Due to the impact of the epidemic, the 59th Venice International Art Biennale, which was supposed to be held in 2021, was postponed to April this year. Not long ago, the Organizing Committee of the Biennale officially announced the list of artists participating in this year's theme exhibition and the list of exhibitors in the National Pavilion.
Regarding this year's Venice International Art Biennale, there are three elements about women that are very eye-catching: first, the chief curator is a woman, the fifth female chief curator in the more than 100-year history of the Venice Biennale; second, the biennale theme "Milk of Dreams" comes from the title of a Mexican female artist; third, more than 90% of the participating artists are women, creating the highest in history.
Cecilia Alemani, Chief Curator of the Venice Biennale
A lineup that spans time and space
The most "old" exhibitors are from the 17th century
The venice biennale theme exhibition features 213 artists from 58 countries, as well as 81 countries. It is reported that the number of participating artists in this biennale is also the highest since 2005, and it is double the number of people in the previous edition.
Meanwhile, under the leadership of chief curator Cecilia Alemani, of the 213 artists on the exhibition, only 21 were men, and the remaining 192 were all women. The figure was described in media coverage as "groundbreaking and inspiring.".
Some people may wonder: in the contemporary art world, which has long been dominated by male artists, such a large number of female artists have suddenly been invited, is there a suspicion that curators are "lowering their standards"?
One fact that many people may overlook is that not all of the participating artists at this biennale are alive. Among these more than 90% of female artists, including deceased artists.
The total number of deceased artists in this segment accounts for nearly half (44%) of the total number of artists exhibiting at the Venice Biennale. Among them, the most "old" exhibitor was the female artist Maria Sibylla Merian, born in Frankfurt in 1647.
The oldest of the living female artists is Vera Molnár, who was born in 1924 and turns 98 in January.
But old age is by no means a feature of this biennale, but quite the opposite: the works of 180 of the participating artists have never been exhibited at the Venice Biennale before; the number of young artists born between 1980 and 1995 is exactly twice that of the previous biennale.
"It will be an intergenerational exhibition where young artists and deceased artists, well-known artists and forgotten artists will be on the same stage to explore the themes of the Biennale through their works that span time and space," the organizers said. ”
The power that rises quietly
Women are gradually occupying important positions in the art world
In recent years, in the world, especially in Europe, the strong rise of female power in the art world has become a new phenomenon that cannot be ignored, whether it is female artists or female curators, and even the "number one" of important art institutions, there has been an unprecedented breakthrough.
Lawrence de Cass
In September 2021, the Louvre Museum in France welcomed its first female curator, Laurence des Cars, and in early 2022, Alexia Fabre became the first female principal in the 400 years since the establishment of the Ecole Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and was widely welcomed by public opinion.
In addition, more female artists are increasingly attracting the attention of museums, galleries and collectors. Of course, it must be admitted that the background of this rise is still the absolute dominance of men in the art world. But even the slightest progress is better than ever.
Zhang Yingchuan, a researcher at the Chengdu Academy of Painting and an art critic, told Red Star News that she personally feels that the rise of female power in the art field is not a rapid progress in recent years, but a state that has undergone long-term development and is now a natural state.
In fact, since the 1920s and 1930s, there have been some outstanding female artists such as Pan Yuliang, Fang Junbi, Guan Zilan and so on, and after the reform and opening up in the 1980s, more and more have emerged. After 2000, the proportion of female artists in various art exhibitions has further increased, which is reflected in different types of art fields. So I don't think it's a sudden rise, but a process of natural development. Zhang Yingchuan said.
As for the new phenomenon of female artists accounting for more than 90% of the venice biennale, Zhang Yingchuan is also very concerned about it and is excited by it - "The chief curator Cecilia Alemani has done a great job!" She said.
Zhang Yingchuan believes that for a long time, the mainstream standards of art history and art criticism writing have been based on the traditional creation methods of male artists, but as female artists at home and abroad become more and more active in their creation, more and more excellent works and outstanding artists have emerged, and they have gradually formed a mature female experience and female way that is different from male artists.
"At present, the positive attention and systematic sorting given by our art history and art criticism writing in this regard are not enough, far behind the practice of women's creation." As a female art critic, Zhang Yingchuan said that she has always felt challenged, and there are many issues that need to be further studied and discussed. ”
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Who is the most noble female artist alive today?
Born in 1970, the British female artist Jenny Saville is the "most expensive female artist" in the world today, and her most famous work is a very stylized portrait, dominated by fat and strong female bodies, which many people think of as her painting momentum and style, and another British artist, Francis Bacon (1909-1992).
Jenny Savile
In 1998, Jenny Saville's first large-scale work was auctioned off, and that year's sensational exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery still impresses many today. At that time, the work "Props" was three times its highest estimate, exceeding 84,000 pounds (about 722,000 yuan). In October 2018, Jenny Savile's 1992 work "Prosthetics" broke the previous auction record (see photo below) at Sotheby's in London for £9.6 million (about 82.52 million yuan), making her "the world's most expensive living female artist".
In 2020, her contracted gallery, the prestigious Gagosian Gallery, also held a major solo exhibition "Elpis" for her in New York. Today, Savile's work is hard to find on the primary market, and many collectors are looking for ways to buy a copy of her painting.
Gagosian "Elpis" exhibition site
Red Star News reporter Qiao Xueyang Editor Jiang Qing
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