February 23, 2022 – November 27, 2022
The 59th International Art Exhibition, titled The Milk of Dreams and curated by Cecilia Alemani, is organised by La Biennale di Venezia chaired by Roberto Cicutto. The pre-opening will take place on April 20, 21 and 22; the awards ceremony and inauguration will be held on 23 April 2022.
The Exhibition will take place in the Central Pavilion (Giardini) and in the Arsenale, including 213 artists from 58 countries; 180 of these are participating for the first time in the International Exhibition. 1433 the works and objects on display, 80 new projects are conceived specifically for the Biennale Arte.
The Statement by Cecilia Alemani:
“The Milk of Dreams takes its title from a book by Leonora Carrington (1917–2011) – Cecilia Alemani stated – in which the Surrealist artist describes a magical world where life is constantly re-envisioned through the prism of the imagination. It is a world where everyone can change, be transformed, become something or someone else. The Exhibition The Milk of Dreams takes Leonora Carrington’s otherworldly creatures, along with other figures of transformation, as companions on an imaginary journey through the metamorphoses of bodies and definitions of the human.
This Exhibition is grounded in many conversations with artists held in the last few years. The questions that kept emerging from these dialogues seem to capture this moment in history when the very survival of the species is threatened, but also to sum up many other inquiries that pervade the sciences, arts, and myths of our time. How is the definition of the human changing? What constitutes life, and what differentiates plant and animal, human and non-human? What are our responsibilities towards the planet, other people, and other life forms? And what would life look like without us?
These are some of the guiding questions for this edition of the Biennale Arte, which focuses on three thematic areas in particular: the representation of bodies and their metamorphoses; the relationship between individuals and technologies; the connection between bodies and the Earth.”
“As visitors move through the Exhibition in the Central Pavilion and the Corderie, they encounter five smaller, historical sections: miniature constellations of artworks, found objects, and documents, clustered together to explore certain key themes. Conceived like time capsules, these shows within the show provide additional tools of investigation and introspection, weaving a web of references and echoes that link artworks of the past – including major museum loans and unconventional selections – to the pieces by contemporary artists in the surrounding space. This wide-ranging, transhistorical approach traces kinships and affinities between artistic methods and practices, even across generations, to create new layers of meaning and bridge present and past. What emerges is a historical narrative that is not built around systems of direct inheritance or conflict, but around forms of symbiosis, solidarity, and sisterhood.”
“The Milk of Dreams was conceived and organised in a period of enormous instability and uncertainty, since its development coincided with the outbreak and spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. La Biennale di Venezia was forced to postpone this edition by one year, an event that had only occurred during the two World Wars since 1895. So the very fact that this Exhibition can open is somewhat extraordinary: its inauguration is not exactly the symbol of a return to normal life, but rather the outcome of a collective effort that seems almost miraculous. During these endless months in front of the screen, I have pondered the question of what role the International Art Exhibition should play at this historical juncture, and the simplest, most sincere answer I could find is that the Biennale sums up all the things we have so sorely missed in the last two years: the freedom to meet people from all over the world, the possibility of travel, the joy of spending time together, the practice of difference, translation, incomprehension, and communion.
The Milk of Dreams is not an Exhibition about the pandemic, but it inevitably registers the upheavals of our era. In times like this, as the history of La Biennale di Venezia clearly shows, art and artists can help us imagine new modes of coexistence and infinite new possibilities of transformation.”
