The much-anticipated opening of the 2017 Venice Biennale is under way, and sneak previews of the show are already starting to flood in on social media. James Lee Byars’s giant Golden Tower is getting a lot of Instagram love, and the Anne Imhof performance, Faust, at the German Pavilion is attracting a buzz for its unique approach to capturing a sense of anxiety: bodies perform while encased, seemingly trapped, under a glass platform, and the pavilion itself is guarded by a fence and watch dogs. Some performers were spotted sitting on the fence, watching from above. Here, artnet News has rounded up the Instagram top posts ahead of the Biennale’s public opening on May 13th:
Caged dogs guarding the German Pavilion, part of Anne Imhof’s performance FAUST
Meanwhile, inside the Pavilion, performers walk on glass while others writhe underneath it
The Korean Pavilion seems more cheerful, judging from the neon lights
And glowing swans make a charming impression at the Czech and Slovak Pavilion
A giant gold monument by James Lee Byers, erected in public for the first time since its conception in 1976, looks impressive from any angle
Performing Erwin Wurm’s One-Minute Sculptures at the Austrian Pavilion
Tracey Moffatt packs a punch at the Australian Pavilion
And everyone’s loving Phyllida Barlow’s soft sculptures at the British Pavilion
Indoor foliage and futuristic lines at the Nordic Pavilion
Inside Christine Macel’s show in the Arsenale, Alicja Kwade’s mirror installation is disorienting viewers