Bienal de Valencia
Abraham Lubleski
The true peace of God begins at any spot a thousand miles from the nearest land. ~Joseph Conrad
The theme of the third Bienal de Valencia is the ultimate metaphor for the life itself: water. Its ebb and flow, its fluid reaction to obstacles, its ability to fuse with other materials, its ability to nourish and its ability to drown. We travel to its shores in our dreams, we sit and let its whispers fill our head when we care to wash away the world, we swim deep in its womb and connect with our primordial ancestry. Our connection to water is obvious: the element that lays over 75% of the globe is also the element that fills 75% of our human bodies.
The gathering of artists provided a broad range of interpretations of the theme. Artists included in this year’s presentation included Richard Kern, On Kawara, Massimo Vitali, Yayoi Kusama, Denis Santachiara, Julie Atlas Muz, Robert Longo, just to name a few.
Alessandra Tesi presented a frozen curtain of pearls to reflect her video projection of water. The shimmering pearls evoked a peaceful early morning sunrise as its piercingly brilliant rays bounce off a beautiful body of water. Robert Longo’s work was a wonderful surprise to see, his pieces have the ability to capture a moment without draining it of its movement and blood. John Armleder presented a large-scale drip painting that summoned the energy of water and the fluidity of paint. It was like a fresh color rain had fallen. Also, Angelo Plessas’ special online project, "Thoughts of a Fish in the Deep Sea," was a joy to experience. Plessas’ piece represented the playfulness that the rest of the Bienal lacked.
Marusela Granell, a local Valencian artist, took the Bienal’s theme to its crowning peak. For "Mirando al Mar," Granell placed video projections in the airport, metro and train stations throughout the city, and broadcast a live-feed of the shoreline. The artist successfully brought the beauty and nostalgia of the sea right into our urban environment where the community can easily connect with their dreams. In a very clever way, Granell forces artists to reexamine the methods by which they use technology to improve the daily lives. She does so by blessing humanity with a breath of nature while rushing to work.
The two curators of this year’s Bienal, Seungduk Kim and Franck Gautherot, have made a unique contribution to the Bienal. The Director, Luigi Settembrini, and both curators have done a remarkable job with this edition’s presentation. Nevertheless, they used conventional settings and established artists and failed to reach the exhibition’s potential. The Bienal de Valencia needs to invite a majority of unknown artists within their fold and work with these artists two years in advance, allowing the concept to mature and develop within the artist’s imagination.
