The theme exhibition “Sweet Death”, curated by Daniel Radini Tedeschi, represents Guatemala Pavilion in the 56 Venice Biennale 2015. The theme of the exhibition inspired by the book of Thomas Mann, the film of Visconti, from the opera by Britten, but mainly deals with the concept of “death-finitude” understood as decline and loss of values in contemporary society, but all expressed through the language of joy and color, using a gentle approach and cuteness.
“Sweet Death” centers around the concept of “death-finitude,” which can best be understood as the disintigration of values in the modern world. The curators, Luciano Carini and Simone Pieralice, do not approach this universal phenomenon through a morbid or depressing lens. Rather, they utilize bright color and an oddly harmonious mixture of sexual and childlike motifs to underline the wasting away of traditional values in contemporary society. The death of values is likened to the actual experience of death in Guatemalan tradition. Mayan rituals suggest a celebration of life, indicated by colorful tombs. “Sweet Death” includes work by both Guatemalan and Italian artists who respond to the notion of deathfinitude through the unique lens of Mayan burial ritual. The result is a conversation about contemporary society between two distinct cultures, Guatemalan and Italian, who have overlapped culturally for several hundred years.
Exemplifying in this regard is the image offered by the cemetery in Chichicastenango, in Guatemala, where the tombs are colorful, children are playing in the niches, the young people kiss one each other and the elderly laugh among the tombstones. Directly from Maya rituals, mourning retains its colors: white graves for fathers, for mothers turquoise, blue for children, yellow for grandparents.
In this exhibition Guatemalan and international artists will discuss the theme of death reliving a situation similar to that of Gustav von Aschenbach, aged but fascinated by the beauty of young Tadzio and powdered by a trick for this caricature; similarly the Arts, today “senile” and dying, will attempt an artificial rejuvenation. According to Gino de Dominicis in fact Sumerian art – in our case that Maya- was “young” while his contemporary “old”, through a meter essentially chronological. Venice thus becomes the perfect scenography for this landscape of the soul, the admixture of Rococo taste, carnival and festive, fused together with a solemn sense of melodrama.
The pursuit of a Beauty, evoked by contradictory images and often showy, is like the rouge, a palliative grotesque and visible, unable to hide the death. And that trick is nothing but the colorful chromaticism of the guatemalan tombs, a way to exorcise the end of man and humanize the transition. Plus all the exposure will bring an easter egg into every work, a secret and accessible track only behind reflection, yet another mask designed to hide an alternate reality.
In a game of overlapping roles, the result of a playful and osmotic relationship, Italian artists will give the Guatemalan Mayan touches and pushes coloristic, unlike Guatemala will offer examples of “diluted “art and ” influenced” by colonialism.It will then present a multicolored artistic polygamy and, without borders, with tasty sets and combinations between the sacred and the profane. Alongside the exhibitors will figure invited collaborators, artists themselves, similar to the fifteenth workers, or personifications of an all-round trade, joined together in the great fresco of life” (Daniele Radini Tedeschi).
The decadence of contemporary society in its different expressions hits you straight to the heart from the very first sculpture in Guatemala’s Biennale pavilion “Sweet death” curated by Daniele Radini Tedeschi. “The dream of Italians” representing the corpse of Berlusconi created by Garullo&Ottocento with an expression of bliss in a coffin of clear glass, like a sort of Snow White ready to wake up in any moment, is creating a contrast between the alleged sanctity of this man and the undeniable truth of Italian politics decadence. The death decadence in Italy is affecting also the cinema industry, represented by the sculpture dedicated to Luchino Visconti and its Death in Venice in remembrance of an old and lost elegance of Italian cinematographic production.
The most dramatic section of the exposition is that dedicated to the works of Guatemalan artists. Of particular interest is the disquieting sculpture without a face created by Mariadolores Castellanos, called Testiculos qui non habet, Papa Esse non posset (i.e. One cannot be pope without testicles) and showing the emblematic and mythic figure of the female pope Joan, symbol heresy and weakness of a religious belief governed for centuries only by men.
Decadence and death are that showed by the representation of a distorted and lost childhood in which Disney characters, Barbie and Dolls assume a negative meaning. Of great impact is the giant and black skull created by Sabrina Bertolelli dominating the room of Memento Mori and Vanitas, which is followed by the last exhibition focused on the culinary death. The artists of the group “La Grande Bouffe” mock new cooking trends, such as the molecular cuisine. One of the main work is that proposed by Luigi Citatella and showing a child in front of a skinny dish symbol of an impressive food gap between countries like Guatemala and Italy.
The exhibition is a remarkable expression of contemporary society. The artists captured not only the essence of the decadence affecting different environments of our society but expressed this slow and inexorable death with irony captivating the visitor from the first moment.