Artists:
1. Noor Abuarafeh
1986, Jerusalem. Lives in Jerusalem and Maastricht, the Netherlands
2. Carla Accardi
1924, Trapani, Italy – 2014, Rome, Italy
3. Igshaan Adams
1982, Cape Town. Lives in Cape Town, South Africa
4. Eileen Agar
1899, Buenos Aires, Argentina – 1991, London, UK
5. Monira Al Qadiri
1983, Dakar, Senegal. Lives in Berlin, Germany
6. Sophia Al-Maria*
1983, Tacoma, USA. Lives in London, UK
Pavilion of Applied Arts
7. Özlem Altın
1977, Goch, Germany. Lives in Berlin, Germany
8. Marina Apollonio
1940, Trieste, Italy. Lives in Padua, Italy
9. Gertrud Arndt
1903, Ratibor (Racibórz), German Empire (present-day Poland) – 2000, Darmstadt, Germany
10. Ruth Asawa
1926, Norwalk, USA – 2013, San Francisco, USA
11. Shuvinai Ashoona
1961, Kinngait. Lives in Kinngait, Nunavut
12. Belkis Ayón
1967 – 1999, Havana, Cuba
13. Firelei Báez
1981, Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic. Lives in New York City, USA
14. Felipe Baeza
1987, Guanajuato, Mexico. Lives in New York City, USA
15. Josephine Baker
1906, Saint Louis, USA – 1975, Paris, France
16. Djuna Barnes
1892 – 1982, New York City, USA
17. Mária Bartuszová
1936, Prague, Czechoslovakia (present-day Czech Republic) – 1996, Košice, Slovakia
18. Benedetta
1897, Rome, Italy – 1977, Venice, Italy
19. Mirella Bentivoglio
1922, Klagenfurt, Austria – 2017, Rome, Italy
In collaboration with Annalisa Alloatti
1926 – 2000, Turin, Italy
20. Merikokeb Berhanu
1977, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Lives in Silver Spring, USA
21. Tomaso Binga
1931, Salerno, Italy. Lives in Rome, Italy
22. Cosima von Bonin
1962, Mombasa, Kenya. Lives in Cologne, Germany
23. Louise Bonnet
1970, Geneva, Switzerland. Lives in Los Angeles, USA
24. Marianne Brandt
1893, Chemnitz, Germany – 1983, Kirchberg, Germany
25. Kerstin Brätsch
1979, Hamburg, Germany. Lives in New York City, USA and Berlin, Germany
26. Dora Budor
1984, Zagreb, Croatia. Lives in New York City, USA
27. Eglė Budvytytė
1981, Kaunas, Lithuania. Lives in Vilnius, Lithuania and Amsterdam, the Netherlands
In collaboration with Marija Olšauskaitė and Julija Steponaitytė
1989, Vilnius. Lives in Vilnius, Lithuania and New York City, USA
1992, Vilnius. Lives in Vilnius, Lithuania and Amsterdam, the Netherlands
28. Liv Bugge
1974, Oslo. Lives in Oslo, Norway
29. Simnikiwe Buhlungu*
1995, Johannesburg. Lives in Johannesburg, South Africa and Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Biennale College Arte
30. Miriam Cahn
1949, Basel, Switzerland. Lives in Stampa, Switzerland
31. Claude Cahun
1894, Nantes, France – 1954, Saint Helier, Jersey, UK
32. Elaine Cameron-Weir
1985, Red Deer, Canada. Lives in New York City, USA
33. Milly Canavero
1920 – 2010, Genoa, Italy
34. Leonora Carrington
1917, Clayton-le-Woods, UK – 2011, Mexico City, Mexico
35. Regina Cassolo Bracchi
1894, Mede, Italy – 1974, Milan, Italy
36. Ambra Castagnetti*
1993, Genoa, Italy. Lives in Milan, Italy
Biennale College Arte
37. Giulia Cenci
1988, Cortona. Lives in Cortona, Italy and Amsterdam, the Netherlands
38. Giannina Censi
1913, Milan, Italy – 1995, Voghera, Italy
39. Gabriel Chaile
1985, San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina. Lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Lisbon, Portugal
40. Ali Cherri
1976, Beirut, Lebanon. Lives in Paris, France
41. Anna Coleman Ladd
1878, Bryn Mawr, USA – 1939, Santa Barbara, USA
42. Ithell Colquhoun
1906, Shillong, India – 1988, Lamorna, UK
43. Myrlande Constant
1968, Port-au-Prince. Lives in Port-au-Prince, Haiti
44. June Crespo
1982, Pamplona, Spain. Lives in Bilbao, Spain
45. Dadamaino
1930 – 2004, Milan, Italy
46. Noah Davis
1983, Seattle, USA – 2015, Ojai, USA
47. Lenora de Barros
1953, São Paulo. Lives in São Paulo, Brazil
48. Valentine de Saint-Point
1875, Lyon, France – 1953, Cairo, Egypt
49. Lise Deharme
1898, Paris, France – 1980, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
50. Sonia Delaunay
1885, Odessa, Russian Empire (present-day Ukraine) – 1979, Paris, France
51. Agnes Denes
1931, Budapest, Hungary. Lives in New York City, USA
52. Maya Deren
1917, Kyiv, Ukraine – 1961, New York City, USA
53. Lucia Di Luciano
1933, Syracuse, Italy. Lives in Formello, Italy
54. Ibrahim El-Salahi
1930, Omdurman, Sudan. Lives in Oxford, UK
55. Sara Enrico
1979, Biella, Italy. Lives in Turin, Italy
56. Chiara Enzo
1989, Venice. Lives in Venice, Italy
57. Andro Eradze*
1993, Tbilisi. Lives in Tbilisi, Georgia
Biennale College Arte
58. Jaider Esbell
1979, Normandia, Brazil – 2021, São Sebastião, Brazil
59. Jana Euler
1982, Friedberg, Germany. Lives in Frankfurt, Germany and Brussels, Belgium
60. Minnie Evans
1892, Long Creek, USA – 1987, Wilmington, USA
61. Alexandra Exter
1882, Białystok, Russian Empire (present-day Poland) – 1949, Fontenay-aux-Roses, France
62. Jadé Fadojutimi
1993, London. Lives in London, UK
63. Jes Fan
1990, Scarborough, Canada. Lives in New York City, USA and Hong Kong
64. Safia Farhat
1924 – 2004, Radès, Tunisia
65. Simone Fattal
1942, Damascus, Syria. Lives in Paris and Erquy, France
66. Célestin Faustin
1948, Lafond, Haiti – 1981, Pétion-Ville, Haiti
67. Leonor Fini
1907, Buenos Aires, Argentina – 1996, Paris, France
68. Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven
1874, Swinemünde (Świnoujście), German Empire (present-day Poland) – 1927, Paris, France
69. Katharina Fritsch
1956, Essen, Germany. Lives in Wuppertal and Düsseldorf, Germany
70. Ilse Garnier
1927, Kaiserslautern, Germany – 2020, Saisseval, France
71. Aage Gaup
1943, Børselv, Sápmi/Northern Norway – 2021, Karasjok, Sápmi/Northern Norway
72. Linda Gazzera
1890, Rome, Italy – 1942, São Paulo, Brazil
73. Ficre Ghebreyesus
1962, Asmara, Eritrea – 2012, New Haven, USA
74. Elisa Giardina Papa
1979, Medicina, Italy. Lives in New York City, USA and Palermo, Italy
75. Roberto Gil de Montes
1950, Guadalajara, Mexico. Lives in La Peñita de Jaltemba, Mexico
76. Nan Goldin
1953, Washington, D.C., USA. Lives in New York City, USA
77. Jane Graverol
1905, Ixelles, Belgium – 1984, Fontainebleau, France
78. Laura Grisi
1939, Rhodes, Greece – 2017, Rome, Italy
79. Karla Grosch
1904, Weimar, Germany – 1933, Tel Aviv, Mandatory Palestine (present-day Israel)
80. Robert Grosvenor
1937, New York City, USA. Lives in East Patchogue, USA
81. Aneta Grzeszykowska
1974, Warsaw. Lives in Warsaw, Poland
82. Sheroanawe Hakihiiwe
1971, Sheroana, Venezuela. Lives in Mahekototeri and Caracas, Venezuela
83. Florence Henri
1893, New York City, USA – 1982, Compiègne, France
84. Lynn Hershman Leeson
1941, Cleveland, USA. Lives in San Francisco, USA
85. Charline von Heyl
1960, Mainz, Germany. Lives in New York City and Marfa, USA
86. Hannah Höch
1889, Gotha, Germany – 1978, Berlin, Germany
87. Jessie Homer French
1940, New York City, USA. Lives in Mountain Center, USA
88. Rebecca Horn
1944, Michelstadt, Germany. Lives in Odenwald, Germany
89. Georgiana Houghton
1814, Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Spain – 1884, London, UK
90. Sheree Hovsepian
1974, Isfahan, Iran. Lives in New York City, USA
91. Tishan Hsu
1951, Boston, USA. Lives in New York City, USA
92. Marguerite Humeau
1986, Cholet, France. Lives in London, UK
93. Jacqueline Humphries
1960, New Orleans, USA. Lives in New York City, USA
94. Kudzanai-Violet Hwami*
1993, Gutu, Zimbabwe. Lives in London, UK
Biennale College Arte
95. Tatsuo Ikeda
1928, Saga, Japan – 2020, Tokyo, Japan
96. Saodat Ismailova
1981, Tashkent. Lives in Tashkent, Uzbekistan and Paris, France
97. Aletta Jacobs
1854, Sappemeer, the Netherlands – 1929, Baarn, the Netherlands
98. Geumhyung Jeong
1980, Seoul. Lives in Seoul, South Korea
99. Charlotte Johannesson
1943, Malmö, Sweden. Lives in Skanör, Sweden
100. Loïs Mailou Jones
1905, Boston, USA – 1998, Washington, D.C., USA
101. Jamian Juliano-Villani
1987, Newark, USA. Lives in New York City, USA
102. Birgit Jürgenssen
1949 – 2003, Vienna, Austria
103. Ida Kar
1908, Tambov, Russia – 1974, London, UK
104. Allison Katz
1980, Montreal, Canada. Lives in London, UK
105. Bronwyn Katz
1993, Kimberley, South Africa. Lives in Johannesburg, South Africa
106. Kapwani Kiwanga
1978, Hamilton, Canada. Lives in Paris, France
107. Kiki Kogelnik
1935, Graz, Austria – 1997, Vienna, Austria
108. Barbara Kruger
1945, Newark, USA. Lives in Los Angeles, USA
109. Tetsumi Kudo
1935, Osaka, Japan – 1990, Tokyo, Japan
110. Gabrielle L’Hirondelle Hill
1979, Comox, Canada. Lives on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh peoples
111. Louise Lawler
1947, Bronxville, USA. Lives in New York City, USA
112. Carolyn Lazard
1987, Upland, USA. Lives in New York City and Philadelphia, USA
113. Mire Lee
1988, Seoul, South Korea. Lives in Amsterdam, the Netherlands
114. Simone Leigh
1967, Chicago, USA. Lives in New York City, USA
115. Hannah Levy
1991, New York City. Lives in New York City, USA
116. Tau Lewis
1993, Toronto, Canada. Lives in New York City, USA
117. Shuang Li
1990, Wuyi Mountains, China. Lives in Berlin, Germany and Geneva, Switzerland
118. Liliane Lijn
1939, New York City, USA. Lives in London, UK
119. Candice Lin
1979, Concord, USA. Lives in Los Angeles, USA
120. Mina Loy
1882, London, UK – 1966, Aspen, USA
121. Antoinette Lubaki
1895, Bukama, Congo Free State (present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo) – ?
