Art Insight #4: Massimiliano Gioni
Innovator with distinct direction and proposal for where the art world should go
Massimiliano Gioni caused quite a ripple in the art world when he curated the 55th Venice Biennale, The Encyclopedic Palace, in 2013. The art director currently works out of New York, as director of the Trussardi Foundation and associate director of the New Museum. During the Venice Biennale, Gioni was criticized for his focus on the academic and archival aspects of the exhibition, yet those very criticisms also testified to his distinct direction and proposal for where the art world should go. Also worth noting is that Gioni’s artistic direction of the 8th Gwangju Biennale in 2010 is often referred to as the precursor to Venice. Gioni’s title for the Gwangju event was drawn from the 30-volume epic Korean poem, Maninbo (10,000 Lives) by Ko Un, written in the 1980s during the city’s democratic uprising. Gioni’s theme was recognized for embracing the history of the biennale’s locality while simultaneously presenting a broader “encyclopedic” observation on humanity.
After the conclusion of both acclaimed biennials, Gioni was internationally recognized for both his name and execution as an artistic director. ArtReview, one of the most widely read contemporary art magazines in the world, annually features the Power 100, a guide to the 100 most powerful figures in contemporary art, in which Gioni has become a staple in recent years. (As of the latest 2014 list, Gioni is ranked 25th.)
As a figure so active at the center stage of the international art world, his background is far from usual. In 2002, Gioni, along with Maurizio Cattelan and Ali Subotnick, started The Wrong Gallery, a minuscule 1 square meter-space. The not-for-profit venue featured many well-known artists, including Martin Creed, Tino Sehgal and Isa Genzken, but it never officially opened to the public. The name came about because the founders loved the idea of people saying: “It’s a great show, but it’s in the wrong gallery.” The spoof gallery was evicted in 2005, and with the joke that it was “the back door to contemporary art, and one that’s always locked,” the gallery vanished. The Nicola Trussardi Foundation Gioni has been directing since 2003 is a nomadic museum that organizes exhibitions in forgotten buildings, overlooked public monuments and abandoned palazzos in the city of Milan. For this issue of Art & Insight, we sat down with the historical-pedagogical honor student. We asked for his insights on “the best-case art commission from a commercial corporation,” and also on his previous vision for the Gwangju Biennale.
Art is about transcendence, I believe: it is a way to be transported somewhere else, and we shouldn’t forget that. Too often we end up making shows that simply reflect the places where we come from or the places where an exhibition is set. I think exhibitions are journeys; they should come from somewhere but they also need to take us somewhere. - Massimiliano Gioni -
Q. The subject you chose for the 8th Gwangju Biennale, 10,000 Lives has been acclaimed as one of the finest in the event’s history. Personally, what do you think were some of the most successful and regrettable aspects of the show when compared with your initial conception?
I don’t regret much about the Gwangju Biennale I organized. I consider it a special opportunity that I got to work in Korea, particularly with such a great institution. Everyone on the team put forth a lot to realize the vision of the exhibition and not a single member let go of the commitment to the artists and the artworks.
For me, the most incredible surprise and one of the most rewarding aspects of working on this biennale was to see how many people from all over Korea came to visit it. Personally, it was the most satisfying part of the event. The biennale is an institution that is very much devoted to the public and to the people. In this sense, it is a unique pedagogical enterprise that is capable of combining teaching and learning with a visual and sensual experience. Children, students, casual tourists or art lovers from around the globe, seeing literally half a million people going through the show is an incredible experience. Seeing that really gives you the impression that the art and exhibition will have an impact on the lives of so many people. That’s also why I called the exhibition maninbo: it was an exhibition about the lives of images and the lives that are preserved through images. It was also an exhibition about the lives of the countless viewers who came to see the show.
Q. You’ve directed several biennales throughout your career. What are some aspects that make biennales easier or harder when compared with regular exhibitions, and in particular when you get to the large-scale renditions like Venice and Gwangju?
It’s difficult to compare, as Venice has its own special challenges—having a biennial on an island is in itself quite perverse … Then again South Koreans and Italians are proud to resemble each other: they are much warmer and more open than their neighbors, and they both live on a peninsula. In Venice, the budget was strictly limited, and the attention and scrutiny from all over the world was incredibly high. I found that in Gwangju I could experiment more, take more liberties. I could, in a certain sense, be freer and forget about the expectations of the professional art world. I think it’s very instructive and very healthy to do a show like Gwangju before Venice; it teaches you to worry about the important things and to be more fearless about the reactions of your peers and the art world. That’s maybe why in a way the Gwangju Biennale has become a special training ground for the future curators of Venice: with me, Okwui Enwezor and Harald Szeemann, three Gwangju Biennale curators who have gone on to curate the Venice Biennale. So it means that the Gwangju Biennale is doing something very right.