The Exhibition
Everyone around love and at the same time criticize the Kitsch… then you might as well call it by its right name of Rococo. Why ban a return of the Rococo when we accepted those of the Classic with the neoclassical Winkelmann, those of the Baroque with neo-baroque Calabrese, the mannerism with neomanierismo of Portuguese and Bonito Oliva.But it would be wrong to speak of neo-rococo because even in his day was more beautiful atmosphere, populated by characters each with their own style, from Mozart, Casanova, de Sade, therefore not pigeonhole into a concept encyclopedic.
The style was the eighteenth-century building with its walls, the rococo air that it contained…Simply this. And now it is as if an ancient wind he couldbring this gust of powder, this barrage of harpsichords, Codest puffs of good life.So, without any fear, I smell the rococo in the production of many artists in vogue today, from Jeff Koons to Maurizio Cattelan, up to certain luxury of Damien Hirst, leading then to the younger Francesco Vezzoli.
The exhibition Sweet Death, held as part of the 56. Venice Biennale in National Pavilion Guatemala, wants to revive this style of course updating it with the contributions came from contemporary to us.
First room
Paolo Schmidlin, Adriana Montalto, Paolo Residori, Salvatore Ruggeri, Garullo e 800, Environmental photography of the works of the first room.
Sweet Death is a festival colorful, connoted in some respects from the apparent emptiness capable of dealing with a smile even death.
Parsmoke
Paolo Residori
Parsmoke, a glass container is filled with cigarettes and vaseline. Bubbles of liquid sit pressed against the glass, reflecting the dingy yellow and brown coloring of the cigarettes. An image of a person’s decaying grin has been pasted to the front of the container. At the top of the container is a little hole protruding from a silver cap that makes the glass look like a fancy perfume bottle. It appears to be a tomb of sorts, marked by the deceased’s smile rather than his name. What Residori is getting at is this notion of deathfinitude- the idea that contemporary society is destroying traditional values. Here, cigarettes are the offender, physically destroying both teeth and lives. But what does this say for society as a whole? The nozzle at the top seems to be an indicator that the negative effects of cigarettes are not self-contained. At any given moment they can be sprayed outward, through secondhand smoke, to anybody in the vicinity.
Beyond this somewhat literal translation, “Parsmoke” is about more than the repercussions of cigarette use. It represents the sullying of the earth, the body, and the mind through mass consumption, substance abuse, disease, and garbage. “Parsmoke” is so full of dirt it is bubbling- literally- and cannot be contained. The nozzle and the evil, knowing grin are ominous reminders that we cannot keep our dirt so neatly contained for much longer. Landfills overflow and the weight of decaying values will increase with each new generation.
Frau Magda
Paolo Schmidlin
Paolo Schmidlin approaches the notion of deathfinitude in a much less roundabout way. The genius of “Frau Magda” is its shock value and visual impact. Frau Magda wears a sparkly silver swastika around her neck.
Her hair is perfectly coiffed and her eyebrows aristocratically arched. Even her hands are clasped politely. Everything but her necklace signals that this woman is dignified. The presence of the swastika immediately strips her clean of these attributes, and replaces her image with that of a villain. How does this relate to “Sweet Death’s” message? The desecrated value here could be that of life itself. The swastika represents racism, genocide, and death. Its presence impedes freedom, and is a reminder of a violent and cruel time in human history. “Frau Magda” identifies the Holocaust as an event that indicates the downfall of the human race. It is not singled out as a separate horrific event, but listed as a piece of evidence for the theory of deathfinitude.
The butterflies of Belén
Adriana Montalto, 2015
The exhibition reflects the lifestyle noir, mocking, luxurious tending to a sort of “spleen” baudeleriano that characterizes the language of its creator Daniel Radini Tedeschi.
Dead Ringer (2011)
Paolo Schmidlin
Here present busts of starlets, artist Schmidlin, relate to their “last journey”
The Butterfly of Belen (2015)
Adriana Montalto, 2015
The installation “The butterflies of Belén”, made up of 200 aluminum butterflies, it recalls the spirit of the entire event, for provocation and colors.
Guardian de los bosques (2015)
Elsie Wunderlich
Sculptures by Elsie Wunderlich present man as guardian of the nature and position of inferiority before the greatness of the latter, only art can groped a symbiotic union.
Oxygen doll (2011)
Paolo Schmidlin
Star rouged in their waxes, with a make-up that crystallizes features now faded, monuments to themselves expecting a comfortable tomb.
Love at first sight (2015)
Mariadolores Castellanos
How then do not think about the figures of the vitreous castellanos “Lady Spondilus” although having a brood Guatemalan actually is “sister” of a current Italian Lollo, ducted into cannula oxygen.
