Venice Biennale 2019 Round-Up: Here’s Everything We Published on the International Art Extravaganza in One Place

From profiles of the biggest art stars to reviews of the central exhibition, our coverage is here to guide you.

Venice, one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Photo by Frédéric Soltan/Corbis/Getty Images.

Every two years, the art world descends on Venice to assemble its thoughts on the state of art, share its innovations, and lay out its priorities for the years to come. Representatives from 90 countries also show off their artistic prowess and compete to be named best in show. With so much going on, it’s hard to keep track of it all—that’s why we’ve rounded up all of our coverage of the Venice Biennale in one place. The event runs through November 24.

 

GUIDES

Sun & Sea, Lithuania’s contribution to the 2019 Venice Biennale. Photo: Neon Realism.

The 10 Absolute Best National Pavilions at the Venice Biennale by artnet News

Venice Biennale 2019: Here Are All the Artists Confirmed to Represent Their Countries at the Event (So Far) by Caroline Goldstein

A Buyer’s Guide to the Venice Biennale: What Collectors Need to Know About the (Technically) Noncommercial Event by Melanie Gerlis

Beyond the Biennale: Here Are 15 Shows and Events Worth Seeking Out in Venice Outside the Main Event by artnet News

The 2019 Venice Biennale List Is Out. See the 83 Artists Participating in Ralph Rugoff’s ‘Interesting Times’ Edition by Sarah Cascone

Venice’s Happening New Art Quarter Opens Far From the Tourist Crowds. Here’s What Makes Giudecca Special by Naomi Rea

We Asked 26 Art-World Insiders About Their Favorite Hidden Restaurant Gems in Venice. Here’s What They Told Us by artnet News

 

 

REVIEWS

The Venice Biennale exhibition “May you live in interesting times,” will be open to the public from May 11 to November 24, 2019. Photo by Awakening/Getty Images.

In Ralph Rugoff’s Venice Biennale, the World’s Artists Take Planetary Doom as a Given, But Search for Joy Nonetheless by Ben Davis

It’s Hard to Make Good Art About Climate Change. The Lithuanian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale Is a Powerful Exception by Julia Halperin

A First Look at ‘Liberty,’ Martin Puryear’s Exhibition for the US Pavilion at the Venice Biennale by Ben Davis

Why TV Executives Should Make Artist Kahlil Joseph’s ‘BLKNWS’ Network, a Star of the Venice Biennale, Into a Reality by Andrew Goldstein

 

 

PICTURES

Yin Xiuzhen, Trojan (2012). Image courtesy Ben Davis.

Yin Xiuzhen, Trojan (2012). Image courtesy Ben Davis.

Can’t Make It to the Venice Biennale? See Work by Every Artist in the Arsenale Section of the Sprawling Exhibition by Ben Davis

Venice Biennale in Pictures: See Work by Every Artist in the Giardini Section of the Sprawling 2019 Exhibition by Ben Davis

Step Inside the Neon Hair Cave of Shoplifter, the Artist Behind Iceland’s Immersive Pavilion at This Year’s Venice Biennale by Sarah Cascone

 

 

INTERVIEWS

Ralph Rugoff in Venice. Photo courtesy of the Venice Biennale.

Ralph Rugoff in Venice. Photo courtesy of the Venice Biennale.

The Age of Equivocation? Venice Biennale Curator Ralph Rugoff on Why Ambiguity Is the Aesthetic of Our Time by Andrew Goldstein

Peer Inside the Prison of the Belgian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale and See a Disturbing World of Mannequins and Old White People by Kate Brown

 

 

NEWS

Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė accepts the Golden Lion for best national pavilion on behalf of Lithuania at the 2019 Venice Biennale. Photo: Venice Biennale.

Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė accepts the Golden Lion for best national pavilion on behalf of Lithuania at the 2019 Venice Biennale. Photo: Venice Biennale.

