Back to art - it is, after all, why we're here

So, here's the thing about the Biennale. It's not just the two dozen plus national pavilions and the "official" Biennale Pavilion at the Giardini and the miles of individual artists' installations plus the several additional nations' pavilions plus the Italian Pavilion plus the artist homages plus the rest at The Arsenale and the Nations in Town and the Collateral Events. It's also the time that individual galleries, foundations, corporate sponsors, et al take advantage of all the people in town FOR the Biennale - most especially press, curators, collectors, celebrities - by staging their own (supposedly) newsmaking events. If you want/need to understand the logistics further, you can read my Honolulu Advertiser story from the '07 Biennale.
http://www.grapevineproductionshawaii.com/honoadvertiser/world-according-to-art.htm

Anyway, my point is that I have found this year - and if I remember correctly it was true in '07 as well - that the small, manageable exhibits OUTSIDE the two main Beinnale venues are always wonderful. One great thing is that they are almost all installed in very, very old buildings - churches, foundations, universities, palazzi. And the juxtaposition of the architecture with the contemporary art is fantastic and adds immensely to the experience. I will get more specific in later posts.

By far, the two venues that got more publicity than the Biennale itself prior to opening are Francois Pinault's new space, the Dogana which is the former customs house. The previews and fancy parties seemed to go on for days - barges delivering cases and cases and cases of prosecco and wine every morning. One enterprising artist artist went to great lengths to get noticed from across the canal.

If you're not familiar with Pinault, he is one of the world's premier contemporary art collectors and after trying unsuccessfully for years to display his collection in his native France, he purchased and renovated the Palazzo Grassi here in Venice. It's a great story and readily available if you google his name. We haven't seen the current exhibitions at either Grassi or Dogona yet but they are nearing the top of the list.

The other venue everyone has been talking about is the Magazzino Del Sale - one of the 14th Century salt warehouses which Pritzker prize-winning Italian architect Renzo Piano renovated for the Fondazione Emilio e Annabianca Vedova. Emilio Vedova was a beloved native son, a well-respected and influential contemporary artist who died just before the last Biennale. I finally visited the space today and it is magnificent. It's huge and Piano has constructed a system where the paintings actually come to the viewer. It's amazing. The photos don't really do the space justice but here they are...

You can learn much more, if you'd like, at http://www.fondazionevedova.org/

It's time to at least start thinking about dinner. It is definitely time for a glass of wine.

Ciao...