All the must-see exhibitions in Venice during the Art Biennale 2024

After his last memorable participation in the 2019 Art Biennale with the touching and dramatic work Barca Nostra, Christoph Büchel returns to Venice, to the Fondazione Prada, with the project "Monte di Pietà." Starting from the history of the historic palace of Ca' Corner della Regina, which was the headquarters of Venice's Monte di Pietà until 1969, the artist delved into the study of the concept of debt as the basis of society and an instrument of power. Hence, the complex installation, which includes ancient and contemporary works and a selection of historical documents, is an opportunity for discussion regarding some of the central themes of contemporary history.

St. Lawrence Church in Castello's Sestriere is home to Ocean Space, a global center founded by TBA21-Academy, which organizes exhibitions, research, and public programs aimed at promoting Critical Literacy about the Ocean. This year's exhibition, titled "Re-stor(y)ing Oceania," features two indigenous Pacific artists, Latai Taumoepeau and Elisapeta Hinemoa Heta, and will be curated by Bougainville-based artist Taloi Havini. Havini works closely with a curatorial committee by which she promotes projects focused on indigenous perspectives from the Oceania, Australia and Asia-Pacific regions and their diasporas.

In conjunction with Pierre Huyghe's major exhibition at Punta della Dogana, Julie Mehretu's canvases arrive in Venice for an extraordinary solo show, curated by Caroline Bourgeois in collaboration with the artist. The two floors of Palazzo Grassi offer a close look at more than sixty paintings and printmaking by the Ethiopian-American painter, created over the past twenty-five years. Mehretu's works will be flanked by works by other artists, either her friends or personalities who influenced her.

The Giorgio Cini Foundation's program on the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore for 2024 is full of events not to be missed. The Nuova Manica Lunga Library hosts a project featuring works from the archive of designer and architect Alessandro Mendini, while two major exhibitions dedicated to Helmut Newton and Patrick Mimran are presented at Le Stanze della Fotografia (in collaboration with Marsilio Arte). In the Palazzo Cini Gallery, Martha Jungwirth's paintings find their place, and then the long-awaited monographic exhibition of American artist Alex Katz. Finally, about forty key works by Chu Teh-Chun are presented in the unique space of the Gandini Pool, in a three-dimensional setting to be explored.

"Nebula "is the exhibition organized by the In Between Art Film Foundation, curated by Alessandro Rabottini and Leonardo Bigazzi, at the Ospedaletto Complex with the exhibition design by Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli and Milan-based studio 2050+. It features eight new video installations specially commissioned for the occasion from Italian and international artists, including Giorgio Andreotta Calò, Saodat Ismailova, Cinthia Marcelle and Tiago Mata Machado, and Diego Marcon. The idea of the project is inspired by the phenomenon of fog as a condition that reduces visual capacity, making it necessary to use different sensory tools to navigate.

Yoo Youngkuk was a pioneer of geometric abstract painting who left an indelible mark on the history of art in Korea. In the Fondazione Querini Stampalia's historical palazzo, a selection of paintings from the 1960s and 1970s traces the artist's relationship with nature in the exhibition "A Journey to the Infinite," curated by Kim Inhye. This exhibition is the most important ever dedicated to the Korean master ever outside his country, and aims to tell the story of Youngkuk's art also through archival documents, photographs, postcards and videos.

Jim Dine, American painter, sculptor and poet, is the guest of Palazzo Rocca Contarini Corfu with an ambitious exhibition curated by Gerhard Steidl. Entitled "Jim Dine - Dog on the Forge," the exhibition presents fifty works created by Dine in recent years, drawings, bronze and wood sculptures, and a large outdoor installation. Site-specific works in dialogue with works from the 1980s to the present.
The focus of the curatorial work is the inspiration the artist has drawn from his travels between the United States and Europe, as well as from his dedication to the concept of visual, cultural and linguistic hybridization.

While part of the art collection owned by American producer Swizz Beatz (and his wife Alicia Keys) is on display at the Brooklyn Museum, in an exhibition celebrating the idea of mutual support between artists, in Venice the project "Are We The Aliens_" features a collaboration between Belgian artist Arne Quinze and the American musician. In the church built to a design by Sansovino and completed by Palladio, Quinze's phytomorphic sculptures are joined by a sound installation by Swizz Beatz in a praise of nature's beauty that invites reflection on the transformative potential of humanity's reconnection with the natural world.

In the heart of Cannaregio, the deconsecrated Chiesetta della Misericordia hosts the Guggenheim Museum New York's Asian Art Initiative project, "Yu Hong: Another One Bites the Dust." New figurative and narrative paintings conceived in harmony with the location's architectural and cultural context by Chinese artist Yu Hong recount the arc of the human experience-birth, life and death-with an underlying existential dread running through the entire series. Through his exquisitely painted but somber compositions, Yu Hong offers a critique of the massive social changes due to globalization in China and around the world.