Q. Do you think biennales need to consider the locality of the places in which they’re held? If so, what aspects did you consider at the Gwangju Biennale? What would you say Gwangju needs to improve or develop for a better biennale?
I think that every good biennale engages with the local scene and, if possible, with themes and ideas that are relevant or urgent in the place where the biennale is taking place. For me, for example, it was very important to engage with the history of Gwangju and I found the reference to Ko Un’s epic poem “Maninbo” to be very important as it connected history with a much broader perspective on life. I also thought that the exhibition—with its focus on the proliferation of images in contemporary society—addressed a series of problems and issues that I think are pressing in Korea, a society in which images and media have a very important role. Although I always have to remind myself and the public that it is important that an exhibition casts deep roots locally, it also needs to be able to take us somewhere else. I always say I want to know where art comes from, but more importantly, I want to know where art can take us. Art is about transcendence, I believe: it is a way to be transported somewhere else, and we shouldn’t forget that. Too often we end up making shows that simply reflect the places where we come from or the places where an exhibition is set. I think exhibitions are journeys; they should come from somewhere but they also need to take us somewhere.
Q. Some say that the biennales you have curated are too heavy on the educational and historical aspects. How do you respond to those criticisms?
Well, I can only be proud of it: I like exhibitions to have a vast spectrum, and to engage with contemporary art and the future but also to place it in context—and no, I don’t think it’s a problem to conceive of these exhibitions as educational or pedagogical. I actually think it’s an important responsibility; when you are given a lot of money to spend, the least you can do is spend it responsibly and put on a great show. One that is not just vacuous and spectacular but one that has some meat, some content to it.
Q. As artistic director of exhibitions at the New Museum, what is your center of focus when you compose a show?
I always say that my motto is very simple: “A place for everything and everything in its place.” As artistic director, there are many things I have to think about, but the most important are: picking beautiful artworks and placing them carefully, literally measuring their distance centimeter by centimeter, so that when two artworks are near each other, they start speaking and contaminating each other, to expand and transform their meaning.
Q. You were the inaugural curator for the New Museum Triennale, which is now being curated by Lauren Cornell and Ryan Trecartin for its 2015 edition. Would you mind sharing some of your initial impressions?
Ryan Trecartin was one of the artists I included in our first triennial. So it’s great to see him now come back to the New Museum with a different role, as co-curator of the exhibition. Ryan and Lauren Cornell share an interest in the ways technologies transform our bodies, both our individual bodies and our social bodies, and so I am curious to see what image of art and of humanity will emerge from this exhibition. They have titled the exhibition Surround Audience, which is an interesting way to describe the transformation of the role of the viewer in a hyper-technological society.
Q. Hyundai Motors has recently begun to actively support art in Korea and around the world. In particular, it has initiated the Hyundai Commission in the Turbine Hall of the Tate Modern and the Hyundai Motors Series in the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, to support international artists on long-term projects. As a leading figure in contemporary art, what insights would you like to share with Hyundai, or any other global corporation, in their mission to support art?
I think it’s important when companies enter the field of supporting the arts, that they ultimately keep in mind that artworks and artists should stay at the center of the conversation. Obviously the more money is at stake, the more other interests come into play—such as promotion, advertisement etc—but one has to keep clearly in mind that all these different aspects will be taken care of and kept at their best only if the art is good. So let the art be good and everything will follow.
