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Biennale Bursts on Sydney, Australia
May 26, 2000 –
July 30, 2000
Yayoi Kusama Infinity Mirror Room - Phalli’s Field (or Floor Show) 1965
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What do an infinity
room of mirrored phalluses, another one filled with bouncing polka-dotted helium
balloons, and an installation of 100 coffins and 100 trees have in common?
During the next
66 days, visitors to several sites around Sydney will discover that the Biennale
of Sydney is the single unifying factor. Opening May 26 and continuing until
July 30, this massive international festival of contemporary art will transform
the city with discussion, debate, and visual delight.
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Yoko Ono, who happens
to be the creator of the Ex It installation of coffins and trees, attended the opening in Sydney on May
25. Many of the other 47 exhibitors representing film, photography, art, ceramics,
performance, sculpture, video, and other mediums were also in Australia for
the opening.
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Yoko Ono with 'Ex
It', 1998
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Fiona Hall Paradisus Terrestria Entitled 1999
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Plus-points for
the festival are that all exhibitions are free of charge and the prestigious
Museum of Contemporary Art, centrally located
opposite the Sydney Opera House, has devoted its entire space to Biennale exhibitions.
Other venues include The Art Gallery of New South Wales,
Object Gallery: Australian Centre for Craft and Design at
Customs House,
and Artspace.
Even the gardens of Government House have been utilized to display a garden
installation-- Gene Pool by Australian artist Fiona Hall.
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The Biennale of
Sydney began in 1973, and since then has presented over 1,000 artists from around
60 countries. This year, 23 nations are represented in this, the 12th festival,
with artists’ ages ranging from 31 to 89 years old. An important feature of
this year's Biennale is a display of indigenous aboriginal art, coinciding with
a series of special events being held in the city to foster the reconciliation
of indigenous and non-indigenous peoples of Australia.
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Artists in this
year's Biennale include Doug Aitken (USA), Gordon Bennett (Australia), Bill
Hammond (New Zealand), Chris Ofili (UK), Gerhard Richter (Germany) and Yayoi
Kusama (Japan). Kusama, the creator of those two amazing rooms mentioned at
the outset, believes that "Polka dots are a way to infinity." He says, "Our
earth is only one polka dot among the millions of stars in the cosmos."
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Chris Ofili The Adoration of Captain Shit and the Legend of the Black Stars 1998
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