Canadian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale
Being chosen to represent Canada in the Venice Biennale is a distinguished honour and also, as it has come to be known, a bit of an architectural curse. The Canadian Pavilion is an awkward squat building known for being inhospitable to the exhibition of art. Every artist has had to wrestle with its dimensions and, as can be seen in the above photograph, the glass encased tree that grows inside it. Here’s a link to an article in The Toronto Star describing a possible future installation at the Canadian Pavilion–its controlled destruction.
I think it would be great if BlackFlash could publish an article or perhaps a series of photographs detailing the various aesthetic acrobatics that had to be undertaken to negotiate this space. We could start by contributing a list of past exhibiting artists here as well as discussing their various solutions.
This year’s artist is Mark Lewis and a description of his project can be found on the Canadian Pavilion website. The website is actually a great source of information if not critique on the Canadian Pavilion. They even have a floorplan of its seashell-like proportions. A list of past exhibitors can also be found on the website.
