We returned home to the luscious Berkshires in full bloom at the end of May after our remarkable two-month adventure in Venice. Our last days in Venice were filled with friends and family visiting with us at Palazzo Nani Bernardo. We finally met the “Contessa” whose family had built the Palazzo in the 15th century. We also attended a memorable production of “Don Giovanni” at Teatro La Fenice (Don Giovanni wasn’t killed) and had a private tour of the Fortuny Factory on Giudecca Island. Visiting the ingenious Nicolas Bergguen’s newly renovated Palazzo Diedo was the whipped cream on the tiramisu.
Nicolas Berggruen has a vision ”of linking contemporary art to the past and between the east to the west.” “Janus,” the first exhibition at Palazzo Diedo creates an ethereal silence that envelops visitors as they explore the newly renovated palazzo. The two-year renovation incorporates contemporary site-specific works into the historical backdrop of the early 17th-century palazzo designed by Andrea Tirali. Berggruen’s first entrance into the Venice cultural scene was the opening of Casa dei Tre Oci in 2021. This palazzo on Giudecca Island houses the Berggruen European Institute, “a house of ideas and place for global dialogue presenting an international programme of summits.”
If you visit the 2024 Biennale, you will find many apocalyptic views of today’s world and the future.
But there are hopeful moments also, like the image below. I came upon this little girl about eight years old sketching in Sterling Ruby’s installation below at Palazzo Diedo.
And here is a roundup of what art venues not to miss if you are headed to 2024 La Biennale Di Venezia!
National Pavilions that I recommend: USA, Germany, Australia, France, Uruguay, Belgian, Canada, Congo, Netherlands, Great Britain and Spain (all at the Giardini), Nigeria ( at Campo Santa Margarita, Dorsoduro), Mexico, Benin and Peru and the Philippines (at the Arsenale),Portugal (Palazzo Franchetti, San Marco. Just to see the palazzo is worth the trip.)
There are also parallel and collateral exhibitions in Venice at the same time as the Biennale: “Janus” at Palazzo Diedo (San Croce), “Boundaries” (Zattere ), Pinnault Collection (Palazzo Grassi and Punta Della Dogana), Belinde De Bruyckere, Chu The-chun , Murano Glass 1912-30 and Helmet Newton (Isla San Giorgio ), “A Journey to the Infinite: Yoo Youngkuk” (Castello), “Your Ghosts Art Mine” (Palazzo Franchetti, San Marco), Eva Jospin (Fortuny Museum, San Angelo)
Please remember that my own installation “Rapturous Alchemy” is at the European Cultural Center. Click here for a video link to “Rapturous Alchemy.”
And now, a few photographs from the last days of our adventure in Venice…Please feel free to contact me if you would like to hear more about the 2024 La Biennale Di Venezia or visit my studio in Great Barrington. www.virginiabradley.com, virginiabradleyart@gmail.com
The Fortuny Museum presents the life of the prolific artist and designer Mario Fortuny. Fortuny is probably best known for his sumptuous fabric designs, but he was also renowned for painting, printmaking, sculpture architecture and set design.
