5th PRAGUE BIENNALE 2011
19 May - 11 Sep 2011
5th PRAGUE BIENNALE
19 May - 11 September 2011
Directors:
Giancarlo Politi, Helena Kontova
Curator:
Nicola Trezzi
PRAGUE BIENNALE 5
The 5th edition of the biennial will be divided in three “macro sections”: Expanded Painting, Art In
General and Focus Italy. With a structure reminiscent of a Chinese Box, each macro section is divided into smaller sections, each of them organized by an international curator appointed by Prague Biennale directors Giancarlo Politi and Helena Kontova.
EXPANDED PANTING
The first macro section of Prague Biennale is Expanded Painting. Conceived by Politi and Kontova, the aim of this macro section is to map the most interesting tendencies in contemporary painting with a focus on regional areas. Inspired by Rosalind Krauss’s seminal text “Sculpture in the Expanded Field,” Expanded Painting considers the work of artists who do not necessarily work only with painting, but rather with artists whose practices speak about the legacy of the medium.
PAINTING OVERALL
Curated by Giancarlo Politi and Helena Kontova in collaboration with Nicola Trezzi. The section consists of a mixture of emerging painters from Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Italy, the United States, the United Kingdom, Portugal and Switzerland, and has a focus on the duality figuration versus abstraction.
PORTRAITS OF POWER
Curated by Jane Neal. The artists in this section relate to Hungary either by ethnicity or through choosing it as a place to live and work. The history of the region and its imperial and communist pasts have left their mark on the artists in terms of the subject matter they choose to epict, and in some cases in their stylistic painting decisions, which at times consciously acknowledge the influence of social realism. Ultimately though, these artists are connected through a commonality of exploration: of private and public mythologies; of the power of past and present icons — whether these be human or machine; by the often strained relationships between society and the individual, and by the increased blurring of the line between reality and fiction, and the conscious and subconscious mind.
SOME DOMESTIC INCIDENTS
Curated by Matt Price with Charlie Levine. With an emphasis on figurative painting, Some Domestic Incidents presents works by eight emerging and established artists from the United Kingdom that connect to the theme of domesticity and explore how normative relationships with homes can be effected.
THE NECESSITY OF ABSTRACTION
Curated by Christine Nippe. The section explores new ideas
of abstraction in Contemporary German art. All artists are living and working in Berlin.
ART IN GENERAL
Art in General is the second macro section of Prague Biennale. Like Expanded Painting there’s a visible interest in regional areas such as the Czech Republic and Slovakia, as well as more emerging and peripheral countries like India and Canada respectively.
CROSSROADS: INDIA ESCALATE
Curated by Kanchi Mehta. India has been undergoing a global metamorphosis in the last few years, and has stirred all areas including economy, culture, business, education, etc. Contemporary Indian art has shown significant change, reflecting the escalating nature of the nation and the way it is perceived by the rest of the world. Artists have been boldly inspired by this very transformation; have been exposed to new media through which they have recognized many ways to express their conceptual creativity and emotions. The following artists have been selected very carefully, based on the ‘progressive’ nature of their work within the present time, influenced by issues of sexuality, rural and urban settings, ideas of mortality, politics, and religion. The artists and their work selected is the sheer evidence of the changing mindset of the youth and have become a paradigm for the standing of Indian art internationally.
...TO PERCEIVE IN THE DARKNESS OF THE PRESENT...
Curated by Vjera Borozan and Mariana Serranová. This section is based on the idea that society is looking for new, direct ways to define the “status quo” and needs a new approach to formulate questions. Emphasizing one’s subjective gesture as a way of facing reality as it is and overcoming time and space in the classical categories are one of the main goals of this exhibition.
AŤ DĚLÁME CO DĚLÁME, NEMŮŽEME SE S VÁMI SPOJIT / WHATEVER WE DO WE CAN NOT CONNECT WITH YOU
Curated by Lýdia Pribišová and Katarína Slaninová. The Slovak section at the Prague Biennale 5 thematizes the issue of (non) communication, not only in the everyday life but first of all in the art world that is full of distorted information and subsequent communication noise, misunderstanding and misinterpretation often resulting into the conflict situations. The communication flaws, misunderstanding, distorting and blurring play a key role in the sphere of art — ‘dynamising ’the working and professional relations and creating new unexpected situations.
LES AFFINITÉS SÉLECTIVES / SELECTIVE AFFINITIES
Curated by Marius Tanasescu. Is it true that “works of art are not merely representations of the way things are, but actually produce a community’s shared understanding,” like Heidegger asserted? Is homo artisticus canadensis participating on it, as an effective thespian?'
THE CRISIS OF CONFIDENCE
Curated by Marta Barbieri and Lino Baldini. You just need to read the newspaper or watch the news to realize that the level of confidence in our society is very low. Even the current financial climate is the result of the crisis of confidence. This section, featuring emerging Italian artists, presents a series of works specifically selected by the curators in order to illustrate the situation.
