Padiglione Tuvalu

55ª Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte - La Biennale di Venezia

Vincent J.F. HUANG

Duration. 1st June – 24th Nov. 2013
Preview. 29th - 31 th May. 2013

1. Accademia dI Belle Arti di Venezia (Sede Centrale)
Ex Ospedale degli Incurabili
Dorsoduro 423, 30123 Venezia

2. Forte Marghera
Via Forte Marghera, 30
30173 Venezia

Commissioners:
Hon. Apisai Ielemia
Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Tuvalu
Mr. Tapugao Falefou
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Tuvalu

Curators: An-Yi Pan, Szu Hsien Li, Shu Ping Shih

Theme: Destiny Intertwined

Co-organizer: Accademia dI Belle Arti di Veneizia

Contact information:
www.tuvalupavilion.com
www.facebook.com/TuvaluPavilion
E-mail: tuvalupavilion@gmail.com

MEDIA CONTACT:
Mary Rahman PR @ MRPR +44 7958 399740
mary@mr-pr.com
Nicola Gemignani (Italian PR)
+39 342 864 1355
nicola.gemignani@gmail.com

Curator:
An-Yi Pan ap76@cornell.edu
Szuhsien Li suchenli2@gmail.com
Shu-ping SHIH spshih2@gmail.com

AMERICA’S ‘WALL STREET’ BULL FOUND ‘HANGING’ AT THIS YEAR’S VENICE BIENNALE

The iconic Wall Street Bull of New York has been found mysteriously ‘hanging’ at the Venice Biennale this year. It was found a few miles away from the main Palazzo of the Biennale at the Tuvalu Pavilion in Forte Marghera, Mestre. Suspects behind the crime include a sea turtle and a group of penguins belonging to an underwater mafia ring seeking revenge on capitalism and the effects this is having on their natural habitat. A private animal investigator is asking visitors for any information they might have....

Sensational Taiwanese artist Vincent J.F. Huang has created a series of eco-art ‘black humour’ installations at Tuvalu Pavilion’s first ever appearance at the Biennale this year-namely a colossal oil pump installation which transforms into a killing machine that slaughters natural species; a live coral reef aquarium with the remnants of human civilisation submerged within it and an unusual spectacle of animal ‘refugee’ sculptures that have become endangered by global warming. The Tuvalu Pavilion titled ‘Destiny Intertwined’ serves as a metaphor for the Developed World and Third World and how climate change is causing dire natural calamities.

The 6 metre high interactive oil pump installation ‘In the Name of Civilization’ is situated at the Forte Marghera-a symbolic fortress dating back to the Napoleon period which was built for the protection of the city of Venice. The installation invites audiences to ‘fill up gas’ whilst contemplating the dying iconic New York ‘Wall Street Bull’-hanging from its noose above it and the sea turtle, hopelessly waiting to be decapitated. Huang uses these ‘animal victims’ to point out that, under capitalism’s unlimited pursuit of economic development, Earth’s natural resources have been plundered, leading to effects that will not only devastate the ecosystem of a Third World Country such as Tuvalu, but will bring inevitable disasters to the capitalist driven economy of the First World too.

The ‘Modern Atlantis Project’ uses an aquarium tank to house coral reefs which are growing on the surface of the water. Miniature sculptures of iconic landmarks represent the civilised and capitalist society that are now found submerged within the tank. The final artwork ‘Prisoner’s Dilemma’ considers the dwindling natural resources of Earth and the notion that mankind will soon face apocalypse- even the grandiose ‘Statue of Liberty’ falls to her kneels and prostates, in front of portraits of deceased terracotta penguins, in utter remorse.

Having spent about 10 years creating eco-art, Huang is no stranger to working in unexpected contexts and enjoys creating eco-projects that are designed to provoke and cause reaction. Over the years he has dedicated his art to promoting awareness and preventing global warming receiving widespread international media attention.

Artist Vincent J.F. Huang says, “Tuvalu is a tiny, relatively unknown island that has been forgotten by the First World yet it will be one of the first to disappear due to rising sea levels and climate change. By choosing to position the pavilion at the site of a lagoon on the fringes of the traditional and famous sites of the Giardini and Arsenale, the Tuvalu Pavilion, much like in life itself- is having to grab the attention from the more powerful nations to be seen and heard.”

