Special Programs

Venice Beach Biennial (through July 15)

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The Venice beach Biennial
July 13-15, 2012---The Venice Beach Biennial (VBB), a weekend event that made tongue-in-cheek reference to the "real" Venice Biennale in Italy, treated the famed Venice Beach boardwalk, Ocean Front Walk, as an outdoor exhibition venue. Over the course of the weekend, some 25-30 artists will set up vending stands alongside the veteran boardwalk artists, exhibiting new bodies of work, collaborating with the veterans on new projects, displaying site-specific sculptures or installations, and presenting live performances. The Venice Beach Biennial is presented in conjunction with 'Made in L.A. 2012' and directed by Hammer curator Ali Subotnick. Made possible by the Teiger Foundation. (Run Time 8 min.)

The Venice Beach Biennial (VBB), a weekend event that makes tongue-in-cheek reference to the “real” Venice Biennale in Italy, will treat the famed Venice Beach boardwalk, Ocean Front Walk, as an outdoor exhibition venue. Over the course of the weekend over 50 fine artists will set up vending stands alongside veteran boardwalk artists, exhibiting new bodies of work, collaborating with the veterans on new projects, displaying site-specific sculptures or installations, and presenting live performances. Directed by Hammer curator Ali Subotnick.

The famed Ocean Front Walk is a promenade along Venice Beach with a rich history and undeniably funky atmosphere—and it’s also an ideal, if unconventional, location for a large-scale interdisciplinary outdoor exhibition. The boardwalk is officially recognized as a “Free Speech and Expression Zone” and there is a regulated system, which aims to allow performers, entertainers, and free expressionists to exhibit and sell their own original and constitutionally protected merchandise, in over 200 spaces marked along the beach side of the boardwalk. A recent city ordinance has fine-tuned the definition of “art” and nominal works that are permitted in the vending spaces, which has brought back many artists that had previously been driven out by commercial vendors.

VBB takes artists accustomed to showing in galleries and museums out of their comfort zone, and encourages them to consider their work in a new context. The veteran boardwalk artists will play an active role in this weekend event, and all artists will be working under the same conditions and regulations. Artists may also collaborate with shop owners and restaurateurs to present site-specific projects, interventions, murals, and wall projects. This exhibition will instigate new connections and dialogue between disparate artistic communities and audiences that could potentially sustain itself and deepen over time. Projects will be presented on the boardwalk proper as well as in the Recreation and Parks area near Windward Plaza (adjacent to Muscle Beach and the Graffiti Wall).

The Venice Beach Biennial will take place along Ocean Front Walk between 19th Avenue and Rose Avenue. Ocean Front Walk is a pedestrian Boardwalk located parallel to the ocean.

Hours

Friday, July 13, 11am-sunset

Saturday, July 14, 11am-sunset

Sunday, July 15, 11am-6pm

Projects in Formation Include:

Ceramicist Matthias Merkel Hess will show handmade ceramic versions of items often sold on the boardwalk and everyday objects, such as sunglasses, towels and six-pack rings.

Evan Holloway with Julian Valdivieso will present a performance collaboration with the bodybuilders at famed Muscle Beach.

Barbara Kruger poses existential questions in the form of stickers adhered to the ground.

Cara Faye Earl will sell miniature sculptures inspired by popular Mexican saint figurines, which she has created in the guise of the world’s most wanted terrorists.

Nick Herman turns to the tradition of scouring the sand with metal detectors and plans to display his treasures in a vending space.

Jason Meadows is constructing a two-headed bicycle, a bit like a push-me pull-you, two bikes sharing one front wheel.

Carter Mull will set up a photo booth on the boardwalk in which visitors may have their photo taken in the manner of obituary photographs.

Drew Heitzler and Sam Sharit will debut a new video animation that will be playing at Danny's Venice Deli and Mollusk Surf Shop.

Jennifer Rochlin will present ceramic tiles inserted into recesses on the facade of the public restrooms.

Veteran Boardwalk Artists Include:

Arthure Moore’s best-selling painting, Funky Pussy, features a cat giving “the finger,” and is the main identity for VBB. Moore also makes "funky" paintings of iconic figures such as the Mona Lisa and Muhammad.

Albert Culbertson and Indira Burgos make paintings and boxes with imagery burned into wood using a magnifying glass and sunlight.

RA Superstar shows vibrant paintings mixing abstract expressionism and Pop Art.

Giles Williams creates inventive sculptures using palm fronds.

Flewnt makes mixed media assemblages using found metal, wood and other everyday material.

Vlada Stanisavlevic a.k.a. Danny Z produces lifelike portraits in airbrush as well as surreal landscapes populated by imaginary creatures.

Mr. TV presents a vaudevillian, satirical performance viewed through an open-air TV set.

Winston the Portraitist draws exquisite charcoal portraits in under ten minutes.

Artists

Lisa Anne Auerbach & Robby Herbst
Loretta Ayeroff
Alex Becerra
Chelsea Beck & Kurt Mueller with José Claustro*
Larry Bell
Edgar Bryan
Ben Brunnemer
Jedediah Caesar
Timothy Caldwell*
Matt Chambers
Claude Collins-Stracensky
Liz Craft
Rip Cronk*
Albert Culbertson & Indira Burgos*
Nathan Danilowicz
Dave Deany
Doh*
Cara Faye Earl
Ernesto*
Mark X Farina
Marc Fichou
Finishing School with Devon Tsuno
Flewnt*
Eve Fowler
Abel Galindo*
John Geary
Scott Grieger
Katie Grinnan
Mark Grotjahn
Mark Hagen & Scott Benzel**
Heartbeat of Venice feat. the Venice Beach Drum Orchestra*
Drew Heitzler & Sam Sharit
Nick Herman
Roger Herman
Matthias Merkel Hess
Kenyatta A. C. Hinkle**
Evan Holloway with Julian Valdivieso
Ikoh*
Charles Irvin
Alex Israel
Adam Janes
Louis Jean-Paul*
Barbara Kruger
Joel Kyack & Michael Decker
La.Marche*
Nery Gabriel Lemus**
Chris Lipomi
Burton Machen
Lauren Marsolier
Anna Mayer
Jason Meadows
Brenna Michele*
Jean Joseph Monfort*
Pentti Monkkonen
Arthure Moore*
Mr. TV*
Carter Mull
Derek Mulliner*
Brian Mylius
Arist Niciforos*
Renée Petropoulos
RA Superstar*
Sheila Richburg*
Jennifer Rochlin
Ry Rocklen**
Mark Self*
Salty Shakespeare
Alexis Smith
Gary Soszynski*
SKY (Stacey Kai Young)*
Vlada Stanisavlevic a.k.a. Danny Z*
James Scotty Todd*
Monique Van Genderen & Kate Brown
Venice Beach Pothead*
Erika Vogt**
Giles Williams*
Winston the Portraitist*
Brenna Youngblood** & Eamon Ore-Giron

*Boardwalk artists
**Artists that are also in Made in L.A. 2012

The Venice Beach Biennial is made possible by the Teiger Foundation.