The Venice Biennale is an international art event that happens every two years. Each country chooses an artist to represent it. ( This year the American choice was artist Bruce Nauman.) These are just some random photos and videos that I took in Venice...
Anju Dodiya is one of the better known contemporary Indian artists.
The Dali Museum in Figueres, Spain (his hometown) is a funny building with little bread sculptures decorating the exterior walls. It all has a slight Disneyland feel to it.
Of course everyone has seen the typical Dali paintings but this museum was great because you got to see a huge range of things that Dali did. I really loved his illustrations. (Click to enlarge)
"Bitch is the New Black" is a phrase that Tina Fey said in a skit on SNL during the 2008 presidential election. This show at Honor Fraser was curated around that sentiment, gathering female artists with an attitude.
Kathryn Andrews, "Liberty"
Bari Ziperstein, "Perfect Pitch"
Cathy Akers, "Pregnancy Pee"
Amanda Ross-Ho, "SKIES THE LIMIT (LEAVE ME ALONE)"
"The Rape of Africa" is a large scaled 4x10 foot photograph that was 2 years in the making by artist D. LaChapelle. At the David DeSanctis Gallery, he spoke about one of the references for his photograph: "Venus and Mars" by Sandro Botticelli.
He also spoke about a portrait of Michael Jackson that he did after Jackson's death. He used a Michael Jackson impersonator and staged this photograph near his home in Maui. He then spent the next three weeks moving pixel by pixel recreating Jackson's face. LaChapelle thought that Jackson was a misunderstood "saint" in this lifetime. In this photograph, he portrays Jackson as archangel Michael defeating the devil.
This theme is also a classic image seen in these following images.
Check out an inventive recreation of Noah's Ark at the Skirball. It's an interactive exhibit/playground for children but it was fun for adults too.