IF YOU WANT THIS STORY TO CONTINUE...
Selected by Andrea Bruciati. It is a fact: our existence is reflected on the screens. This derives from a systematic, widespread, unexpected and inescapable invasion. We are surprised and unprepared to receive it, overwhelmed by our inadequacy. In a country like Italy, so seduced by the mediatic power of television, the diffusion of the technological image came so quick that we did not have the time to understand the consequences of what is going on.
PRAGUE BIENNALE PHOTO 2
ROMANTIC CONSTRUCT / ROMANTICKÝ KONSTRUKT
Curated by Daniela Dostálková and Tomáš Pospěch. Continuing the mandate of Prague Biennale Photo 1, the aim of this section is to spotlight the work of young artists coming from all around the world whose practices deal with the history and tradition of the photographic medium.
INSIDE - OUTSIDE: SOME ASPECTS OF CONTEMPORARY POLISH PHOTOGRAPHY
Curated by Marek Grygiel. A survey mapping the scene of contemporary photography in Poland.
ARTISTS:
Jan Adriaans
Melanie Bonajo
Amira Fritz’
Sanna Kannisto
Matthieu
Lavanchy
Kamila Musilová
Bára Přidalová
Yan Renelt
Kryštof Kalina
Jaap Scheeren
Diana Scherer
Michaela Thelenová
Martin Tůma
Tomáš Werner
Henk Wildschut
Magda Wunsche
Adam Lach
Maciej Jezierski
Ewa Meissner
Adam Panczuk
Krzysztof Pijarski
Dominika Truszczynska
Joanna Zastrozna
Albert Zawada
Yuri Ancarani
Filippo Berta
Luca Bolognesi
Silvia Hell
Rudina Hoxhaj
Runo Lagomarsino
Domenico Antonio Mancini
Maria Lucrezia Schiavarelli,
Marco Strappato
Davide Valenti
Adad Hannah
Mathieu Lefèvre
Aude Moreau
Cécile Martin
Francisco López
David Spriggs
Ève K. Tremblay
Hynek Alt
Aleksandra Vajd
Silvina Arismendi
Daniela Baráčková
Milena Dopitová
Tomáš Džadoň
Martin Froulík
Laďa Gažiová
Juraj Jakubčiak
Eva Jiřička
Eva Koťátková
František Kowolowski
Karel Kunc
Pavla Malinová
Martin Froulíkan Nálevka
Markéta Othová
Milan Salák
Pavla Sceranková
Tereza Severová
Erik Sikora
Evžen Šimera
Matěj Smetana
Sláva Sobotovičová
Pavel Sterec
Tomáš Svoboda
Veronika Vlková
Ladislav Vondrák
Ivan Vosecký
Minam Apang
Sarnath Banerjee
Nikhil Chopra
Anita Dube
Sakshi Gupta,
PS Jalaja
Sonia Jose
Ranbir Kaleka
Shreyas Karle
Riyas Komu
Monali Meher,
Justin Ponmany
TV Santosh
Gigi Scaria
Shah Betancourt
Charmi Gada Shah
Tejal Shah
Sudarshan Shetty
Shine Shivan
Avinash Veeraraghavan
T Venkanna
Vivek Vilasini
Friederike Feldmann
Arturo Herrera
Gregor Hildebrandt
Olaf Holzapfel
Anne Neukamp
Frank Nitsche
Renaud Regnery
Graham Chorlton
Oliver Clegg
Anna M. R. Freeman
Philip Hale
Justin Mortimer
Sally Payen
Caroline Walker
Sonia Almeida
Mark Barrow
Baldur Geir Bragason
Vittorio Brodmann
Ana Cardoso
Aline Cautis
Ann Craven
Francesca DiMattio
Ida Ekblad
Enzo Giordano
Heather Guertin
David Örn Halldórsson
Ingunn Fjóla Ingþórsdóttir
Jacob Kassay
Gilda Mautone
Elizabeth Neel
Ylva Ogland
Paloma Presents [Urs Zahn & Roman Gysin]
Zak Prekop
Jo Robertson
Patricia Treib
Daniel Turner
Garth Weiser
Erik Binder
András Cséfalvay
Anna Daučíková
Tomáš Džadoň
Richard Fajnor
Petra Feriancová
Pavlína Fichta Čierna
Viktor Frešo
Mira Gáberová
Marek Kvetan
Michal Moravčík
Ilona Németh
Karol Pichler
Riccardo Benassi
Jacopo Candotti
Danilo Correale
Patrizio Di Massimo
Cleo Fariselli
Riccardo Giacconi
Diego Marcon
Alessandra Messali
Nicola Nunziata
Giulio Squillacciotti
Marco Strappato
Ian Tweedy
Driant Zeneli
19 May - 11 September 2011
Directors:
Giancarlo Politi, Helena Kontova
Curator:
Nicola Trezzi
PRAGUE BIENNALE 5
The 5th edition of the biennial will be divided in three “macro sections”: Expanded Painting, Art In
General and Focus Italy. With a structure reminiscent of a Chinese Box, each macro section is divided into smaller sections, each of them organized by an international curator appointed by Prague Biennale directors Giancarlo Politi and Helena Kontova.
EXPANDED PANTING
The first macro section of Prague Biennale is Expanded Painting. Conceived by Politi and Kontova, the aim of this macro section is to map the most interesting tendencies in contemporary painting with a focus on regional areas. Inspired by Rosalind Krauss’s seminal text “Sculpture in the Expanded Field,” Expanded Painting considers the work of artists who do not necessarily work only with painting, but rather with artists whose practices speak about the legacy of the medium.
PAINTING OVERALL
Curated by Giancarlo Politi and Helena Kontova in collaboration with Nicola Trezzi. The section consists of a mixture of emerging painters from Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Italy, the United States, the United Kingdom, Portugal and Switzerland, and has a focus on the duality figuration versus abstraction.
PORTRAITS OF POWER
Curated by Jane Neal. The artists in this section relate to Hungary either by ethnicity or through choosing it as a place to live and work. The history of the region and its imperial and communist pasts have left their mark on the artists in terms of the subject matter they choose to epict, and in some cases in their stylistic painting decisions, which at times consciously acknowledge the influence of social realism. Ultimately though, these artists are connected through a commonality of exploration: of private and public mythologies; of the power of past and present icons — whether these be human or machine; by the often strained relationships between society and the individual, and by the increased blurring of the line between reality and fiction, and the conscious and subconscious mind.
SOME DOMESTIC INCIDENTS
Curated by Matt Price with Charlie Levine. With an emphasis on figurative painting, Some Domestic Incidents presents works by eight emerging and established artists from the United Kingdom that connect to the theme of domesticity and explore how normative relationships with homes can be effected.
THE NECESSITY OF ABSTRACTION
Curated by Christine Nippe. The section explores new ideas
of abstraction in Contemporary German art. All artists are living and working in Berlin.
ART IN GENERAL
Art in General is the second macro section of Prague Biennale. Like Expanded Painting there’s a visible interest in regional areas such as the Czech Republic and Slovakia, as well as more emerging and peripheral countries like India and Canada respectively.
CROSSROADS: INDIA ESCALATE
Curated by Kanchi Mehta. India has been undergoing a global metamorphosis in the last few years, and has stirred all areas including economy, culture, business, education, etc. Contemporary Indian art has shown significant change, reflecting the escalating nature of the nation and the way it is perceived by the rest of the world. Artists have been boldly inspired by this very transformation; have been exposed to new media through which they have recognized many ways to express their conceptual creativity and emotions. The following artists have been selected very carefully, based on the ‘progressive’ nature of their work within the present time, influenced by issues of sexuality, rural and urban settings, ideas of mortality, politics, and religion. The artists and their work selected is the sheer evidence of the changing mindset of the youth and have become a paradigm for the standing of Indian art internationally.
...TO PERCEIVE IN THE DARKNESS OF THE PRESENT...
Curated by Vjera Borozan and Mariana Serranová. This section is based on the idea that society is looking for new, direct ways to define the “status quo” and needs a new approach to formulate questions. Emphasizing one’s subjective gesture as a way of facing reality as it is and overcoming time and space in the classical categories are one of the main goals of this exhibition.
AŤ DĚLÁME CO DĚLÁME, NEMŮŽEME SE S VÁMI SPOJIT / WHATEVER WE DO WE CAN NOT CONNECT WITH YOU
Curated by Lýdia Pribišová and Katarína Slaninová. The Slovak section at the Prague Biennale 5 thematizes the issue of (non) communication, not only in the everyday life but first of all in the art world that is full of distorted information and subsequent communication noise, misunderstanding and misinterpretation often resulting into the conflict situations. The communication flaws, misunderstanding, distorting and blurring play a key role in the sphere of art — ‘dynamising ’the working and professional relations and creating new unexpected situations.
LES AFFINITÉS SÉLECTIVES / SELECTIVE AFFINITIES
Curated by Marius Tanasescu. Is it true that “works of art are not merely representations of the way things are, but actually produce a community’s shared understanding,” like Heidegger asserted? Is homo artisticus canadensis participating on it, as an effective thespian?'
THE CRISIS OF CONFIDENCE
Curated by Marta Barbieri and Lino Baldini. You just need to read the newspaper or watch the news to realize that the level of confidence in our society is very low. Even the current financial climate is the result of the crisis of confidence. This section, featuring emerging Italian artists, presents a series of works specifically selected by the curators in order to illustrate the situation.
