Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/130754
Christiana Soulou's interpretations of imaginary beings conjured by famed writer Jorge Luis Borges to Colombia's José Antonio Suárez Londoño's visual translations of Kafka's diaries. Two of the more novel aspects of the Biennale under Gioni's direction are the inclusion of artists who are "not exactly professional artists," as he puts it (including self-taught artists like Auriti and James Castle), and major art-historical figures from the 20th century, whom Gioni sees as underappreciated or, at minimum, non-canonical. "We'll see when the show opens if it's controversial, but it's definitely slightly polemical about what is art, who is an artist, and why we expect a certain celebration of a certain type of artist," the curator explains. "We wanted to open those discussions up a bit more." Perhaps to take attention from his own youth, Gioni has embraced older artists among the 158 in the Biennale, including 82-yearold Arte Povera member Marisa Merz and 93-year-old painter Maria Lassnig, a grande dame of Austrian art. In her curatorial role at Frieze Projects, meanwhile, Alemani looked at least partly to the past, with a re-creation of FOOD, the iconic New York restaurant launched by artists Carol Goodden and Gordon Matta-Clark in 1970s SoHo. Some of the original FOOD chefs, joined by present-day artists, made the temporary eatery an interactive melting pot of art and cuisine. But the rest of Alemani's Frieze program focused on installations by emerging artists: Liz Glynn, Maria Loboda, Andra Ursuta, Marianne Vitale and Mateo Tannatt, the only male among the group (the almost-all-female lineup was pure coincidence, says Alemani). Although Frieze is a high-profile affair, Alemani much prefers reaching the kind of broad audience—4.4 million visitors last year alone—that gets to enjoy the public artwork she commissions for the High Line, which is typically on view for a year versus the four days of Frieze. This summer, Alemani commissioned Swiss-born New York artist Carol Bove to create an ambitious installation. Titled Caterpillar, the series of large-scale sculptures populate the still-wild landscape of the High Line's third and final phase, due to open in stages next year. Alemani will also continue to lead programming for the art-intensive elevated park, including performances, video installations and a popular, ever-changing piece that occupies a billboard on 10th Avenue, alongside the former rail line. The Venice Biennale will be well under way by then, and the couple's personal and professional lives will resume a more normal—but still energetic— pace. As Alemani says of their post-Biennale future: "It's going to be a new beginning." 90 CULTURED Alemani and Gioni stand in front of Felix Gonzalez-Torres' "Untitled", 1991-1993; the carpet is by Rudolf Stingel.