Arthur Jafa and the Lithuanian Pavilion Win the Venice Biennale’s 2019 Golden Lions, Casting a Spotlight on Racism and Climate Change by Julia Halperin

Did Banksy Infiltrate the Venice Biennale? The Mystery Street Artist May Be Behind a New Refugee-Crisis Mural in the City by Sarah Cascone

For the First Time, the Venice Biennale Is Launching a Performance Art Program to Bring Art Outside the Arsenale by Naomi Rea

The Remains of a Shipwreck That Killed Hundreds of Migrants Will Be Shown at the Venice Biennale by Kate Brown

Enduring a Political Crisis at Home, Venezuela Postpones the Opening of Its Pavilion at the Venice Biennale by Julia Halperin

When Algeria Abruptly Cancelled its Venice Biennale Debut, Five Young Artists Decided Their Show Must Go On by Naomi Rea

Rainy Weather Curtails the Venice Biennale’s Inaugural Performance Program by Naomi Rea

Where Are Her Emails? Here They Are! Why Kenneth Goldsmith Printed Out All 60,000 of Hillary Clinton’s Emails for His New Show in Venice by Sarah Cascone

Artist Hito Steyerl Slams a Weapons Manufacturer for Appropriating Leonardo da Vinci’s Name in Her Work for the Venice Biennale by Naomi Rea

Jimmie Durham Is This Year’s Winner of the Venice Biennale Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement by Sarah Cascone

Kosovo’s Venice Biennale Pavilion Will Recall the Last European War of the 20th Century by Kate Brown

Under a Dark Cloud of Controversy and Confusion, Kazakhstan Cancels Its Inaugural Venice Biennale Pavilion on Facebook by Kate Brown

Artist Natascha Sadr Haghighian Will Represent Germany at the 2019 Venice Biennale—and She’s Adopting an Alias for the Project by Henri Neuendorf

See This Russian Artist’s Dark Vision of How Pollution is Destroying Our Planet, Now on View in Venice by Sarah Cascone

 

 

ANALYSIS

Installation view of "Chromo Sapiens," the Icelandic Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, 2019. Photo: Elisabet Davidsdottir © Hrafnhildur Arnardottir/ Shoplifter.

Installation view of “Chromo Sapiens,” the Icelandic Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, 2019. Photo: Elisabet Davidsdottir © Hrafnhildur Arnardottir/ Shoplifter.

There’s a Flood of Climate Change-Related Art at the Venice Biennale. Can It Make a Difference—Or Is It Adding to the Problem? by Hettie Judah

Borrow, Barter, Crowdsource: How Small Countries Bootstrap Their Way to the Venice Biennale by Julia Halperin

Ghana’s Buzzed-About Venice Biennale Pavilion Is a Clear First Step in the Country’s Bid to Become a Global Art Destination by Julia Halperin

‘Only Soft Power Can Last’: How China’s Unusually Low-Key Venice Biennale Pavilion Fits Into Its Strategy for Global Influence by Vivienne Chow

Is Ralph Rugoff’s Venice Biennale Exhibition Too US-Centric? by Ben Davis

The Gray Market: Why Many Working Artists Are Much Closer to a Venice Biennale Pavilion Than They Realize (and Other Insights) by Tim Schneider

‘Absolutely Vile’ or ‘Powerful’? Christoph Buchel’s Migrant Boat Is the Most Divisive Work at the Venice Biennale by Javier Pes and Naomi Rea

Laure Prouvost Is Digging a Tunnel Between the French and British Pavilions at the Venice Biennale by Naomi Rea

What Can We Expect From Ralph Rugoff’s Venice Biennale? Here Are 7 Takeaways From His Curatorial Vision and Artist List by Naomi Rea and Kate Brown

Biennials Are Proliferating Worldwide. There’s Just One Problem: Nobody Wants to Pay For Them by Javier Pes and Kate Brown

 

 

PEOPLE

Rose McGowan in Venice. Photo by Sarah Cascone.

Rose McGowan in Venice. Photo by Sarah Cascone.

‘I Didn’t Want My Art to Come Out While I Was an Actress’: At the Venice Biennale, Rose McGowan Reflects on Her New Life as an Artist by Sarah Cascone

Meet Augustas Serapinas, the Youngest Artist in the Venice Biennale, Who Likes to Lure Curators Into an Empty Sewer by Naomi Rea

Laure Prouvost, the Artist Representing France in the Venice Biennale, Wants You to Know She’s a Big-Time Liar by Kate Brown

Meet Kris Lemsalu, the Eccentrically Costumed Artist Who Will ‘Give Birth to a World of Shamanic Force’ at the Venice Biennale by Kate Brown

An Artist Representing Grenada in the Venice Biennale Has Had to Launch a GoFundMe Campaign to Help Pay for the Pavilion by Taylor Dafoe

This Artist Has Tapped Into Venice’s Rich Maritime History With 100 Hand-Painted Sails That Will Float Through Venice During the Biennale by Sarah Cascone


Follow Artnet News on Facebook:


Want to stay ahead of the art world? Subscribe to our newsletter to get the breaking news, eye-opening interviews, and incisive critical takes that drive the conversation forward.