Author: Ashmitaa Thiruselvam

After a year of delays from the global pandemic, the Venice Biennale (23 April – 27 November 2022) is set to finally open its doors in museums from Palazzo Grimani, Palazzo Ducale Venezia to Casa dei Tre Oci. The canal-drenched city is dressed to impress visitors and locals alike this spring with exhibitions featuring internationally admired and local Italian artists such as Marlene Dumas and Sabine Weiss. Read on for the top 6 must-see shows and where to find them.

Marlene Dumas: Open End

(27 March 2022 – 08 January 2023)

@museopalazzogrimani

This exhibition is a dedication to the hundreds of art pieces by South African artist Marlene Dumas. Curated by Caroline Bourgeois expect an immersive experience across two floors of Palazzo Grassi with pieces from Dumas’ early days of collage and texts to oil paintings and sketches. Many works follow what the artist titles second-hand image-making a patchwork of magazine and newspaper clippings often shot by other photographers offer new perceptions on old and new emotions. Featuring Dumas’ authentic art gathered from private collections, international museums, and her most recent unseen works.

Address: Rugagiuffa, 4858, 30122 Venezia VE, Italy

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Georg Baselitz: Archinto

(19 May 2022 – 27 November 2022)

@museopalazzogrimani

Archinto features a wide array of recent paintings designed by German artist Georg Baselitz. Displayed across twelve stucco framed panels, his works encapsulate Venice’s architecture and decoration in the eighteenth century through the theme of Renaissance portraiture. The works presented throughout draw attention to traditional Venice art, highlighting the separation present between traditional themes of Renaissance portraits and their contemporary counterparts. Archinto showcases the recent works of Baselitz alongside his unique style of printmaking as shown throughout his paintings.

Address: Rugagiuffa, 4858, 30122 Venezia VE, Italy

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Sabine Weiss: The Poetry of the Instant

(11 March 2022 – 23 October 2022)

@casa.dei.tre.oci

Tap into the creative world of Franco-Swiss photographer Sabine Weiss through The Poetry of the Instant. This exhibition pays tribute to Weiss’ creations from 1935 to the 1980s where the artist focuses on capturing life and emotions within themes from street photography to children, in a French humanist photography style. Displaying over two hundred photographs, The Poetry of the Instant also features Weiss’ works from Vogue in the 50’s, giving an insight into the artist’s collaboration works with other talents like William Klein, Henry Clarke and Guy Bourdin.

Address: Fondamenta Zitelle, 43, 30133 Venezia VE, Italy

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Surrealism and Magic: Enchanted Modernity

(09 April 2022 – 26 September 2022)

@guggenheim_venice

Artistic works from both Museum Barberini and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, showcasing creative talents like Max Ernst, Leonara Carrington, Giorgio de Chirico and Remedios Varo. Surrealism and Magic: Enchanted Modernity will feature around 90 works from private collections and international museums like the Art Institute of Chicago and the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. The curatorial draws upon esoteric symbolism in an era where magic had a poetic influence on art.

Address: Dorsoduro, 701-704, 30123 Venezia VE, Italy

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Danh Vo, Isamu Noguchi, Park Seo-Bo

(20 April 2022 – 27 November 2022)

@fondazionequerinistampalia

Co-curated by Danh Vo and Chiara Bertola, this exhibition displays the works of Vietnamese contemporary artist Danh Vo, alongside leading Korean artist Park Seo-Bo and American sculptor Isamu Noguchi. Spanning across all rooms of Fondazione Querini Stampalia, the sculptures and paintings delve into human play, repetition as well as global power structures and cultural conflicts. This show aims to commemorate Vo’s creations over the years, coupled with Noguchi’s trademark Akari lamps and paintings from Park’s famous Écriture series.

Address: Campo Santa Maria Formosa, 5252, 30122 Venezia VE, Italy

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Afro 1950-1970: From Italy to America and back

(21 April 2022 – 23 October 2022)

@museocapesaro

Ca’ Pesaro opens its doors to an exhibition like no other featuring works from one of the greatest names in 20th-century Italian art, Afro Basaldella. Featuring 45 masterpieces from drawings to authentic videos, each work highlights the link between Italian and American art styles. As shown through Basaldella’s collaborative works with American artists like Pollock, De Kooning and Gorky, this biennial honors the artist’s timeless creations of action painting and abstract expressionism with Italian and American influence, a skill adopted through Basaldella’s knowledge of the 1950s to 1970s American art scene.

Address: Santa Croce, 2076, 30135 Venezia VE, Italy

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