I thoroughly enjoyed the latest Biennale and thought it much stronger than last time’s. But there’s always room for improvement and here are a few areas where it fell short:
1. Too Much Video
Video art may be en vogue in the art world but there was far too much of it on display, so much that I saw many people enter a room and exit swiftly when they realised it was another video work; or simply use a seat in front of a video work to take a breather. This is in spite of the fact that one of my favourite works of the Biennale was a video.
2. Not enough information
Many critics weren’t happy with the press release length labels at the main exhibition of the 55th Biennale. So now they’ve gone the other way and provided no description at all, this is troubling when there’s a lot of video on show which often needs context – sometimes there isn’t even the length of the video on the label, which is exasperating.
3. Finding exhibitions
Once again the map is quite poor, as it’s not granular enough to find all the sites. Sometimes I arrived right on the black dot to find nothing. Part of the fun of Biennale is discovering exhibitions hidden down alleys but at least help us out with some signage. Massive props are due to Jump into the Unknown for their unorthodox exhibition and placing orange stickers on the pavements to guide you in. A website with images and a small description would also be helpful, so you know which ones may take your fancy.
4. Not enough painting
There are some ignorant people in art claiming the death of painting, even when Peter Doig’s are selling for millions – yes the commercial art world has one up on the academic world for once, sad days indeed. There are so few examples of painting that when it is present it shines, such as Chris Ofili in the main exhibition at the Arsenale and the Romanian pavilion at Giardini.
5. The Home Nations
One to avoid is the British pavilion where Sarah Lucas is unoriginal as always – just think her usual work and add yellow walls and you’re pretty much there. But Ireland also disappoints after the success of Richard Mosse last time, this time Sean Lynch underwhelms with a work that is confusing and the narrative never gels – which is a shame as his current show at Ronchini gallery is very good. I didn’t get to see the Scottish pavilion and it’s once more up to Wales to save us with a trippy Red Riding Hood-esque video work.