Q. What are some of your plans for the future?
The New Museum Triennale opens this February. Also, this year in Milan with the Nicola Trussardi Foundation I am working on a great historical and pedagogical show—like the ones I like to do—about the representation of motherhood in the 20th and 21st centuries of art history. ■ with ARTINPOST
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Rudolf Steiner <Various blackboard drawings>
1923 Chalk on black paper Photo By Francesco Galli Courtesy la Biennale di Venezia Image Courtesy by ARTINPOST
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Roberto Cuoghi <Belinda>
2013 55thInternational Art Exhibition <Il Palazzo Enciclopedico> la Biennale di Venezia Photo by Francesco Galli Courtesy la Biennale di Venezia Image Courtesy by ARTINPOST
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Robert Gober <Dollhouse 4>
1978 Wood, paint, Plexiglas, corrugated cardboard,stones, cement, glue, Formica 55th International Art Exhibition <Il Palazzo Enciclopedico> la Biennale di Venezia Photo by Francesco Galli Courtesy by la Biennale di Venezia Image Courtesy by ARTINPOST
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Pawel Althamer <Venetians>
2013 90 sculptures, plastic on metal construction 55th International Art Exhibition <Il Palazzo Enciclopedico> la Biennale di Venezia Photo By Francesco Galli Courtesy la Biennale di Venezia Image Courtesy by ARTINPOST
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Arthur Bispo do Ros-rio's works in 55th International Art Exhibition <Il Palazzo Enciclopedico>
la Biennale di Venezia Photo by Francesco Galli Courtesy by la Biennale di Venezia Image Courtesy by ARTINPOST
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Arthur Bispo do Ros-rio's works in 55th International Art Exhibition <Il Palazzo Enciclopedico>
la Biennale di Venezia Photo by Francesco Galli Courtesy by la Biennale di Venezia Image Courtesy by ARTINPOST
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Carol Rama's works in 55th International Art Exhibition <Il Palazzo Enciclopedico>
la Biennale di Venezia Photo by Francesco Galli Courtesy by la Biennale di Venezia Image Courtesy by ARTINPOST
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Exhibition view <10,000 lives>
The 8th Gwangju Biennale Image Courtesy by ARTINPOST
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Exhibition view <10,000 lives>
The 8th Gwangju Biennale Image Courtesy by ARTINPOST
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Exhibition view <10,000 lives>
The 8th Gwangju Biennale Image Courtesy by ARTINPOST
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Exhibition view <10,000 lives>
The 8th Gwangju Biennale Image Courtesy by ARTINPOST
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Michael Elmgreen & Ingar Dragset Installation view <Short Cut>
2003 Mixed media, Fiat Uno, camper trailer 250×850×300cm Ottagono, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, Milano Photo: Giulio Buono Commissioned and produced by Fondazione Nicola Trussardi Courtesy Michael Elmgreen & Ingar Dragset; Galleria Massimo De Carlo, Milan Image Courtesy by ARTINPOST
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Michael Elmgreen & Ingar Dragset Installation view <Short Cut>
2003 Mixed media, Fiat Uno, camper trailer 250×850×300cm Ottagono, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, Milano Photo: Jens Ziehe Commissioned and produced by Fondazione Nicola Trussardi Courtesy Michael Elmgreen & Ingar Dragset; Galleria Massimo De Carlo, Milan Image Courtesy by ARTINPOST
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Maurizio Cattelan <Untitled>
2004 Mixed media, life size Photo by: Attilio Maranzano Courtesy: Fondazione Nicola Trussardi, Milan Image Courtesy by ARTINPOST
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Anri Sala <Long Sorrow>
2005 Video, 12'57'' With Jemeel Moondoc Produced by: Fondazione Nicola Trussardi, Milan Courtesy Galerie Johnen+Schottle, Berlin, Cologne, Munich; Marian Goodman Gallery, New York; Gallery Hauser & Wirth, Zurich, London; Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris With the support of Gesobau and D.A.A.D. Installation view Photo by: Marco De Scalzi Image Courtesy by ARTINPOST
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Pawel Althamer <Balloon>
1999-2007 Nylon, poliestere, acrilico, corde, elio / nylon, polyester, acrylic, ropes, helium 2100×617×366cm Commissioned and produced by Fondazione Nicola Trussardi Courtesy Pawel Althamer; neugerriemschneider, Berlin; Foksal Gallery Foundation, Warsaw Photo: Cecilia Alemani Image Courtesy by ARTINPOST
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Paul McCarthy <Pig Island>
2003-2010 Mixed media 11×10×6m Installation view of <Pig Island> Fondazione Nicola Trussardi Photo by: Marco De Scalzi Courtesy the artist, Fondazione Nicola Trussardi, Hauser & Wirth Image Courtesy by ARTINPOST
Biography
Massimiliano Gioni was born in 1973 in Busto Arsizio, Italy, and studied Art History at the University of Bologna. From 2000-2002, he was the chief editor of the U.S. division of Flash Art International. Along with Maurizio Cattelan and Ali Subotnick, he founded the Wrong Gallery in Chelsea, New York. He has been the Artistic Director of the Nicola Trussardi Foundation in Milan since 2003. Gioni worked as co-director of Manifesta 5 in 2004, and of the Berlin Biennale in 2006. Later, he worked as the Special Project Director of the New Museum in New York, where he is currently the Associate Director. Gioni curated the 8th Gwangju Biennale in 2010 and subsequently the 55th Venice Biennale in 2013.
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