Curator Zoé Whitley THE BRITISH PAVILION at the 58th Venice Biennale features a new body of work by Irish artist Cathy Wilkes. Conceptual and figurative sculptures, a spare selection of household objects, and abstracted landscape paintings are installed in a series of six pristine galleries flooded with natural light. She’s created narrative moments and tableaux with a veil of solemnity. The work is intellectual, introspective, and questioning. Hard to pin down and a challenge to unpack, it’s fascinating to view. Zoé Whitley curated the exhibition. She describes the work as subtle and layered. “Cathy is an artist with an incredibly clear sense of vision,” she says, “and I have observed her resolve as this vision has taken shape in the British Pavilion.” Far from subtle, Whitley’s previous project brought together a generation of artists who used bold gestures to express themselves—through symbolism, color, and material. She co-organized “Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power.” The landmark exhibition brought new attention to African American artists active in the 1960s-80s, an era of racial and political tension and social and cultural transformation in the United States. Whitley was curator of international art at Tate Modern in London […]
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