Venice: Object, Work and Tourism
During the 56th Venice Biennale, American artist and poet Jimmie Durham presents at Fondazione Querini Stampalia “Venice: Objects, Work and Tourism”, an exhibition curated by Chiara Bertola.
The installation at the Fondazione Querini Stampalia will feature objects formed from unexpected combinations: broken glass collected over the years alongside brightly colored paint, three-hundred year old venetian bricks posed against elements from the tourist industry and everyday commerce of Venice. This work is not intended as a monument, but rather as a vehicle for dialogue that addresses the complex melding of these ideas: tourism, the social imaginary of Venice, labor, and the man-made object.
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Four years ago Jimmie Durham was invited by Fondazione Querini Stampalia to work on a project about Venice. He began talking to all different kinds of artisans and workers in and around Venice and gathered their stories. The result is the exhibition “Venice: Object, Work and Tourism”, an installation conceived for the Spazio Carlo Scarpa at Fondazione Querini Stampalia, which features new objects formed from unexpected combinations of materials and elements drawn from everyday life in Venice. The work puts together and points out the complex relationship between the tourism industries, the stories of local workers and Venice’s history. The exhibition is accompanied by an artist book composed of observations, texts and images that Durham collected during his Venetian stay.
The project is born from the collaboration between Fondazione Querini Stampalia and kurimanzutto, Mexico City with the support of Fondazione Furla, Dena Foundation, and ZERYNTHIA Associazione per l’Arte Contemporanea.
Fondazione Querini Stampalia
Campo Santa Maria Formosa, Castell, Venice
May 6 – September 20, 2015
In June in Berlin the Neuer Berliner Kunstverein shows an exhibition with works by Jimmie Durham titled Here at the Center. It presents videos, drawings and sculptures that have been created between 1995 and 2015 in the light of Durham’s exploration of the Eurasian continent and the complex geopolitical and social fabric of Europe. In a large number of his works Durham particularly deals with the history of Europe and its impact on the world, for example in the video installation Still Life with Architectural Elements (2000), the sculpture Eurasia, a Scent (1997) and the series of collages 1948 (2012).
Still life with Architectural Elements
Neuer Berliner Kunstverein e. V.
Chausseestrasse 128/129
Jimmie Durham
Here at the Center
June 6 – August 2, 2015