domenica 24 luglio 2016

Samson Young per Hong Kong




Hong Kong Arts Development Council (HKADC) and M+ at the West Kowloon Cultural District announce that the two organisations will co-present Hong Kong’s participation in the 57th Venice Art Biennale (the Biennale), opening on May 13, 2017. This is the third collaboration between HKADC and M+, following the acclaimed 2013 and 2015 editions, on this representation of Hong Kong contemporary art at one of the most important international platforms.
Dr Wilfred Wong, Chairman of HKADC said, “Building on the successful collaborations in the last two Venice Biennales, HKADC and M+ are again ready to contribute our resources and expertise to promoting outstanding Hong Kong visual artist in the 57th Biennale.”
Recommended by M+ and endorsed by HKADC’s Venice Art Biennale Working Group, Mr Samson Young has been selected as the artist for the exhibition, which will be submitted to the Venice Biennale as a Collateral Event in the 57th Venice Biennale. For this edition, M+ will engage a guest curator, in an effort to nurture local curators through providing experience in a major international setting. In close consultation with Mr Young, Ms Ying Kwok, a widely respected Hong Kong-based curator, has been appointed as the guest curator. Mr Doryun Chong, Deputy Director and Chief Curator, and Acting Director, M+, who was a co-curator with Stella Fong for the 2015 edition, will serve as consulting curator.
Mr Chong said, “We are honored and pleased to co-present with HKADC Hong Kong’s participation in the Venice Biennale for the third time. I am proud of what we at M+ accomplished in the last two Biennales with one-person presentations of Hong Kong artists—Lee Kit in 2013 and Tsang Kin-Wah in 2015—both in terms of the polished, professional exhibitions and in successfully raising the profiles of the artists as well as the international understanding of the Hong Kong contemporary art scene in general. I am confident that we will have yet another successful presentation, which will also be a vital opportunity for growth for Mr Samson Young’s critically respected practice.”
Commenting on being selected as the artist of Hong Kong’s submission, Mr Young said “I am naturally thrilled, and feel very honoured to have been given the opportunity to represent my native Hong Kong within such an important international context. I look forward to collaborating with the curatorial team in the months to come.”
Ms Kwok said “I am much honoured and privileged to be invited to work on this prestigious event. I look forward to developing an in-depth dialogue and collaboration with Samson to create something really special. I would also like to thank HKADC and M+ for their forward-thinking approach in engaging an independent curator.”
Same as the last two editions, interns will be recruited locally and given the chance to assist with the exhibition and experience the Venice Biennale. M+ will create one position of assistant curator and HKADC will fund a curatorial intern position specifically for this project in order to foster and develop local expertise by providing an opportunity to work with the M+ team over an extended period. The 57th Biennale will be held from 13th May to 26th November 2017. More information on Hong Kong’s participation and related programmes will be announced later.
HKADC has organised the Hong Kong exhibition at the Biennale since 2001. To examine the experience of past participation and explore future strategies to participate in the Biennale and promote Hong Kong visual arts overseas, the HKADC engaged external experts to conduct a study. For the executive summary of the study and the HKADC’s response, please visit http://www.hkadc.org.hk/?p=14908&lang=en.

lunedì 18 luglio 2016

Zad Moultaka per il Libano



Zad Moultaka è stato selezionato dal Ministero della Cultura libanese ha rappresentare il Padiglione libanese al Cinquantasettesima Biennale di Venezia, che si terrà dal 13 maggio al 26 novembre 2017. Curatore sarà Emmanuel Daydé, uno storico e critico d'arte.

domenica 10 luglio 2016

Takahiro Iwasaki per il Giappone





Il sito http://www.eca.ed.ac.uk/ segnala che l'artista Takahiro Iwasaki rappresenterà il Giappone, articolo 

