Personal Structures

54. Esposizione Internazionale d’Arte – la Biennale di Venezia - Eventi collaterali

Dal 4 giugno al 27 novembre 2011

La mostra presenta 28 artisti di 12 diversi paesi e 5 continenti uniti in una combinazione straordinaria, artisti affermati affiancati da artisti la cui opera è meno conosciuta. Enunciando con forza il proprio credo, ogni artista espone nuove opere d’arte in un suo spazio esclusivo, site specific, o lavori nuovi provenienti direttamente dal suo studio.

As part of the 54th International Art exhibition - la Biennale di Venezia, PERSONAL STRUCTURES presents 28 artists from 5 continents, representing 12 countries. The exhibition brings together an extraordinary combination of established artists next to artists whose oeuvre is less known. What they have in common is a dedication to the concepts Time - Space and Existence. The exhibition is curated by the Dutch curators Karlyn De Jongh and Sarah Gold.

PERSONAL STRUCTURES is held at Venice's prestigious Palazzo Bembo, by Rialto Bridge on Canal Grande. Each artist in the exhibition presents recent artworks, either site-specific, especially made for this exhibition, or coming directly from the artist's studio. Each room in Palazzo Bembo is dedicated to one single artist. Their strong statements give each of the rooms a very specific atmosphere. The exhibition shows a broad variety of artistic media, such as: videos, sculptures, paintings, photos, installations with light, wallpaper and performance. 

Since the participating artists originate from diverse cultures and are of very different age, Time - Space and Existence are highlighted from unusual points of view. PERSONAL STRUCTURES therefore stimulates a more conscious relation from the spectator towards his daily surrounding and aims to increase the awareness of their own personal Existence as human beings within a specific Space and Time.

The following artists have been invited to participate in the exhibition: Marina Abramovi? (MNE), Carl Andre (USA), Herman de Vries (NL), Toshikatsu Endo (JP), Johannes Girardoni (USA), Peter Halley (USA), Joseph Kosuth (USA), Melissa Kretschmer (USA), Lee Ufan (ROK), Ma Jun (CN), Tony Matelli (USA), Judy Millar (NZ), Tatsuo Miyajima (JP), François Morellet (FR), Hermann Nitsch (AT), Roman Opalka (FR), Thomas Pihl (NO), Miriam Prantl (AT), Andrew Putter (RSA), Arnulf Rainer (AT), Rene Rietmeyer (NL), Yuko Sakurai (JP), Sasaki (JP), SEO (ROK), Lawrence Weiner (USA), Maik Wolf (DE), Xing Xin (CN), Zou Cao (CN).

The exhibition PERSONAL STRUCTURES is part of an international art project. It was initiated in 2002 by the Dutch artist Rene Rietmeyer, who noticed that even in the most distant corners of the world, there are artists working with Time - Space and Existence, thereby expressing themselves in a very personal way. This observation led to the idea of bringing several of these artists together in publications, exhibitions and symposia.

PERSONAL STRUCTURES at the 54th Biennale di Venezia takes place from 4 June until 27 November 2011. The exhibition is organized by GLOBAL ART AFFAIRS FOUNDATION. A 168-pages exhibition catalogue as well as a 448-pages book about the project, PERSONAL STRUCTURES (DuMont 2009), containing the thoughts of several of the exhibiting artists, will be available.