korea Pavilion. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
The two Korean artists invited to the national pavilion is the performance artist, Geumhyung Jeong (42) and the installation artist, Mire Lee (34). Both of the female artists are active in South Korea and internationally.
Geumhyung Jung who majored in theater and dance at her university, received attention for her work as she expresses her interests and desires on the human body models that she has personally collected and on various instruments and tools.
Additionally, Mire Lee came into recognition with her inhomogeneous visual aesthetic installation works that are unique instead of being stereotypical.
The Contemporary art that can only be seen at the Venice Biennale is also drawing the attention of those who love art.
It is an opportunity to show off the charm of their arts to the fullest by presenting the representative artists selected by the commissioners of each country.
This year, a total of 81 countries will be joining the exhibition, including Cameroon, Namibia, Nepal, Oman and Uganda which are countries joining the exhibition for the first time.
Curator Youngchul Lee (52) and Yunchul Kim (52) has decorated the Korea Pavilion under the theme of "Gyre."
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| ▲ This photo, shows curator Yongchul Lee (right) presenting the plan of the exhibition at the press conference for the 59th Venice Biennale International Art Exhibition, Korean Pavilion held at the Arko Art Center in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the afternoon of March 29th. (Yonhap) |
Arts Council Korea, the commissioner of South Korea has explained that it expressed the "chaotic situation of the modern society and the bloated boundaries of the future society" centering on three sub-themes, namely the sun, the nerves, and the huge outside world.
Artist Kim illuminates the world in which objects, nature, and humans coexist through installation works that look as if they are alive.
"In the infinite cycle of life and death, the world and the things constantly swirls," artist Kim said at a press conference in March last year. "I thought a lot about the things that could move, change and also about energy."
On the 23rd, the official opening day, the organizers of the Biennale will award the highest honors, Golden Lion Award for Best National Participation and for the Best Artist of the Exhibition and a Silver Lion Award for artists under the age of 35 to those invited to the national pavilion along with special awards.
People are paying attention to Lim Heung-soon (53), who has won the Silver Lion at the Venice Biennale, the highest award ever received by a South Korean artist, as to whether he will be able to achieve another award.
In time for the Biennale, artists representing the Korean art will be going to Venice.
Park Seo-bo (91) and Ha Chong-hyun (87), both known as the masters of Dansaekhwa (refers to a loose grouping of paintings that emerged in Korean painting starting from the mid-1970s), Chun Kwang-young (77) who is considered a pioneer of Korean art for his traditional Korean paper structures, will be holding solo exhibitions at Palazzo, an old house along the waterway of Venice.
The solo exhibitions of Ha Chong-hyun and Chun Kwang-young will be held parallel with the Venice Biennale and has been officially approved by the Biennale organizers.
Additionally, the Gwangju Biennale about the Gwangju Uprising (popular uprising in the city of Gwangju from May 18 to May 27,1980 which pitted local, armed citizens against soldiers and police of the South Korean government) is expected to attract many people.
According to the Gwangju Biennale, the exhibition, in which 11 domestic and foreign artists participated, visualized a forward-looking discourse that would overcome the pain of the Gwangju Uprising.
(This article is translated from Korean to English by Haemin Kim.)
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