The art season begins in Venice: major openings, new foundations, and international events in anticipation of the 2024 Biennale
Drum rolls and outfit preparation, route planning and a packed agenda: the art season in Venice is starting.
The openings of the two exhibitions at Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana by the Pinault Foundation inaugurated the vernissage program (and unsettled us considerably with the liminal worlds of Pierre Huyghe), and from Thursday onwards we will not stop.
We celebrate the arrival in the city of the new Galerie Negropontes, which reopens the Masieri Foundation to the public, a house-symbol of Carlo Scarpa‘s architecture, while we admire the great modern artists (Picasso, Matisse, Klee, Giacometti, Cézanne) juxtaposed with the great classics (Giorgione, Ricci, Longhi, Tiepolo, and Canova) thanks to the Berggruen Foundation, which creates an interesting quadrilateral between Casa dei Tre Oci, the Gallerie dell’Accademia, and Palazzo Diedo.
And if the art of the indigenous communities of the Pacific awaits us at Ocean Space, Helmut Newton awaits us at Le Stanze della Fotografia alongside the FACES of Alessandro Mendini and the “dimension of the unconscious” by Patrick Mimran, on the island of San Giorgio.
Ready? Go!
- Armonia Metis
Dates: from March 22 to November 24
Location: Galerie Negropontes, Palazzina Masieri
If the Venetian Municipality in 1954 had not rejected the project that Frank Lloyd Wright had created for the Udine architect Angelo Masieri, who died in a car accident in America, we would have had a futuristic building in Venice in place of the nineteenth-century building located at the bend of the canal on the Grand Canal, but Carlo Scarpa would not have redesigned its interiors, creating a house-symbol of his architecture, with circular rooms for students, spaces dedicated to study, a play of lights, waves, and magical reflections that can only be seen in Venice, the same space permeable to water found at the Querini Stampalia, and a unique atmosphere, probably determined by the meeting of Venice and Paris desired by Sophie Negropontes.
Among the scheduled events are conferences on restoration themes and on the enhancement of Carlo Scarpa’s works, concerts inspired by the relationship between music and architecture, study meetings, artist residencies, and an annual event to celebrate Angelo Masieri’s birthday (December 6), his figure as an architect, and the history of the Foundation.
Under the guidance of the two architects Roberta Bartolone and Giulio Mangano, Armonia Metis celebrates diversity, synergies, and multidisciplinarity in the field of art, presenting the works of artists Ulrika Liljedahl, Erwan Boulloud, Mauro Mori, Benjamin Poulanges, and Étienne Moyat, the glass sculptures of the creative duo Perrin & Perrin in dialogue with the contemporary works of Mircea Cantor.
The exhibition creates a space dedicated to artistic and cultural dialogue and sharing, in harmony with the mission of the Masieri Foundation, the result of collaboration between the French gallery and Heritage Asset Management, a start-up affiliated with IUAV University of Venice, thus consolidating the link between cultural institutions and academic innovation.
- Elective Affinities: Picasso, Matisse, Klee, and Giacometti
Dates: from March 23 to June 23
Location: Gallerie dell’Accademia and Casa dei Tre Oci
In collaboration with the Museum Berggruen in Berlin, the first exhibition in Italy of a selection of over 40 works by Picasso, Matisse, Klee, Giacometti, and Cézanne will be presented in Venice, in dialogue with masterpieces by Italian artists such as Giorgione, Sebastiano Ricci, Pietro Longhi, Giambattista Tiepolo, and Canova, present at the Gallerie dell’Accademia.
The exhibition will extend to Casa dei Tre Oci in Giudecca, which will open its doors for the occasion as the new headquarters of the Berggruen Institute.
The curators are Giulio Manieri Elia and Michele Tavola, director and curator of the Gallerie dell’Accademia, with Gabriel Montua and Veronika Rudorfer, director and curator of the Museum Berggruen in Berlin. The title chosen for the event, Elective Affinities, is inspired by the novel by Johann Wolfgang Goethe and the writer’s personal connection with Venice during his journey to Italy.
