The Venetian Biennale& the Women Artists of Venice

You've got to love Venice's biannual international exhibition of modern art, or "La Biennale di Venezia"... This year's has been criticized for being too elitist, too pop, too political and yet not political enough!!

While I couldn't quite appreciate the spirit behind this year's Italian pavilion (which, in the end, wasn't very Italian!), the other national exhibitions in the Biennale gardens were pretty enjoyable! Perhaps I'll post more about them later, but I found that the pavilions of Australia, France, and Hungary particularly stood out! (I'll freely admit that this year, with a preponderance of video clips, I was a sucker for anything that was three-dimensional!)

But, in the end, I have to admit that my favorite modern art (just like most of my favorite anything) has a smart sense of humor...

That's why my favorite works at the other half of the Biennale at the Venetian Arsenal were those right at the entrance by the "Guerrilla Girls." Of course, you don't necessarily have to agree with them to appreciate them! But this mega-poster they made about women artists in Venice certainly makes a point...

"It isn’t La Dolce Vita for female artists in Venice.

Over the centuries, this city has been home to great artists like Marietta Robusti, Rosalba Carriera, Giulia Lama, and Isabella Piccini. They and many others succeeded when women had almost no legal rights and rules were set up to keep them out of the artworld.

Where are the girl artists of Venice now?
Underneath . . . in storage . . . in the basement...

Of more than 1,238 artworks currently on exhibit at the major museums of Venice, fewer than 40 are by women.

Accademia: 2 women in collection, 2 on view
Quadreria: 0 women artists in collection, 0 on view
Ca’ Rezzonico: 6 women artists in collection, 4 on view
Museo Correr: 15 artworks by women in collection, 0 on view
Ca’ Pesaro International Gallery of Modern Art:
120 artworks by women in collection, 2 on view
Guggenheim Venice: At least 18 women artists in collection, only a few on view inside Peggy’s house — including one in the bathroom!"

(From Guerilla Girls: Where Are the Women Artists of Venice? Underneath the Men!)

They went very nicely in the same room with what was probably my husband's favorite artwork of the day, "The Bride" by Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos, a beautiful, enormous, absolutely stunning, glistening white chandelier...

...which, only when you get right up close to it, do you realize is masterfully made entirely and painstakingly out of 14,000 unopened packages of ob tampons! :-)

Categories: Venice, Art, Humor