Death in Venice (2015)
Salvatore Ruggeri
..and still to a large canvas having to subject a scene from the film Death in Venice, painted admirably by Salvatore Ruggeri in his ironic realism.
Second room
Testiculos qui non habet Papa Esse non posset
Fatima Messana
Illuminated purple by the lights in the exhibit, “Testiculos” has an otherworldly glow. This supernatural aura is deepened by the facelessness of the figure, and his spindly, lifted finger. In his other hand he holds an apple from which a cross distends. Testiculos” is that religious piety is an integral component of character.
The apple represents knowledge, as its consumption bequeaths knowledge to Adam and Eve in the Old Testament. Therefore, “Testiculos” also suggests that joining this faceless being in religious duties will increase one’s knowledge. His facelessness, and his gesture, the hand that signals, the raised finger is a warning. Piety may bring you salvation, but what will it cost you? And is the apple of knowledge truthful, or will it always be the knowledge an institution wants you to see?
This work links to the context in “Sweet Death.” Deathfinitude is the loss of traditional values. If Christianity is the traditional value at risk here, would Messana be criticizing it in an exhibit that mourns the past? Perhaps her stance is more reflective. She could be depicting the contemporary questioning of Church values while mourning a time when such questioning was unheard of. The possibilities are endless here.
Indole (2015)
Daniele Accossato
The dream becomes reality. These are the basic elements of a work like “Indole” where a child is abandoned to the dream, the only place where you can give shape to their imagination and entertainment.
Il Pistolino degli stracci (2015)
Teresa Condito
The latter is a kind of tombstone which shows the image of a sleeping child, where those little animals blacks seem to torment his pure soul.
Giordano Bruno (2015)
Max Leiva
To counter such a desolation impressive sculpture of Max Leiva, a man hooded and faceless lingers on the edge of a precipice. Giordano Bruno is his name it appears at the mercy between life and death.
The Eternit Rest (2015)
Pier Domenico Magri
All of a sudden the eye is caught by a festive installation of Magri, of a shocking pink, where eternal and then fallen idols are associated with Youth, Eternit and Fuhrer find consolation in the Art.
Third room
To recapture the attention is an impressive kinetic skull black paint, creepy is the contrast between the diamond polishing and teeth stained; it seems to do a grin, and at the same time flaunt, embedded in his skull, colorful pencils as they were slashing… is Charlie artist Sabrina Bertolelli.
“Desde la otra orilla” e “Paradiso Guatemalteco” (2014)
Monica Serra, Carlo Guidetti
Evocative atmosphere in the works of Monica Serra and Carlo Guidetti
Silent Night Club
Teresa Condito
Silent Night Club incorporating bright color and anachronistic motifs with a message about society, all centered around a clever pun that sums up its meaning. “Silent Night Club” is exactly what it sounds like; it is the bizarre cohabitation of religious figures and contemporary debauchery. Even stranger- in “Silent Night Club,” beer and biblical characters reside within a dollhouse, adding youth to the already crowded table filled with religion and depravity.
It is all in all a feast for the eyes. Pink sequins reflect the light of twinkly bulbs, while pink adorns almost every surface. Feathers surround the figure of a golden angel in hot pink fuzz. Dice dot the coffee table, indicating a sinful game of poker. Pink chiffon curtains are pulled back to reveal a New Testament regular engaged in- well. The only things that are not bright and colorful are the figures themselves. Jesus and the apostles, perhaps the Wise Men, take up residency here in the Silent Night Club. Their presence is a clear metaphor for deathfinitude.
Meanwhile, below the dollhouse, Jesus and his family sit in a smaller house devoid of pink and ruffles. A yellow light illuminates the dwelling and its humble inhabitants. Below the extravagance of the Silent Night Club, it is a pointed reminder that there at one time was, and perhaps still could be, respect for what is sacred.
Fourth room
La Grande Bouffe (2015)
Marisa Laurito, Salvatore Ruggeri for the paintings, Luigi Cittarella for the sculpture.
It is this concept evoked by the second table in which we see only a piece of spaghetti into the pot three sad tomatoes. Before it a girl emaciated and gaunt.
La Grande Bouffe approaches deathfinitude differently than the other works. A giant strawberry sits on a dining table, engulfed in blue light. A chair is positioned before it, and several pieces of cutlery rest on the tablecloth. The very size of the berry suggests that Laurito is confronting obesity. There is only one chair placed before the meal. Is one person meant to eat such a large strawberry alone? And how does a strawberry grow so large? It could only be genetically modified. With “La Grande Bouffe,” Laurito simultaneously evokes the issues of obesity and GMOs.
