Exhibition Review: VENICE INTERNATIONAL ART FAIR
14th Edition, 2021/2022
Venice | December 16/17, 2021 – January 10, 2022
THE ROOM Contemporary Art Space | Misericordia Archives

ITSLIQUID Group, in collaboration with Venice Events, is delighted to share the successful opening of the 14th Edition of Venice International Art Fair, a contemporary exhibition of photography, painting, video art, installation/sculpture, and performance art, presented in Venice, at THE ROOM Contemporary Art Space from December 16, 2021, to January 10, 2022, and at Misericordia Archives from December 17, 2021, to January 10, 2022, with around 100 artists, coming from more than 40 countries worldwide.

The 14th Edition of Venice International Art Fair represents a forum for the direct exchange of ideas and contacts between collectors, artists, photographers, designers, and art professionals. The art fair features paintings, sculptures, photography art, installations, video art, and live performances.

Venice International Art Fair 2021 analyzes the relationship between body and space, and the hybridization between identities and the cultural/physical/social/urban context in contemporary time, through two main sections: LIQUID ROOMS and FUTURE LANDSCAPES. LIQUID ROOMS analyzes the hidden parts of our identities and the human body as a changing and communication system through an immersive experience inside the complex labyrinths of our consciousness. While FUTURE LANDSCAPES explores the concept of ‘borders’ and the structures between body, mind, and soul, the human identity and the city, the space and the ground.

We have been very pleased to receive many visitors and artists in our venue, THE ROOM Contemporary Art Space, during the first opening event on December 16. Anastasia Markovskaya, standing in front of her canvas, presented her work talking about her Russian origin, which we could easily find in her style as a true socialist realism example. The geometric shapes of the composition showed up along with the figure of a sporty man, a symbol of the physical body as a model, an icon of a super-human, a deity. Men and power are also the main topics of the photographic series “The fall of Empires” by Oded Levran, an Israeli artist based in Berlin, who decided to print his huge artworks on the bright surface of Chromaluxe. His project is all about the connection between the macro universe of the ancient Empires of history, to the micro-world of the crumbling leaves represented in his prints, that have hints from historical maps: it creates an amazing analogy of the cycles and collapses of major powers throughout human history.

Speaking about natural objects and the links between them and the human world, we have to mention the project of Patrick Lysaght. He participated in the exhibition with his Frost Crystals pictures, from the “Morphology of Fleeting Structure” series, and explained to us his point of view: “Photographing patterns of fleeting and enduring structure in nature focuses the lens inward, illustrating simple and extraordinary physical characteristics we share with the world we inhabit”. Natural metaphors of social justice are realized in the never-ending struggle for equality between different density fluids, and the saturated colors animate the geometric precision of crystal growth that emerges from random events: this is the entropy the artist is researching on. Even the painting of Lucely Vargas Preciado, apparently abstract, hides a deeper meaning, as she explained to us. It wants to transmit a message of environmental sustainability, and each color symbolizes a different layer to obtain it. The bronze sculpture of Haya Tabib Seginer instead, called “Lady Corona 2021”, reminds us of the pandemic we all faced in these years. The artist made this work on instinct, to give voice to her thoughts about this difficult period, and in fact, it contains clear elements of fear and concern.

Carlo di Giacomo, from Italy, and Nataša Segulin, from Slovenia, exhibited their semi-abstract photos, which are related to the FUTURE LANDSCAPES theme but can be inserted also in the LIQUID ROOMS concept. The seascapes shot by Carlo di Giacomo are blurred and unstable and become a kind of inner space for both the author and the viewer at every glance. While the black and white photographies of Nataša Segulin, realized during a journey, represent the reflection of the shutters on the ceiling in the intimacy of a hotel room in the South of Italy; they show the game between lights and shadows as a metaphor for the state of today’s world. Iside Pellegrino Preite and Angeliki Manta as well presented series of photos, but they are totally different kinds of shots. The pictures of Iside Pellegrino Preite, a photographer who lives between Milan and Ibiza, are a declaration of the feminine body and sensuality, but also an unmasking of fears, weakness, and vulnerability of women, as we can see from some minor details. The photos of Angeliki Manta from Greece, instead, are real ‘staged photography’ works: the artist realized the whole sceneries, placing elements and arranging compositions that create environments and help to express emotions and identity’s challenges.

Andrea Gendusa’s digital illustrations are colorful like children’s drawings, but they have something spiritual inside; his aim is to talk through art and beauty to the people’s essence, helping them to start their journey that brings to a deep comprehension of the actual place of humans inside the universe. Even the big paintings made by Pilar Rivero Donoso, hanging in the first room of the venue, are funny and full of colors, they appear like child’s drawings, and they seem to talk about the everyday issues of everyone’s life. Valerie Fontanier Belza (VFB), last but not least, presented her pastel & charcoal painting, which is the visual representation of the poem “Le bateau ivre” by Rimbaud.

At Misericordia Archives, on December 17, we hosted an impressive live performance by Sergio Patricio, with the collaboration of Benjamin Podoba, who created by hand, in Murano, the glass masks that the dancer wore during the show. As scabs of a clash between two materials, the glass is the medium between their two bodies to get in touch. The actions made by Sergio used the body parts sculptured on glass by Benjamin and created a kind of second skin for him, in a deep mixture of the two identities. The multidisciplinary artist Violetta De Saga talked to us about the symbolism inside her painting and her inspiration that comes from the mythical Amazons. In her canvases, the main subject is the power of women, which she see as universal forces and divinities and represents as ancestral totems.

