TWO ARTISTS will represent the Republic at the world’s most prestigious showcase for contemporary art, the Venice Biennale 2009, which opens on June 6th.
They are Sarah Browne and Gareth Kennedy but, intriguingly, they will be accompanied by a third, composite artist, Kennedy Browne. Apart from working individually, Browne and Kennedy also produce collaborative projects, and all three variations of their practice will be on show in Venice. They were selected by the Irish commissioner, Caoimhin Corrigan. He surprised many observers by opting for relatively young and little-known artists.
For Venice, Browne has commissioned a hand-knotted carpet from Donegal Carpets. Local women who had worked for the company were re-employed to make a carpet to Browne’s modernist design and reflect on the Donegal brand’s association with Irishness. Kennedy aims to relocate buskers from Dublin city centre to Dublin’s docklands and thence to Venice as a means, he says, of exploring the respective relationships between the architectural settings and the performing artists.
Together as Kennedy Browne they’ve made a video work in which volunteers, situated in the iconic setting of Liberty Hall, narrate a text taken from Milton Friedman’s commentary on the virtues of the free market, as exemplified in the humble pencil. The 40-plus languages in which the readers speak nods towards the reality of globalisation.
Next Tuesday, installation artist Susan Mac William will unveil her plans as the artist representing Northern Ireland.
She is known for her installations based on her research into paranormal activity.
Irish artist John Gerrard, renowned for his hi-tech digital videos, will show work in a collateral event at Venice.