IF YOU WANT THIS STORY TO CONTINUE...
Selected by Andrea Bruciati. It is a fact: our existence is reflected on the screens. This derives from a systematic, widespread, unexpected and inescapable invasion. We are surprised and unprepared to receive it, overwhelmed by our inadequacy. In a country like Italy, so seduced by the mediatic power of television, the diffusion of the technological image came so quick that we did not have the time to understand the consequences of what is going on.
PRAGUE BIENNALE PHOTO 2
ROMANTIC CONSTRUCT / ROMANTICKÝ KONSTRUKT
Curated by Daniela Dostálková and Tomáš Pospěch. Continuing the mandate of Prague Biennale Photo 1, the aim of this section is to spotlight the work of young artists coming from all around the world whose practices deal with the history and tradition of the photographic medium.
INSIDE - OUTSIDE: SOME ASPECTS OF CONTEMPORARY POLISH PHOTOGRAPHY
Curated by Marek Grygiel. A survey mapping the scene of contemporary photography in Poland.
ARTISTS:
Jan Adriaans
Melanie Bonajo
Amira Fritz’
Sanna Kannisto
Matthieu
Lavanchy
Kamila Musilová
Bára Přidalová
Yan Renelt
Kryštof Kalina
Jaap Scheeren
Diana Scherer
Michaela Thelenová
Martin Tůma
Tomáš Werner
Henk Wildschut
Magda Wunsche
Adam Lach
Maciej Jezierski
Ewa Meissner
Adam Panczuk
Krzysztof Pijarski
Dominika Truszczynska
Joanna Zastrozna
Albert Zawada
Yuri Ancarani
Filippo Berta
Luca Bolognesi
Silvia Hell
Rudina Hoxhaj
Runo Lagomarsino
Domenico Antonio Mancini
Maria Lucrezia Schiavarelli,
Marco Strappato
Davide Valenti
Adad Hannah
Mathieu Lefèvre
Aude Moreau
Cécile Martin
Francisco López
David Spriggs
Ève K. Tremblay
Hynek Alt
Aleksandra Vajd
Silvina Arismendi
Daniela Baráčková
Milena Dopitová
Tomáš Džadoň
Martin Froulík
Laďa Gažiová
Juraj Jakubčiak
Eva Jiřička
Eva Koťátková
František Kowolowski
Karel Kunc
Pavla Malinová
Martin Froulíkan Nálevka
Markéta Othová
Milan Salák
Pavla Sceranková
Tereza Severová
Erik Sikora
Evžen Šimera
Matěj Smetana
Sláva Sobotovičová
Pavel Sterec
Tomáš Svoboda
Veronika Vlková
Ladislav Vondrák
Ivan Vosecký
Minam Apang
Sarnath Banerjee
Nikhil Chopra
Anita Dube
Sakshi Gupta,
PS Jalaja
Sonia Jose
Ranbir Kaleka
Shreyas Karle
Riyas Komu
Monali Meher,
Justin Ponmany
TV Santosh
Gigi Scaria
Shah Betancourt
Charmi Gada Shah
Tejal Shah
Sudarshan Shetty
Shine Shivan
Avinash Veeraraghavan
T Venkanna
Vivek Vilasini
Friederike Feldmann
Arturo Herrera
Gregor Hildebrandt
Olaf Holzapfel
Anne Neukamp
Frank Nitsche
Renaud Regnery
Graham Chorlton
Oliver Clegg
Anna M. R. Freeman
Philip Hale
Justin Mortimer
Sally Payen
Caroline Walker
Sonia Almeida
Mark Barrow
Baldur Geir Bragason
Vittorio Brodmann
Ana Cardoso
Aline Cautis
Ann Craven
Francesca DiMattio
Ida Ekblad
Enzo Giordano
Heather Guertin
David Örn Halldórsson
Ingunn Fjóla Ingþórsdóttir
Jacob Kassay
Gilda Mautone
Elizabeth Neel
Ylva Ogland
Paloma Presents [Urs Zahn & Roman Gysin]
Zak Prekop
Jo Robertson
Patricia Treib
Daniel Turner
Garth Weiser
Erik Binder
András Cséfalvay
Anna Daučíková
Tomáš Džadoň
Richard Fajnor
Petra Feriancová
Pavlína Fichta Čierna
Viktor Frešo
Mira Gáberová
Marek Kvetan
Michal Moravčík
Ilona Németh
Karol Pichler
Riccardo Benassi
Jacopo Candotti
Danilo Correale
Patrizio Di Massimo
Cleo Fariselli
Riccardo Giacconi
Diego Marcon
Alessandra Messali
Nicola Nunziata
Giulio Squillacciotti
Marco Strappato
Ian Tweedy
Driant Zeneli