Takahiro Iwasaki, a graduate of the Art, Space & Nature – MFA programme at Edinburgh College of Art (ECA), has been selected to represent Japan at one of the world’s most important visual arts events. 
Takahiro was selected by the Japan Foundation to show the work entitled “Upside-down Forest” at the Japan Pavilion.
Since graduating from ECA, Takahiro has been based in his native Hiroshima developing a thread of works which began on the Art, Space & Nature programme. Takahiro often uses everyday objects that are found around us as materials for his works. These include items that are regarded as garbage, such as dust, cloth and hair. By overlaying another image onto these to create a figurative representation, he gives meaning to things that are seemingly chaotic. For example, he makes a stack of dust cloths look like the mountains of nature, and books appear like buildings, experiencing a change in the way we perceive things.
Takahiro’s work is characterized by his meticulous handiwork and labour-intensiveness, developing the language of the architectural model. He creates cranes and steel towers from the threads pulled out from dust cloths or the bookmark strings attached to books. The delicacy of the work being stunning features of his ongoing ‘ Out of Disorder’ series.
“When I looked at the cross-section drawing of the Japan Pavilion, I saw that the four pillars rising from the piloti on the first floor served as the walls of the exhibition room on the second floor, and the ceiling of the first floor was also the floor of the second floor. It felt just like a boundary separating the sea and land,” said Takahiro of the work he’ll be producing for the exhibition, “I wanted the visitors to observe Itsukushima Shrine in Hiroshima, which offers a different view depending on the tides.”
“By creating the different perspectives of looking upward and looking downward, I hope to create a multifaceted spatial experience.”
After completing his MFA at Edinburgh College of Art, he went on to a PhD in Art at Hiroshima City University.
Takahiro’s selection as Japan’s sole representative at this showpiece event for contemporary art is a significant achievement, in an already notable career. Takahiro has exhibited at the Asia society in New York, 2015, and has held solo exhibitions at the Kurobe City Art Museum and the Oyama City Art Museum in the same year. Group shows include the 10th Lyon Biennale (2009), Yokohama Triennale (2011) and the 2013 Asian Art Biennale in Taiwan.
The 57th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale runs 13th May - 26th November 2017.

Egill Sæbjörnsson per l'Islanda





Per l'Islanda è stato scelto l'artista Egill Sæbjörnsson come segnalato dal sito http://icelandicartcenter.is/projects/venice-biennale/

Gal Weinstein per Israele



Dal sito http://coolisrael.it/

Inizia a delinearsi la lista dei partecipanti alla prossima Biennale di Venezia del 2017, l’Esposizione Internazionale di Arte Contemporanea divenuta ormai un simbolo in tutto il mondo: sarà infatti Gal Weinstein, nato a Ramat Gan nel 1970, con studi a Gerusalemme e Tel Aviv, a rappresentare Israele. L’annuncio è stato dato pochi giorni fa dal ministro della cultura israeliano Miri Regev. L’artista israeliano ha dichiarato che la sua esposizione sarà focalizzata principalmente sull’evoluzione del suo lavoro negli anni recenti. Il Padiglione sarà curato da Tami Katz-Friedman ex Haifa Museum of Art in Israel. Entrambi sono stati scelti da un comitato formato dal dipartimento delle arti visive del Ministero della Cultura.
Già noto in Italia per aver esposto le proprie opere alla Galleria Riccardo Crespi di Milano nel 2014, Weinstein è celebre per l’utilizzo di materiali molto diversi tra loro e decisamente originali, quali la lana d’acciaio, il legno, la ruggine, il marmo, la moquette, la candeggina e persino la maculazione della muffa, che vengono lavorati ed utilizzati in sostituzione del disegno per creare veri e propri capolavori. Attraverso la pittura, la fotografia, l’installazione, la scultura e il video l’artista tenta di esplorare il mondo fisico, con un metodo che definisce “scientifico”.
Attraverso le tre gallerie previste del Padiglione Weinstein ha dichiarato il proprio intento:
“Mi impegnerò soprattutto con le interazioni tra iconografia e la loro concretizzazione fisica”
Nell’immagine in alto: un autoritratto di Gal Weinstein