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Art in Venice
Venice is jam-packed with famous artwork, from the Renaissance
to the twentieth century. Bellini, Titian,
Tintoretto, Veronese, Tiepolo, and
Canaletto are all great Venetian artists whose works
can be found in many of the churches, arts schools, and museums
throughout the city. Modern artwork is well-represented at
the Guggenheim Museum in Dorsoduro, with works
by many of the twentieth century greats like Pablo Picasso,
Henri Matisse, and Jackson Pollock.
History of the Venice Biennale
Nowadays it seems every international city must have an art
festival (biennale) but Venice is still the jewel in
the art world's crown partly because it held the first - over
a hundred years ago - but mainly because of its fabulous setting.
The Venice Biennale has for over a century been one
of the most prestigious cultural institutions in the world.
Ever since its foundation in 1895, it has been part of the
avant-garde, promoting new artistic trends and organising
international events in the contemporary arts in accordance
with its own unique multi-disciplinary model. It was originally
supposed to celebrate the silver anniversary of King Umberto
and Margherita of Savoy, however, the Venetian Mayor
of the time was also keen to transform artists' evening meetings
at the famous Caffe' Florian in St.
Mark's Square into a prestigious international art
exhibition.
What happens at the Venice
Biennale today?
Every year the festival runs from June to September with
most of the activity centred around the Giardini di Castello
in the east of the city. Here you'll find most of the national
pavilions and the restored Arsenale where many different
nations present their nation's artists artwork in pavilions.
But with more and more countries taking part every year, 70
at the last count, those without pavilions are staging exhibitions
all over Venice, in crumbling palazzos and old churches. Recent
participating countries include Afghanistan, Belarus, and
Uzbekistan.
51st Venice Biennale -
2005
For the 51st Venice Biennale in 2005, renowned Swiss
artist Pipilotti Rist took advantage of the rare Venetian
trait of the Church of San Stae of the Grand Canal
having no painting on its ceiling, so the artist projected
onto it her own feminist-slanted vision of paradise. The projections
opened a gate to heaven to transport the view into a serene
paradise before the fall of man. Expect to see plenty of extremely
modern forms of art at the Biennale - performance art, in
your face art, video art, and men dressed as gorillas running
round driving everyone crazy.
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