For Ryo Arita, the Japanese Zen concept of food as both sustenance and transitory perishable art – pleasing to the senses and meant to be ingested and transformed as life-sustaining energy – is an inspiration for his art. René Agostinho’s focus is on the human being and his ego. Men are capable of creating wonders such as arts, medicine, science, technology, but also of suffering and destroying their own species: this dichotomy is the obsession of his artwork. Finally, we have to mention the video screening program, and the opportunity we had to interview Alessandra Breviario, an Italian video artist from Milan, who lived and worked in the USA and then in the UK. Her practice has evolved into a multimedia exploration of the role that communication plays in re-shaping our perception of the world, especially the botanical world.

organized by ITSLIQUID Group
curator Luca Curci
in collaboration with Venice Events
project manager Giulia Tassi
project coordinators Amaride Ferrante, Veronica Piras, Giulia Spagnuolo
collaborators Federica Lapi, Martina Melica, Giulia Morroni, Michela Sperandio, Ilde Strobbe
graphic designer Marina Caracciolo
supported by Amphitane Films | Balthazar | Entropy | Margate Bookie | Sasha Assaul Design

VENUES
THE ROOM Contemporary Art Space
Calle Larga San Marco, 374 – 30124 Venice, Italy
December 17, 2021 – January 10, 2022
09:30AM – 05:30PM | Monday – Friday

Misericordia Archives
Cannaregio 3549 – 30121 Venice, Italy
December 20, 2021 – January 10, 2022
09:30AM – 05:30PM | Monday – Friday

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COVID-19 Protection Concept – ITSLIQUID Group

The health and safety of our staff and visitors are of predominant importance to ITSLIQUID Group. This Protection Concept governs how we intend to operate after Italy’s lockdown has ended, the rules that will be applied inside the exhibition spaces and how these will be implemented in practice. Read more.

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ABOUT US

ITSLIQUID is a web-based information platform, founded in 2001 by Luca Curci, dedicated to the worldwide distribution of information about calls for entries, exhibitions, and events at some of the world’s leading art galleries, museums, and foundations selected. ITSLIQUID has already built a readership of more than 250.000 qualified subscribers. Among them architects, designers, artists, collectors, art critics, curators, dealers, and other personalities of the International art, architecture, and design world. It provides advertising services, press office services for events and projects, articles and specials published on the website, media partnerships services.

During the last 20 years, ITSLIQUID Group has become a cultural hub between creatives, exhibition spaces, and art lovers. Among our international partners, Art Now Fair, Art Vancouver, Design Tokyo, INDEX Qatar, INDEX Saudi, The Big 5 Construct Dubai, The Big 5 Construct Qatar, Photo LA Los Angeles, and international magazines like Art Style. ITSLIQUID Group supports some of the most important no-profit organizations, like UNFCCC – United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, SSCS – Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, One Tree Planted, The Ocean CleanUp and Plastic Oceans, with the goal to increase public awareness about environmental issues. Click here to find out more.

ITSLIQUID GROUP includes a section dedicated to the organization of international art events, managing exhibitions of painting, photography, video art, installation and performance; it organizes solo and collective shows, art residencies and international contests. Its object is to use new technologies to globalize the language of art, to connect artists working in every part of the world.

ITSLIQUID Group manages a variety of art spaces all over the world; among them THE ROOM Contemporary Art Space in the heart of San Marco Square in Venice and different historical buildings, THE LINE Contemporary Art Space in London city center, and other different partners worldwide. Since its beginning, the group has organized more than 250 events all around the world, involving more than 5.000 artists, in more than 60 international venues in Italy, the USA, Canada, UK, Spain, France, etc. Most of the last events have been realized in museums (CCCB – Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona in Spain, NCCA – National Center for Contemporary Arts in Moscow, etc.), galleries and private foundations.

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OUR LOCATIONS

THE ROOM Contemporary Art Space, located in San Marco square, in the heart of Venice is available to host solo show and group exhibitions of the most talented emerging and established artists, designers and architects selected by our professional team among the numerous show participation requests.

Overlooking the unique San Marco square, THE ROOM Contemporary Art Space presents a rich program of exhibitions, talks, meetings, workshops and courses about art, architecture, design and fashion with architects, designers, artists, collectors, art critics, curators, dealers, and other personalities of the International art, architecture and design world. Being part of our program is an exciting opportunity to improve your network and get new inspirations.

THE ROOM Contemporary Art Space is a fascinating and prestigious venue where our professional team will be at your disposal to assist you, offering a unique exhibition experience, giving you the opportunity to display your artworks in Venice, one of the most suggestive cities in the art world, and broadening your artistic career and exhibition background.

The Misericordia Archives are located in a suggestive and strategic position, within the vivid hub developing around the area of Scuola Grande della Misericordia. Just next to the Misericordia Abbey Church, the archives were recently restored and turned into fascinating multi-functional spaces, with a post-industrial twist, finished with wooden details, rough plaster walls, and concrete floor. They are provided with an independent access and they are composed by two rooms, which are ready to be used for exhibiting with: professional lightning system, floor heating, walls can be drilled. This space is perfect for temporary exhibitions, cultural events, small cocktails.