Venice: at the crossroads of contemporary art

The Venice Biennale has been setting the pace in the art world for 130 years now, establishing itself as an essential hub in the market with more than 800'000 visitors for every edition, coming to unravel the most innovative artists of the contemporary scene. Exhibiting the works of more than 330 artists from 87 countries, the curator of the Biennale Adriano Pedrosa explained, during this year’s inauguration, his bold choice of addressing the theme of strangeness: “I decided to address this topic under four different angles : first of all, that of the immigrant; secondly, that of the exiled, also reflecting on the word queer, which both refers to the notions of stranger and strange; thirdly, I wanted to touch upon the issue of the outsider artist, who evolves outside of established modern and contemporary circuits; and finally, the indigenous artist, since they’re often treated like strangers in their own country”. This call to reflect upon these themes is skillfully captured in the evocative title “Foreigners everywhere”, inspired by a series of work by the French collective Claire Fontaine.

Framed around anticolonialism and inclusiveness, this 60^th edition triggered significant sales of works by artists echoing these struggles, both at and beyond the Biennale. César Lévy, founder of the 193 Gallery, and who is in charge this year of the official collateral event of the Biennale, confirms this trend: “We are specialized in art from the global South, and during the opening of the last two Biennales, we sold significative works worth more than 50’000 euros in just two hours, including to people who didn’t know the gallery. In Venice, one comes across quite a wide audience: during the opening of the Biennale, great collectors who regularly buy at the Art Basel turn towards galleries like ours; during the rest of the year, collectors from all around the world – many of them Americans – purchase works valued at between 5’000 and 20’000 euros.”

For the first time, the Biennale is thus shifting away quite significantly from the usual Western worldview by inviting, for instance, the Native American Cherokee artist Jeffrey Gibson to represent the U.S.A. The French pavilion also displays works by Parisian artist of Martinican origin Julien Creuzet who, fully aware of the risk of being instrumentalized for what he represents, remains anchored in his prime artistic intention: “I guess I carry within me things that the current cultural politics may want to crystallize, but never mind… I focus first and foremost on remaining in a reflection and a continuity with regard to what I’m progressively trying to sow.”

Moreover, it is noteworthy that four new African countries have their own pavilions this year, bringing the total number of participating African countries to twelve. This shift, in itself, is revolutionary in the contemporary art world which has, until very recently, been centered on Europe and North America. César Lévy comments: “The Venice Biennale is still to this day the largest worldwide and governments understand the importance of being represented through their national pavilion; these pavilions allow artists to tell their stories, and by doing so, to counter established preconceptions. This year, diverse narratives and visions of the world are being shared and promoted, in particular by giving voice to Aboriginal artists.”

By shedding light on artists who often remain on the margins of the established contemporary art scene, the Biennale sets the tone. It serves as a scout for collectors in search of thriving tendencies, creating an immediate buzz on the market. Still, as César Lévy admits, the charm of Venice plays a significant role in it all: “We all know that feeling when being on holidays, of wanting to act crazy and buy things we hadn’t planned to. The magic of Venice actually helps us gallerists seduce certain collectors who want to immortalize their trip here. Indeed, Venice isn’t yet a city where young acquirers usually make their first purchase. By showcasing young emerging artists who are grounded in the struggles of our times, such as April Bey, we’re aiming at countering the misconception some have of Venice as being this sleeping beauty whose artistic life is limited to the Biennale.”