Another Venetian tour in three parts by Lee Klein

The 55th Biennale d'Arte di VeneziaJune 6 - November 24, 2013

Another Venetian tour in three parts by Lee Klein

For Sir Anthony Caro the 2013 55th edition of the Venice Biennale was to be his finale, for the Maldives forecasters have predicted impending doom in the form of an over wash (and their spillover here was to be competing exhibitions), do we taste the scent of our demise as Hemingway once did fish?

Welcome to La Serenissima 2013 seventy degrees plus Fahrenheit in November in NYC the once mighty Christine Quinn was going, going, about to be gone (at least from public office) in the Piazza San Marco the Marc Quinn was gone as well.

The first part of main exhibit in the Arsenale, curated by the New York situated Italian curator and associate director of the New Museum of Contemporary art, Massimiliano Gioni offered large sections of many of the included artists work in spaces within a space redone by the architect Annabel Selldorf….But this was the “Encyclopedia of the Mind”, based on the architectural model for an impossible dream never realized by the late Italian born Pennsylvanian American resident, Marino Auriti., The aforementioned practitioner whose original piece was placed here as this exhibition's centerpiece at its entrance would if alive have seen his attempt at a mad caveat mixed in with contemporary art, instillations, curiosities and artifacts. The exhibition meanwhile meant to be frivolous (which it tended to be more so of in the Italian pavilion) as it continued here in the Arsenale was a bit heavy; especially so when it came to whole huge chambers filled with works like “The Venetians” by Pawel Althamer.

While the life masks attached to the Pole’s blue wiry metal skeletons were very effective, it became a huge monochromatic assembly, wherein one could get lost before beginning to get ahold of this whole thing. Here say marrying John Ahearn to kinetic art it might trounce the memory of more sublime efforts, though through and through it was lyrical in its moments as well (as if were any of the Venetians he had chosen some of the same Venetians you had seen on the streets and the canals of city by the sea as in you have two artistic subjects in common).

Here in the historic boat parking lot whole sections were given over to rising art world phenoms like the Vietnamese born Danish performance art influenced instillation artist, Danh Vo and Phyllidia Barlow’s hanging detritus. Specifically the British art professor who left academe to pursue her own work piece’s blended right in with the scarred walls of the Arsenale. The segue had this oft voyaging re-canter thinking of our very own Shalom Neuman.. He who has very often offered the word “Fusion” for interdisciplinary work which attempts to well seamlessly well fuse (though more aptly converge and the Italian creation Fusionisimo works wonders) but these were at a broader confluence it is very much easier at close range in a Veruschka type of way Rothko , seamless.