Curated by FITZ & CO · 5 exhibitions
This selection reflects a perspective shaped by decades of advising artists, institutions, and cultural platforms at pivotal moments. Through FITZ & CO, we have worked closely with national pavilions including Iceland, Korea, Mexico, Portugal, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, amongst others, as well as a wide range of Collateral Events/exhibitions and off-site projects during/across the Venice Biennale landscape. The exhibitions gathered here are rigorous in their thinking, precise in their execution, and confident in their point of view. They are presentations that challenge assumptions and contribute meaningfully to the broader cultural conversation. My first Venice Biennale was in 1995, and what continues to resonate are works grounded in intention, care, and originality, qualities that remain as compelling now as they were then. — Sara Fitzmaurice
“Visual artist and Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Jewel is presenting her largest exhibition to date. Presented in association with Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and curated by the museum's curator-at-large, Joe Thompson, the exhibition explores shifting perceptions of feminine power and motherhood through the ages. Reflecting on contemporary women's place in society and their disconnection from nature, Jewel seeks to regenerate a fractured world. She works across large-scale sculpture, tapestry, data-driven art, photography, glass blowing, sound art as well traditional oil paintings (following in the tradition of portrait miniatures and Dutch still lifes).”
Salone Verde · The four-time Grammy nominee Jewel presents her largest visual art exhibition to date — paintings, sculptures, tapestries, and sound works that approach motherhood and feminine knowledge as historically situated systems eroded by extraction and acceleration. Anchored by the 8-foot LED-and-NASA-data sculpture 'Heart of the Ocean,' curated for Salone Verde by Joe Thompson in partnership with Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.
“A film following an anthropomorphic piece of excrement through everyday rituals of bodily restraint to examine shame as the social mechanism that sorts and disciplines bodies, especially toward gender, hierarchy, and cleanliness.”
Grand Duchy of Luxembourg Pavilion · Aline Bouvy's film follows an anthropomorphic piece of excrement through everyday rituals of bodily restraint to examine shame as the social mechanism that sorts and disciplines bodies — especially around gender, hierarchy, and cleanliness. Staged inside Bouvy's mirror-glassed steel architecture in the Sale d'Armi at the Arsenale, curated by Stilbé Schroeder of Casino Luxembourg.
“American artist Kennedy Yanko builds her hybrid works from two materials in tension: salvaged metal she cuts, crushes, and welds, and her signature "paint skins," sheets of poured paint and latex she drapes across steel armature. Sound and water enter the work as elemental provocations, dissolving the binary between body and matter.”
Arsenale · The Arsenale chapter of 'In Minor Keys' is built around three motifs — Procession (Afro-Atlantic carnival), Schools (territorial ecosystems), and Rest — designed to slow visitors across the more than 110 artists and collectives in Koyo Kouoh's posthumously realised exhibition, which unfolds across both Giardini and Arsenale.
“The first living woman artist to mount a major exhibition at the Accademia in its 250-year history, Abramović, who will celebrate her eightieth birthday shortly after the show closes, gathers historic performance works including Rhythm 0 (1974) and a re-enactment of Imponderabilia (1977), (Bologna) alongside Pietà (with Ulay) (1983) hung in dialogue with Titian's unfinished Pietà on its 450th anniversary, and a body of newer works incorporating quartz and amethyst, organized around her 1988 Great Wall Walk with her then companion, the late artist Ulay.”
Gallerie dell’Accademia · The first living woman artist to mount a major exhibition at the Gallerie dell'Accademia in its 250-year history, Marina Abramović — in a show marking her 80th birthday — gathers historic performance works including 'Rhythm 0' (1974) and a re-enactment of 'Imponderabilia' (1977), alongside 'Pietà (with Ulay)' (1983) hung in dialogue with Titian's unfinished 'Pietà' on its 450th anniversary, plus newer works incorporating quartz and amethyst organised around her 1988 Great Wall Walk with the late artist Ulay. Curated by Shai Baitel.
“Marking the inauguration of the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo's third permanent venue, a self-sustaining island in the Venetian lagoon, Matt Copson presents a solo project merging exhibition with performance and fostering a dialogue between visual and sonic forms.”
Re Rebaudengo, San Giacomo · Marking the inauguration of Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo's third permanent venue — a self-sustaining island in the Venetian lagoon — Matt Copson's Fanfare/Lament merges exhibition with performance, fostering a dialogue between visual and sonic. Curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist with original music composed by Oliver Leith, extending Copson and Leith's prior operatic collaborations into Sandretto's new island laboratory for art and ecological research.