"The Spirits of Maritime Crossing "marks the directorial debut of Professor Apinan Poshyananda, artistic director of the Bangkok Art Biennale. In a spiritual odyssey from Venice to the Thai capital, the protagonist of the play is Marina Abramović who, through encounters with symbolic figures and visits to sacred places, becomes the embodiment of an apparition adrift in perpetual search for a balance of the mind.

Walton Ford's impressive watercolor works and prints depart from the visual and narrative language of traditional natural history painting to explore the most surprising and often violent aspects of the interaction between human culture and the natural realm. The American artist's research includes scientific illustrations, folktales and myths to bring to life animal tales that resonate in the collective human imagination. Curated by Udo Kittelmann, the exhibition comes to life in the historic 17th-century palazzo of the Ateneo Veneto in the sestriere of San Marco.

The Palladian architecture of the Benedictine abbey of San Giorgio Maggiore, located on the island by the same name, is home to Belgian artist Berlinde De Bruyckere and her sculptures, specially conceived for the exhibition City of Refuge III. The exhibition, named after a Nick Cave song, revolves around three new main sculptural groups that interact with the function and symbolism of the sacred space. The theme of art as sanctuary and place of refuge is investigated in this series of installations, of which the Venice exhibition is the third stage, following the first two set in France and Germany.

South Korean artist Lee Bae brings to Venice an evocative experience focused on the connection between man and nature, portrayed through an exploration of a centuries-old ritual rooted in South Korean culture called "Moonhouse Burning." The artist makes visitors participate in this celebration through screenings, installations and works that transform the exhibition space into a representation of collective hope, inviting us to rediscover humanity's connection with nature and folk traditions, which are increasingly less considered in today’s world.

Cocteau was a writer, poet, critic, and eccentric artist: the exhibition Jean Cocteau. The Juggler's Revenge, at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection through September 16, celebrates him for the eclecticism of his creations, which have found a place of honor in the history of contemporary art. His brilliant versatility and creativity made him one of the key figures of the Parisian scene of the last century, and the first major retrospective dedicated to him in Italy, curated by Kenneth E. Silver, aims to retrace the most important moments of his troubled career.

A curated collection of 150 artworks by the dynamic duo, Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne, who shared throughout their whole lives an artistic and romantic bond: in the stunning setting of Palazzo Rota Ivancich, the exhibition Planète Lalanne, curated by Jérôme Neutres, is the first Italian retrospective that chronicles the creative genius of the two artists. An authentic invitation awaits visitors to delve into the Lalanne universe, shedding light on the poetic inspiration that drove them to challenge the limitations of decorative arts in comparison to fine arts.

The exhibition Willem de Kooning e l’Italia at the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice is an exploration of the impact that Willem de Kooning's experiences in Italy, in 1959 and 1969, had on his ouvre. The exhibition presents a careful selection of works covering a significant time span, from the late 1950s to the 1980s, to offer the public an in-depth view of the relationship between Italian art and culture and the celebrated American painter and sculptor.

The collaboration between Sanlorenzo - a world leader in luxury yachting - and Michelangelo Pistoletto and his Foundation brings to life the Third Paradise Quick Response project, curated by Cristiano Seganfreddo, which will be unveiled in conjunction with the opening of the 60th Venice Art Biennale. The installation, created in Sanlorenzo's shipyards, consists of three continuous circles representing the union of opposites and the synthesis of a dynamic balance between conflicting elements, with the purpose of taking humanity through the epochal challenges of the contemporary world. This event anticipates the launch of Sanlorenzo Arts Venice in 2025, a cultural and artistic hub, the restoration of which is curated by Piero Lissoni, destined to emerge as a landmark in Venice's cultural scene in the coming years.

On April 20, Palazzo Diedo - a new space dedicated to contemporary art by Berggruen Arts& Culture, which has been leading the restoration of the ancient Venetian palace in recent years - finally opens its doors to the public. On this occasion, the exhibition halls will host the Janus exhibition, featuring eleven original site-specific installations by internationally renowned artists such as Urs Fischer, Piero Golia, CarstenHöller, Ibrahim Mahama, Mariko Mori, Sterling Ruby, Jim Shaw, Hiroshi Sugimoto, AyaTakano, Lee Ufan and LiuWei. Along with the exhibition, there will also be two special projects curated by The Kitchen New York, which brings a solo show by artist Rhea Dillon, and the Polaroid Foundation.

Pierre Huyge's largest solo exhibition ever is all to be discovered in Venice, March 17 through November 24, 2024, in the halls of Punta della Dogana. Curated by Anne Stenne, the exhibition presents many works in which the conditions and possibilities of coexistence and hybridization between different entities are explored. Visitors are invited to dive into the vision of the French artist, who looks at the context of the exhibition as part of a ritual in which new possibilities of relationship between its constituent elements can arise.