Please note, that this exhibition takes place in Venice, Italy. Visit the official website.
Overview
The Portland Art Museum and SITE Santa Fe, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, present Jeffrey Gibson as the representative for the United States at the 60th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia.
Celebrated for an artistic practice that combines American, Indigenous, and Queer histories with influences from music and pop culture, Gibson creates a dynamic visual language that reflects the inherent diversity and hybridity of American culture. Using abundant color, complex pattern, and text, he invites deep reflection on identity, inspires empathy, and advocates for a widening of access to democracy and freedom for all. On view April 20 through November 24, 2024, Jeffrey Gibson: the space in which to place me provides international audiences with the first major opportunity to experience Gibson’s work outside of the U.S.
For the U.S. Pavilion, Gibson will activate the interior and exterior of the building with a series of new and recent works that invite reflection on individual and collective identities including sculpture, paintings, multimedia works, and a site-specific installation activating the pavilion’s courtyard. The title of the exhibition references Oglala Lakota poet Layli Long Soldier’s poem Ȟe Sápa.
About the artist
Jeffrey Gibson (born 1972) is an interdisciplinary artist. A member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and of Cherokee descent, Gibson grew up in major urban centers in the United States, Germany, and Korea. He received a bachelor of fine arts in painting from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1995 and master of arts in painting at the Royal College of Art, London, in 1998. He was awarded honorary doctorates from Claremont Graduate University (2016) and the Institute of American Indian Arts (2023). He is currently an artist-in-residence at Bard College.
Recent solo exhibitions include Jeffrey Gibson: DREAMING OF HOW IT’S MEANT TO BE (Stephen Friedman Gallery, London, 2024), Jeffrey Gibson: ANCESTRAL SUPERBLOOM (Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York, 2023), This Burning World: Jeffrey Gibson (ICA San Francisco, 2022), Jeffrey Gibson: The Body Electric (SITE Santa Fe, 2022), Jeffrey Gibson: They Come From Fire (Portland Art Museum, 2022), Jeffrey Gibson: INFINITE INDIGENOUS QUEER LOVE (deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, 2022), and Jeffrey Gibson: Like A Hammer (Denver Art Museum, 2018).
Gibson has received many distinguished awards, including a Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters and Sculptors Grant (2012), and a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellowship Award (2019). Gibson also conceived the landmark volume An Indigenous Present (2023), which showcases diverse approaches to Indigenous concepts, forms, and media. His work is included in the permanent collections of the Denver Art Museum; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Museum of Modern Art, New York; National Gallery of Canada; Portland Art Museum; Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian; and Whitney Museum of American Art, among others.
The Museum presented Jeffrey Gibson: They Come From Fire in 2022.
About La Biennale di Venezia
Established in 1895, La Biennale di Venezia is acknowledged today as one of the most prestigious cultural institutions. The International Art Exhibition is considered the most prestigious contemporary art exhibition, introducing hundreds of thousands of visitors to exciting new art every two years. The 60th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia (April 20 – November 24, 2024) will be curated by Adriano Pedrosa.
The United States Pavilion at the Giardini della Biennale, a building in the neoclassical style, opened on May 4, 1930. Since 1986, The U.S. Pavilion has been owned by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and managed by the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, which works closely with the Department of State and exhibition curators to install and maintain all official U.S. exhibitions presented in the Pavilion. Every two years, museum curators from across the U.S. detail their visions for the U.S. Pavilion in proposals that are reviewed by the NEA Federal Advisory Committee on International Exhibitions (FACIE), a group comprising curators, museum directors, and artists who then submit their recommendations to the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Past exhibitions can be viewed on the Peggy Guggenheim Collection website.
The United States Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs supports and manages official U.S. participation at the International Architecture Exhibitions of La Biennale di Venezia. The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) builds relations between the people of the United States and the people of other countries through academic, cultural, sports, professional, and private exchanges, as well as public-private partnerships and mentoring programs. These exchange programs improve foreign relations and strengthen the national security of the United States, support U.S. international leadership, and provide a broad range of domestic benefits by helping break down barriers that often divide us, like religion, politics, language, and ethnicity, and geography. ECA programs build connections that engage and empower people and motivate them to become leaders and thinkers, to develop new skills, and to find connections that will create positive change in their communities. For more information, please visit https://exchanges.state.gov/us
