by Lucia Ott, on Oct 9, 2017 10:28:36 AM
Whenever you start to write about what is going on in the world of art & design, you can’t avoid talking about 'La Biennale di Venezia'. Every second year the beautiful Italian city Venice welcomes thousands of art lovers from all over the world.
Since May of this year the 57th Venice Biennale has been taking place under the title 'Viva Arte Viva'. Along with the part located at the Arsenale, the national pavilions at the Giardini are the centre of the exhibition. In these public gardens 29 different countries are represented by their artists. 
Photo: Alex Went
One of the most outstanding pavilions is probably the German one. The artist Anne Imhof created a captivating performance installation, which almost everyone seems to be talking about. Not only because of the fact that she won the 2017 Golden Lion prize for the best national participation, but because so many visitors are waiting in front of the pavilion every day, all hoping to be a part of the mystical and powerful experience during the live performance, entitled 'Faust'.
The British artist Phyllida Barlow is showing a surprising installation called 'Folly': her rough and playful sculptures fill the entire pavilion and create an unconventional wonderland.
In front of another pavilion an upended truck sticks out of the ground. Erwin Wurm is famous for such staggering images. Together with Brigitte Kowanz’s light installations he represents Austria during this Biennale.
Mark Bradford presents in his work 'Tomorrow is Another Day' abstract paintings and sculptures with ruined textures and surfaces.
In the Arsenale, Italy’s group show impresses with its reductionism. While Italian artists were more famous for their exuberant kitsch in the past, the curator Cecilia Alemani has managed to create a minimalistic visual language this year. Especially the artist Giorgio Andreotta Calo, who has conceived a beautiful space. Climbing a few stairs, the visitor can take a look at a giant mirror, that reflects the vaulted roof of the atmospherically illuminated hall. With the effect of the reflective surface of water, the installation blurs the border between reality and illusion.
There is so much more that is worth mentioning, but it would be hard to find an end. So all I can do is to finish with saying: go there soon, just like a group of students from Prague College's School of Art & Design will be! Now is the last opportunity to visit the great 57th Venice Biennale and experience it for yourself!
Lucia Ott
