This year's Venice Biennale will again feature the work of two major New Zealand artists. In addition to Michael Parekowhai, who will be exhibiting as the official New Zealand artist, Judy Millar will also be included in a major curated show which last
This year's Venice Biennale will again feature the work of two major New Zealand artists. In addition to Michael Parekowhai, who will be exhibiting as the official New Zealand artist, Judy Millar will also be included in a major curated show which lasts for the duration of the biennale.
Millar was invited to exhibit at this biennale following the success of her exhibition Giraffe-Bottle-Gun at the previous biennale two years ago. She was approached by Dutch curators Karlyn De Jongh & Sarah Gold to create a new work for the Personal Structures: Time, Space, Existence exhibition, a collateral event of the Biennale. The line up of artists includes the American minimalist Carl Andre and also Marina Abramovic who has created major performance works for nearly four decades.
The artist’s selection for such an exhibition is an indication of the growing international reputation of New Zealand artists who are increasingly exhibiting and selling at overseas venues.
The commitment by Creative New Zealand to showcasing New Zealand artists at the Venice Biennale as well as other events is beginning to pay off with greater recognition of New Zealand artists and their inclusion in exhibitions in Europe, Asia and the US.
Of the opportunity to show again at the Venice Biennale and alongside Marina Abramovic Judy Millar said "sometimes life throws up strange synchronicities – my stay in New York on a residency at ISCP studios in early 2010 coincided with Marina Abramovic's huge retrospective at MOMA. As she was sitting in the gallery performing a work for the duration of the exhibition, I popped into MOMA almost daily to see her performance unfold. Her exhibition, and her presence at MOMA finished the day I left New York, so I felt that my stay in the city was somehow marked by her appearance. To now be invited to show alongside her is simply unreal."
Personal Structures: Time, Space, Existence will be on show at Palazzo Bembo, located on the Grand Canal by the Rialto Bridge. Each artist has been given a room within the palace and will be creating new works for the show. Millar's work will integrate with the architectural elements of the space and her 3m meter tall canvas will literally fold out the palace window where it will be seen from the Grand Canal.
This is the first time a New Zealander has been invited to exhibit in this context and affirms Millar's international reputation which continues to gain momentum. Having already represented New Zealand at the Venice Biennale this opportunity is even more exciting for Millar. "When you exhibit in Venice you never expect it to happen again. I clearly remember holding the cards for hotels, restaurants and contacts I'd collected over the time of preparing the 2009 Biennale show and tossing them in the bin thinking I'd never need them again. To be asked to exhibit now in the 2011 Biennale is different, no longer having the responsibility of representing New Zealand but instead to be showing alongside an astonishing group of artists plucked from around the world, the experience feels different; and at least I now know where to buy a good coffee in the city."
Personal Structures will relate to ideas of time, space amd-existence. Within this, a wide range of individual approaches will reflect the diversity of artists and artistic practices, while the various cultures represented will make clear that the formal language the artists use is personal and not universal.
As a central part of the programme of Personal Structures: Time, Space, Existence is the exchange of ideas between artists. The exhibition at Palazzo Bembo will be supported by a symposium at the Venice Guggenheim in which all exhibiting artists will be invited to participate. Confirmed speakers at the symposium are Marina Abromovic and Joseph Kosuth.
Exhibiting artists include Zou Cao (China), Toshikatsu Endo (Japan), Hamish Fulton (UK), Johannes Girardoni (USA), Peter Halley (US), Joseph Kosuth (US), Francois Morellet (France), Bill Viola (US).
In the lead-up to this exhibition Millar will also be exhibiting new work in The Ring at Rohkunstbau, Berlin. This work is based on Wagner's The Ring of Nibelung and is particularly interesting for Millar, as a New Zealand artist because of its shared relationship to The Lord of the Rings.
Millar will also have a solo exhibition of new works at Gow Langsford Gallery oin Auckland pening on March 29.