Artist
Vincent J.F. HUANG
vincentjfhuang@gmail.com

Currently lives and works in Taipei and London
2007 General Secretary, Contemporary Art Club, CEIBS, Shanghai, PRC
2005 Curator, Art Space, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
2001 Senior Art Lecturer, Dept. of Visual Communication, ShuTe University,Taiwan
2000 MFA, Gray's School of Art, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, U.K.
1999 Participated in Scottish Sculpture Workshop, U.K.
1998 Commercial Art Degree, National Taichung Institute of Technology, Taiwan
1971 Born in Taiwan
Coming Exhibitions

2013 Animal Delegates, UNFCCC COP19, Warsaw, Poland
2013 The Arctic Circle, Norway
2014 JIE-The Contemporary Art from Taiwan, Cornell University, NY, USA

Prizes, Awards and Residencies

2013 Selected to participate The Arctic Circle, NY
2011 Resident of the AIR Programme, Artspace, Sydney, Australia
2005 Resident of the AIR Programme, Duolun MoMA, Shanghai, China
2003 Resident of the AIR Programme, Pier-2 Art District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
2001 Laureate of New Talent Award, Art Taipei 2001, Taiwan

Solo Exhibitions & Projects

2012 Animal Delegates, UNFCCC COP18, Doha, Qatar
2012 Destination of Capitalism, North Cape Art Centre, Taipei, Taiwan
2012 Floating polarbear, Tuvalu
2011 Modern Atlantis, Artspace, Sydney
2010 Habeas Corpus (performance), The Vaad Gallery, London, UK
2010 Tuvalutis (Performance), Tuvalu Islands, South Pacific
2010 The Short Straw, National Chung Hsing University, Taiwan
2010 Silence and the City, Eight Bank, London, UK
2010 Silence, The Multiple Store / Westbrook Gallery, London, UK
2009 The Last Penguins, Lim Museum, Taipei
2008 The Last Penguins, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
2008 The Last Penguins, Wilson Art Centre, Shanghai, China
2007 An Inconvenient Melting, CEIBS, Shanghai, China
2007 Melting Penguin, Creek Art Centre, Shanghai, China
2005 The Day After Tomorrow, Duolun MoMA, Shanghai, China
2005 Brave New World, Art Space, Academia Sinica,, Taipei, Taiwan
2003 Balefire Project (Performance), roof of Love River Hotel, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
2003 Balefire -Dedicated to SARS Virus, ArtSpace, Academia Sinica, Taipei
2002 Flying Lantern Project, National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan
2001 The IT, The Cultural Gallery of National Concert Hall, Taipei
2000 Mind the GAP, MA Show, Grays School of Art, Aberdeen, UK
2000 Decomposed City, Edinburgh, UK

Selected Group Exhibitions & Projects

2012 Example to Follows! Iberlia Contemporary Art Center, Beijing, China
2011 Art Bin, South London Gallery, UK
2010 Beyond Vision, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan
2010 Animamix Biennial, GuangDong Museum of Art, China
2009 Enliven - In Between Realities and Fiction, Animamix
Biennial, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
2009 Boondocks, International Art project, Hannover, Germany
2008 The Last Penguins, Art Expo Malaysia
2008 The Last Penguins, Shanghai Art Fair
2008 The Last Penguins, Art Taipei
2006 Double-click, Tang Art Centre, Beijing, China
2005 e-Generation, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Taiwan
2005 2 Europes, 2 Asias, Duolun MoMA, Shanghai, China
2005 All Quiet on the Western Front, 20th Art District, Taipei
2004 Taiwan Avant-garde Documenta 2, HauShan Art District, Taiwan
2003 Residency Artists Group Exhibition, the Pier-2 Art District, Taiwan
2003 Oil and Water, the Pier-2 Art District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
2003 Searching for the Track of Future, Academia SINICA, Taipei
2002 Pure, Sinpin Pier Art Space, Taiwan
2000 Pause, Lemon Tree Gallery, Aberdeen, UK
2000 Group Exhibition by Aberdeen Artists, Bridgeview Gallery, Aberdeen, UK
2000 Scottish Art Colleges Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, UK
2000 The Ida Branson Memorial Bequest Exhibition, Atkinson Gallery, Somerset, U.K.
1999 The Christmas Tree Project, Aberdeen Art Gallery, Aberdeen, UK
1999 Visual Arts Scotland, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, UK

Collections

Public Collections:
Duolun MoMA, Shanghai, China
The National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Taiwan
National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
The Art Space, Academia SINICA, Taipei, Taiwan
The Council for Cultural Affairs, Taiwan

Corporate / Private Collections:
Asia, Europe, Middle East