122. LuYang
1984, Shanghai. Lives in Shanghai, China
123. Zhenya Machneva
1988, Leningrad (present-day Saint Petersburg), Russia. Lives in Saint Petersburg, Russia
124. Baya Mahieddine
1931, Fort de l’Eau (present-day Bordj El Kiffan), Algeria – 1998, Blida, Algeria
125. Maruja Mallo
1902, Viveiro, Spain – 1995, Madrid, Spain
126. Joyce Mansour
1928, Bowden, UK – 1986, Paris, France
127. Britta Marakatt-Labba
1951, Idivuoma, Sápmi/Northern Sweden. Lives in Övre Soppero, Sápmi/Northern Sweden
128. Diego Marcon
1985, Busto Arsizio, Italy. Lives in Milan, Italy
129. Sidsel Meineche Hansen
1981, Ry, Denmark. Lives in London, UK
130. Maria Sibylla Merian
1647, Frankfurt am Main, Free Imperial City of the Holy Roman Empire (present-day Germany) – 1717, Amsterdam, Dutch Republic (present-day the Netherlands)
131. Vera Molnár
1924, Budapest, Hungary. Lives in Paris, France
132. Delcy Morelos
1967, Tierralta, Colombia. Lives in Bogotá, Colombia
133. Sister Gertrude Morgan
1900, LaFayette, USA – 1980, New Orleans, USA
134. Sandra Mujinga
1989, Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Lives in Oslo, Norway and Berlin, Germany
135. Mrinalini Mukherjee
1949, Bombay (present-day Mumbai), India – 2015, New Delhi, India
136. Nadja
1902, Saint-André-lez-Lille, France – 1941, Bailleul, France
137. Louise Nevelson
1899, Pereiaslav, Poltava Governorate of the Russian Empire (present-day Ukraine) – 1988, New York City, USA
138. Amy Nimr
1898, Cairo, Egypt – 1974, Paris, France
139. Magdalene Odundo
1950, Nairobi, Kenya. Lives in Farnham, UK
140. Precious Okoyomon
1993, London, UK. Lives in New York City, USA
141. Meret Oppenheim
1913, Berlin, Germany – 1985, Basel, Switzerland
142. Ovartaci
1894, Ebeltoft, Denmark – 1985, Risskov, Denmark
143. Virginia Overton
1971, Nashville, USA. Lives in New York City, USA
144. Akosua Adoma Owusu
1984, Alexandria, USA. Lives in New York City and Cambridge, USA
145. Prabhakar Pachpute
1986, Sasti, India. Lives in Pune, India
146. Eusapia Palladino
1854, Minervino Murge, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (present-day Italy) – 1918, Naples, Italy
147. Violeta Parra
1917, San Fabián de Alico, Chile – 1967, Santiago, Chile
148. Rosana Paulino
1967, São Paulo. Lives in São Paulo, Brazil
149. Valentine Penrose
1898, Mont-de-Marsan, France – 1978, Chiddingly, UK
150. Elle Pérez
1989, New York City. Lives in New York City, USA
151. Sondra Perry
1986, Perth Amboy, USA. Lives in Newark, USA
152. Solange Pessoa
1961, Ferros, Brazil. Lives in Belo Horizonte, Brazil
153. Thao Nguyen Phan
1987, Ho Chi Minh City. Lives in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
154. Julia Phillips
1985, Hamburg, Germany. Lives in Chicago, USA and Berlin, Germany
155. Joanna Piotrowska
1985, Warsaw. Lives in Warsaw, Poland and London, UK
156. Alexandra Pirici
1982, Bucharest. Lives in Bucharest, Romania
157. Anu Põder
1947, Kanepi, Estonia – 2013, Tallinn, Estonia
158. Gisèle Prassinos
1920, Constantinople (present-day Istanbul), Ottoman Empire (present-day Turkey) – 2015, Paris, France
159. Christina Quarles
1985, Chicago, USA. Lives in Los Angeles, USA
160. Rachilde
1860, Cros, France – 1953, Paris, France
161. Janis Rafa
1984, Athens. Lives in Athens, Greece and Amsterdam, the Netherlands
162. Alice Rahon
1904, Chenecey-Buillon, France – 1987, Mexico City, Mexico
163. Carol Rama
1918 – 2015, Turin, Italy
164. Paula Rego
1935, Lisbon, Portugal. Lives in London, UK
165. Edith Rimmington
