GRAFFITI AND OUTSIDER ART AT VENICE BIENNALE

GRAFFITI AND OUTSIDER ART AT VENICE BIENNALE
One highlight of this summer’s Venice Biennale, June 4-Nov. 27, 2011, is the general exhibition organized by Parkett contributing editor Bice Curiger, of which details are due next month. In the meantime, we can tell you that Venice is also hosting a show of both graffiti and outsider art, courtesy the American Folk Art Museum. Co-curators Martha Henry and Carlo McCormick have selected eight artists, all African Americans, who are each making a site-specific installation at the historic Fondaco dei Tedeschi on the Grand Canal -- a building whose façade was at one time covered with frescoes by Titian and Giorgione.
The four graffiti artists are Steven Ogburn (aka Blade), Chris Ellis (aka DAZE), Lin Felton (aka QUIK), and Aaron Goodstone (aka Sharp), and the four outsider artists are Lonnie Holley, Gregory Warmack (aka Mr. Imagination), Charlie Lucas (aka Tin Man)and Kevin Sampson. The project is sponsored by Benetton, which owns the palazzo, and is having it renovated by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas.