Photo: Pedro Szekely / Flickr - CC BY-SA 2.0

18th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale opened its doors on May 20. This year’s Biennale, curated by Lesley Lokko with the theme of “The Laboratory of the Future”, will run until November 26. Focusing on the African diaspora with the sub-themes of “decarbonization” and “decolonization”, the Biennale features an intense program that spans across the main exhibition venues Giardini and Arsenale, as well as various locations in the city. In the meantime, we offer an alternative route for those looking to take a break and interested in heading to the city center to discover intriguing screenings taking place concurrently with the Biennale.

Hyber’s Invisible Forest

First, we find ourselves at Espace Louis Vuitton Venezia, one of the stops scattered across the city for the Biennale. The exhibition by the French artist Fabrice Hyber breathes life into Venice’s invisible forest.

For Hyber, the act of painting and drawing serves as a means to present hypotheses, to invent forms, and to play with words; his work draws inspiration from diverse fields such as mathematics, economics, history, and astrophysics. In the exhibition hosted by Fondation Louis Vuitton, the artist’s site-specific installation introduces tree trunks, which were planted centuries ago in the alluvial soil of the islands to construct the city, to the exhibition area. This crystallized forest, animated by the trees towering above the stained glass and the interplay of light in the space, evokes the memory of the location.or.

“Fabrice Hyber: La Foresta Invisibile” (Fabrice Hyber: The Invisible Forest) will be on display until January 7, 2024.

Bacci, Energy, and Light...

The Peggy Guggenheim Collection stands as a key attraction in Venice’s cultural panorama. Housed in an 18th-century palazzo on the Grand Canal, where the collector Peggy Guggenheim resided for 30 years, the museum boasts a rich collection. While exploring this unique collection, do not miss the Bacci exhibition which opened in April.

Edmondo Bacci (1913-1978) emerges as a prominent figure in Venetian post-war art, standing among the few Italian artists who comprehended the possibilities of the abstraction genre. He adeptly blended the contemporary trends in Europe and the United States with his distinctive personal style.

This retrospective marks the first and most comprehensive tribute to the Venetian artist, showcasing around 80 works, many of which have never been displayed before. The exhibition includes paintings and drawings on loan from national and international collections. Focusing on the 1950s, considered the most creative period of the artist’s career when he achieved international success, visitors will witness the evolution of color and light in Bacci’s unique pictorial language that pushed the boundaries of abstraction.

Curated by Chiara Bertola, the  “Edmondo Bacci: Energy and Light” exhibition will be on display until September 18, 2023.

 Kengo Kuma’s “Onomatopoeia” Architecture

On the opposite side of the canal, near the Accademia Bridge, Palazzo Franchetti is currently hosting a unique retrospective showcasing the designs by the Japanese architect Kengo Kuma from around the world, brought together under an unconventional theme. The exhibition’s name “onomatopoeia” refers to the act of deriving a word from the sounds made by the object it describes. For Kengo Kuma, this primitive language serves as a tool to express his approach to materials. Featuring models of Kuma’s major architectural works, the exhibition encourages visitors to reconsider their relationship with materials by uncovering the sounds associated with different materials. Additionally, a temporary 5-meter-high aluminum structure designed by the architect exclusively for this exhibition will be accessible to visitors in the garden of Palazzo Franchetti.

Organized by ACP Art Capital Partners - Palazzo Franchetti in collaboration with Kengo Kuma & Associates, “Kengo Kuma: Onomatopoeia Architecture” will be on display until November 26, 2023.

“CHRONORAMA”: A Photographic Journey in the 20th Century

Palazzo Grassi, another canal-side attraction, invites visitors on a highly engaging and enjoyable journey through 20th century photography. This exhibition brings together recently acquired masterpieces from the Pinault Collection and Condé Nast archives, some of which have never been seen before. It unveils a visual treasure trove comprising over 400 works from 1910-1979, shedding light on the crucial figures, historical moments, everyday life, dreams, and dramas of the 20th century.

Organized chronologically across the four galleries of Palazzo Grassi, the photographs span fashion to architecture and documentary to still life, providing insights into the evolution of preferences in clothing, architecture, interior decor, and the upheavals in the art world. The timeline, featuring the works of more than 150 international artists who shaped the photographic and artistic aesthetics of their time, including Edward Steichen, Berenice Abbott, Cecil Beaton, Lee Miller, André Kertész, Horst P. Horst, Diane Arbus, Irving Penn, and Helmut Newton, revives the golden age of photography.

Curated by Matthieu Humery, the exhibition “CHRONORAMA. Photographic Treasures of the 20th Century” will be on display until January 7, 2024.

“Everybody Talks About the Weather”

Continuing our canal-side journey, we now arrive at the historic Ca’ Corner della Regina, serving as the Venice residence for Fondazione Prada, a distinguished center for culture and art. Curated by Dieter Roelstraete, the research exhibition “Everybody Talks About the Weather” is as intriguing as its title suggests. Utilizing the tools of both art and science, the exhibition brings together over 50 works, spanning historical artworks to those by contemporary artists, to illustrate the urgency of the climate crisis, using “the weather” as a starting point.

Based on extensive scientific research and developed in collaboration with the New Institute Center for Environmental Humanities (NICHE) at Ca’ Foscari University, the exhibition employs a diverse range of media, from allegorical outdoor paintings to new multimedia installations. It traces how climate and weather have shaped our history and how humanity grapples with the meteorological phenomena encountered on a daily basis.

“Everybody Talks About the Weather” will be on display until November 26, 2023.