1902, Leicester, UK – 1986, Bexhill-on-Sea, UK
166. Enif Robert
1886, Prato, Italy – 1974, Bologna, Italy
167. Luiz Roque
1979, Cachoeira do Sul, Brazil. Lives in São Paulo, Brazil
168. Rosa Rosà
1884, Vienna, Austria – 1978, Rome, Italy
169. Niki de Saint Phalle
1930, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France – 2002, La Jolla, USA
170. Giovanna Sandri
1923 – 2002, Rome, Italy
171. Pinaree Sanpitak
1961, Bangkok. Lives in Bangkok, Thailand
172. Aki Sasamoto
1980, Kanagawa, Japan. Lives in New York City, USA
173. Augusta Savage
1892, Green Cove Springs, USA – 1962, New York City, USA
174. Lavinia Schulz and Walter Holdt
1896, Lübben (Spreewald), Germany – 1924, Hamburg, Germany
1899 – 1924, Hamburg, Germany
175. Lillian Schwartz
1927, Cincinnati, USA. Lives in New York City, USA
176. Amy Sillman
1955, Detroit, USA. Lives in New York City, USA
177. Elias Sime
1968, Addis Ababa. Lives in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
178. Marianna Simnett
1986, London, UK. Lives in Berlin, Germany
179. Hélène Smith
1861, Martigny, Switzerland – 1929, Geneva, Switzerland
180. Sable Elyse Smith
1986, Los Angeles, USA. Lives in New York City, USA
181. Teresa Solar
1985, Madrid. Lives in Madrid, Spain
182. Mary Ellen Solt
1920, Gilmore City, USA – 2007, Santa Clarita, USA
183. P. Staff
1987, Bognor Regis, UK. Lives in London, UK and Los Angeles, USA
184. Sophie Taeuber-Arp
1889, Davos, Switzerland – 1943, Zürich, Switzerland
185. Toshiko Takaezu
1922, Pepeekeo, USA – 2011, Honolulu, USA
186. Emma Talbot
1969, Stourbridge, UK. Lives in London, UK
187. Dorothea Tanning
1910, Galesburg, USA – 2012, New York City, USA
188. Bridget Tichenor
1917, Paris, France – 1990, Mexico City, Mexico
189. Tecla Tofano
1927, Naples, Italy – 1995, Caracas, Venezuela
190. Josefa Tolrà
1880 – 1959, Cabrils, Spain
191. Tourmaline
1983, Boston, USA. Lives in New York City, USA
192. Toyen
1902, Prague, Austro-Hungarian Empire (present-day Czech Republic) – 1980, Paris, France
193. Rosemarie Trockel
1952, Schwerte, Germany. Lives in Berlin, Germany
194. Wu Tsang
1982, Worcester, USA. Lives in Zürich, Switzerland
195. Kaari Upson
1970, San Bernardino, USA – 2021, New York City, USA
196. Andra Ursuţa
1979, Salonta, Romania. Lives in New York City, USA
197. Grazia Varisco
1937, Milan. Lives in Milan, Italy
198. Remedios Varo
1908, Anglès, Spain – 1963, Mexico City, Mexico
199. Sandra Vásquez de la Horra
1967, Viña del Mar, Chile. Lives in Berlin, Germany
200. Marie Vassilieff
1884, Smolensk, Russia – 1957, Nogent-sur-Marne, France
201. Cecilia Vicuña
1948, Santiago, Chile. Lives in New York City, USA
202. Nanda Vigo
1936 – 2020, Milan, Italy
203. Marianne Vitale
1973, East Rockaway, USA. Lives in New York City, USA
204. Raphaela Vogel
1988, Nuremberg, Germany. Lives in Berlin, Germany
205. Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller
1877, Philadelphia, USA – 1968, Framingham, USA
206. Laura Wheeler Waring
1887, Hartford, USA – 1948, Philadelphia, USA
207. Ulla Wiggen
1942, Stockholm. Lives in Stockholm, Sweden
208. Mary Wigman
1886, Hanover, Germany – 1973, Berlin, Germany
209. Müge Yilmaz
1985, Istanbul, Turkey. Lives in Amsterdam, the Netherlands
210. Frantz Zéphirin
1968, Cap-Haïtien, Haiti. Lives in Port-au-Prince, Haiti
211. Zheng Bo
1974, Beijing, China. Lives on Lantau Island, Hong Kong
212. Unica Zürn
1916, Berlin, Germany – 1970, Paris, France
213. Portia Zvavahera
1985, Harare. Lives in Harare, Zimbabwe