- Marisaldi at the Casa Goldoni Museum
Dates: from March 21 to November 24
Location: Casa di Carlo Goldoni
All information on the carlogoldoni website
An exhibition dedicated to the eclectic artist Eva Marisaldi, curated by Chiara Squarcina and Pier Paolo Pancotto. Arranged in dialogue with the building’s spaces, the exhibition presents a variety of expressive techniques, including installations, sculptures, videos, and sound compositions, created with the musician Enrico Serotti.
- Re-Stor(y)ing Oceania
Dates: from March 23 to October 13
Location: Ocean Space, Chiesa di San Lorenzo
Free admission. All information on ocean-space
Taloi Havini, an artist from the island of Bougainville, returns to Ocean Space, after her solo exhibition in 2021, in the role of curator for the exhibition of two site-specific works by indigenous artists Latai Tumoepeau and Elisapeta Hinemoa Heta.
An exhibition project—commissioned by TBA21−Academy and Artspace in Sydney and produced in collaboration with OGR Torino—that offers a fascinating dialogue between performance, sculpture, poetry, and movement to discover the art and culture of the indigenous communities of the Pacific.
- Helmut Newton. Legacy
Dates: from March 28 to November 24
Location: Le Stanze della Fotografia, island of San Giorgio Maggiore
After Milan and Rome, Helmut Newton arrives in Venice with an extraordinary retrospective curated by Matthias Harder of the Helmut Newton Foundation and Denis Curti, artistic director of Le Stanze della Fotografia in Venice.
Through six chronological chapters, the exhibition traces Newton’s career from his beginnings in the 1940s in Australia, to his successes in the United States in the 1970s and 1980s, passing through his forays into Europe and the rest of the world in the 1990s.
A career that marked an era in the field of fashion and photography, characterized by important collaborations with internationally renowned magazines such as Vogue and with designers of the caliber of Yves Saint Laurent, Karl Lagerfeld, Thierry Mugler, and Chanel. Newton was also a pioneer in his approach to the female nude, as evidenced by his famous “Big Nudes” of 1981: black-and-white shots, distinguished by giant prints and life-size images, which revolutionized the world of photographic art. And a section is dedicated to photographs set in Venice that capture the essence of the city, with an elegant and bold style, typical of his work.
- Out of Focus by Patrick Mimran
Dates: from March 28 to August 11
Location: first floor of Le Stanze della Fotografia
33 large-format black-and-white photographs alongside smaller color works, with a series of works shown for the first time in Italy, will showcase the last ten years of photographic research by the eclectic Parisian artist Patrick Mimran.
The exhibition explores the concept of lack of sharpness. Although the images may initially appear abstract, attentive observers will discover details that slowly bring them closer to reality.
Mimran challenges the idea that photography is a tool for representing the subject as it is, preferring instead an approach of abstraction, almost rendering it unrecognizable. A “dimension of the unconscious” as curator Denis Curti describes it, in which blurred figures challenge the observer to identify an original geometry. Mimran embraces the ambiguity intrinsic to photography, playing with the illusion of truth and opening the door to a personal and free interpretation by the viewer.
- Pierre Huyghe. Liminal
Until November 24
Location: Punta della Dogana
The solo exhibition by Pierre Huyghe explores the complex interactions between art, nature, and the non-human world. His works are conceived as imaginative speculations of different forms of intelligence, capable of learning, mutating, and evolving over the course of the exhibition.
Curated by Anne Stenne, the exhibition has transformed the spaces of Punta della Dogana into a dynamic medium, a transitional dimension in which time and space, together with everything that permeates them, visible or invisible, become essential components of the works of art.
- Julie Mehretu. Ensemble
Until January 6, 2025
Location: Palazzo Grassi
60 paintings and prints covering a 25-year span of the American artist Julie Mehretu‘s work, complemented by more recent works dating from 2021 to 2023. Also on display are creations by artists belonging to Mehretu’s inner circle and personalities who have profoundly influenced her artistic journey, including Nairy Baghramian, Huma Bhabha, Robin Coste Lewis, Tacita Dean, David Hammons, Paul Pfeiffer, and Jessica Rankin.
- SuperLab
New series of creative and interactive workshops with artists and art experts, open and free to all (from age 6), to explore the multiple languages of contemporary art.