However, these issues have a double purpose. Obesity can lead to death, from heart disease or diabetes, making this dining table a premature tomb. GMOs are controversial, but there is definitely a school of thought that believes they are deadly as well. But this dining room is also a brightly lit tomb of tradition. Respect for the earth, for those who make one’s food, and for the pleasure of eating with loved ones all seem antiquated ideas when contrasted with the lifestyle supported by obesity and GMOs. Fast food and genetically modified organisms are products of a world that believes man can and should change the earth to suit his needs. What is left in the dust is a simple, natural meal prepared in the home, a home where people can actually see each other across the table, and not be blocked by the sheer size of the meal consumed.
Fifth room
The Doubt (2011)
Garullo & Ottocento
Miky Mouse covers his eyes from what is inside the cube that supports it, or covering his eyes from the work that follows him….!?
Scandal at the Academ
Carlo Maltese’s
Scandal at the Academ strongly express deathfinitude through religious themes and employ overlapping colors and figures.
In this work, barbie dolls are shown in sexually compromising positions at the Galleria della’Accademia in Florence, which I actually later visited on my Italy trip. The barbies are positioned between columns, as if they are religious statues carved into stone on the facade of a church or official building.
There are several traditional values at stake here in “Scandalo.” One is religion, as these barbies are meant to evoke the figures of the Madonna and the Apostles, who often are poised between pillars in facades such as this. Another is art. Perhaps Maltese is lamenting the decline of traditional modes of art in lieu of scandalous, sexually-charged artwork.
The value in jeopardy could be respect for the past. This seems most logical. While Maltese excels in creating new and exciting work, he heralds respect for the artists who came before him. He laments the decline in respect for these artists, rather than the decreased popularity of creating in traditional modes. This makes even more sense after I visited Florence.
Dinamic time’s…Summer (2015)
Maurizio Gabbana
Large light installation in the shape of inverted pyramid in which we find a series of playful bulbs of different colors and shapes. These are the metaphor of enlightenment because human ingenuity.
La Protesta (2015)
Carlo Marraffa
Large format photography and multiple meanings that of Carlo Marraffa in the red room, which portrays Columbidae intent to observe the gait of a car that has just crushed with its wheel their nest.
“Guardian de los bosques”, “Espiritu de los espantapajaros” (2015)
Elsie Wunderlich, Elmar Rojas
Ghosts lurk in the halls of the Rafts, the same presence that roam winter in the lagoon looking for a landing. Here are the souls of elmar Rojas in this painting.
Second Floor
The exhibition ends on the first floor, with the author Roberto Miniati which places before his funeral that everyone sooner or later we will have: toilet with the words “I-You-Me” alludes to the ultimate destiny that goes out every form of creativity, represented by painted tomb-place in the background. The carpet and the numerous statues refer to the spirituality of the Latin American world, to Africa “cradle of humanity”. A central figure Maternal becomes apex installation, a symbol of rebirth evoking altresi numerous femicides in South America, currently the world’s phenomena. On the sides of the installation two Super Heroes such as Spider Man and Batman in the words of the author “represent the invincibility of those nations… rich countries that pretend to decide the Fates of the poorer nations.”
Venice Biennale 2015
The 2015 Art Biennale closes a sort of trilogy that began with the exhibition curated by Bice Curiger in 2011, Illuminations, and continued with the Encyclopedic Palace of Massimiliano Gioni (2013). With All The World’s Futures, La Biennale continues its research on useful references for making aesthetic judgments on contemporary art, a “critical” issue after the end of the avant-garde and “non-art” art.
Through the exhibition curated by Okwui Enwezor, La Biennale returns to observe the relationship between art and the development of human, social and political reality, in the pressing of external forces and phenomena: the ways in which, that is, the tensions of the external world solicit the sensitivities, the vital and expressive energies of the artists, their desires, the motions of the soul (their inner song).
La Biennale di Venezia was founded in 1895. Paolo Baratta has been its President since 2008, and before that from 1998 to 2001. La Biennale, who stands at the forefront of research and promotion of new contemporary art trends, organizes exhibitions, festivals and researches in all its specific sectors: Arts (1895), Architecture (1980), Cinema (1932), Dance (1999), Music (1930), and Theatre (1934). Its activities are documented at the Historical Archives of Contemporary Arts (ASAC) that recently has been completely renovated.
The relationship with the local community has been strengthened through Educational activities and guided visits, with the participation of a growing number of schools from the Veneto region and beyond. This spreads the creativity on the new generation (3,000 teachers and 30,000 pupils involved in 2014). These activities have been supported by the Venice Chamber of Commerce. A cooperation with Universities and research institutes making special tours and stays at the exhibitions has also been establihed. In the three years from 2012-2014, 227 universities (79 Italian and 148 international) have joined the Biennale Sessions project.
In all sectors there have been more research and production opportunities addressed to the younger generation of artists, directly in contact with renowned teachers; this has become more systematic and continuous through the international project Biennale College, now running in the Dance, Theatre, Music, and Cinema sections.