For the exhibition Liminal by Pierre Huyghe, the illustrator and designer Luca Boscardin has created a series of activities for young visitors and families: on March 23 from 3 PM at Punta della Dogana. A playful experience that will allow visitors to discover the exhibition from unusual perspectives.
While on April 13 from 3 PM at Palazzo Grassi, the illustrator Camilla Pintonato will guide visitors through an engaging interactive experience related to the exhibition Julie Mehretu. Ensemble. Through games and engaging activities, it will be possible to explore the abstract and contemporary art of the African-American artist, rich in references to current events.
- FACES by Alessandro Mendini
Until June 16
Location: Biblioteca Manica Lunga of the Fondazione Giorgio Cini
Open to the public by reservation on the website: visitcini.com
The exhibition celebrates the genius of one of the most illustrious Italian designers, Alessandro Mendini, focused on the face as a source of inspiration for creativity.
Curated by Aldo Colonetti and the Alessandro Mendini Archive, this capsule, which anticipates the major retrospective scheduled for April 13 at the Triennale in Milan, includes fourteen objects and six original drawings and pays tribute to one of the most important figures in the Italian design scene, who passed away five years ago.
The April agenda
- Crossroads of Civilizations
Dates: from April 10 to 14
From Wednesday, March 27, it is possible to register for the 17th edition of Crossroads of Civilizations, the international literature festival in Venice.
All events will be free, except for the screening of the film Ingeborg Bachmann: Journey into the Desert by Margarethe Von Trotta scheduled at Cinema Multisala Rossini, Friday, April 12.
A preview entitled Towards Crossroads is scheduled with:
- Stevo Grabovac in conversation with Marija Bradaš and Boris Maksimović
Date: March 25, 5:30 PM
Location: Sala Berengo Ca’ Foscari, Dorsoduro 3246, Calle Larga Foscari
The event will be held in Serbian with translation
Free admission
The event is organized in collaboration with Venice Reads the Balkans - Mauro Covacich, on Italo Svevo. Introduced by Alessandro Cinquegrani
Date: March 27, 5:30 PM
Location: Teatro Ca’ Foscari at Santa Marta, Dorsoduro 2137
Seats are sold out. To be added to a waiting list, complete the form
In collaboration with Teatro Ca’ Foscari
Article by Lucia Pecoraro and Laura Scarpa.
Photos (and cover) by Helmut Newton: Elle. Paris, 1967 – Elizabeth Taylor. Los Angeles, 1985 – Nova. Paris, 1971 – Yves Saint Laurent. Venice, 1983 ©Helmut Newton Foundation.
Patrick Mimran: Untitled, 2023.
Eva Marisaldi, Parties II-III, 2006 Courtesy MAMbo, Bologna, private collection, São Paulo, Brazil.
Testina, 1993 and Vaso per un solo fiore, 1994 from the Alessandro Mendini Archive.
Eva Marisaldi: Après Adrian Paci 2, photo by Nicolas Brasseur – Tic clac, photo by Serge-Domingie
Pablo Picasso, Dora Maar aux ongles verts, 1936, Museum Berggruen, Neue Nationalgalerie, Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz. Photo: bpk/ Nationalgalerie, SMB, Museum Berggruen / Jens Ziehe © Succession Picasso by SIAE 2024.
Gallerie dell’Accademia: Giorgione da Castelfranco, La vecchia and La nuda, ca. 1508.
Julie Mehretu, Your hands are like two shovels, digging in me (sphinx), 2021-2022 and TRANSpaintings (hand), 2023 – Courtesy of the artist and White Cube. Installation view, “Julie Mehretu. Ensemble”, 2024, Palazzo Grassi, Venice. Ph. Marco Cappelletti © Palazzo Grassi, Pinault Collection.
Pierre Huyghe, Mind’s Eyes, Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Chantal Crousel, Marian Goodman Gallery, Hauser & Wirth, Esther Schipper and TARO NASU. Pierre Huyghe, (from left to right) Abyssal Plane, 2015, Collezione La Gaia, Busca—Italy, Circadian Dilemma (el Dia del Ojo), 2017, Private Collection, Germany. Installation view, “Pierre Huyghe. Liminal”, 2024, Punta della Dogana, Venice. Ph. Ola Rindal © Palazzo Grassi, Pinault Collection.
