Where size does matter

By TOBIAS BERGER

The bienals of Sao Paulo and Venice are the most important art events in the world.

For many years, Sao Paulo, founded in the 1950s, and Venice, which had its first exhibition in 1895, were the only large, regular contemporary art exhibitions in the international arena.

Today, with more than 200 bienals worldwide, Venice and Sao Paulo can be considered the parents - raw models of an exciting format for international group exhibitions.

The Sao Paulo Bienal is unusual in the way the artists are chosen. Each invited country decides on its own curator, who then decides on one participating artist or project.

Unlike Venice, all works are exhibited together, along with some additional invited artists, in the huge 25,000sq m exhibition hall designed by Brazilian architect Oscar Niemayer.

Size in this instance really does matter. Opening night last month was attended by more than 15,000 people.

This year's curator, German Alfons Hueg, chose the topic Image Smuggler for the overlying theme and invited, alongside the 47 participating countries, another 80 artists.

Hueg's layout was simple. The big sculptural installations - works such as a hanging and turning Volkswagen Beetle, a mahogany sailing boat turned upside down, or a 10m neon installation reading Why Style - are on the ground floor.

All the paintings were hung on freestanding 20m-long walls on the second floor, followed by a huge multiplex with more than 30 video and media boxes.

One of them contains Australia's contribution, a huge sky-like structure made of antennas that pick up transmissions from local television and radio stations and feed them directly into a movie of an avalanche. This is a quiet but intense work by David Hains and Joyce Hinterding that perfectly comments on the overwhelming experience of too many videos installed in one place.

Many visitors will wish for a sculpture inside all these walls of pictures, or a video installation between the big sculptures.

New Zealand's participation is located in the middle of the painting section. This almost alien position makes it possible for this comparatively small installation to receive the attention it deserves without having to compete against structures 10 times its size and half its conceptual value. Using the bienal's topic of Image Smuggler, the group project Remember New Zealand invited 38 artists to send a souvenir to Sao Paulo.

Starting from the idea that New Zealand is defined internationally by pictures taken by tourists, Remember New Zealand is also a critical comment on the bienal system where curators travel the world to present the most exotic art works in their exhibitions, like trophies from a hunting trip.

Remember New Zealand includes artists from many regions who work primarily in sculpture.

The 38 small objects are displayed in a wooden structure built on site by Auckland artist Jason Lindsay. It is similar to sculptures for his exhibitions at the Gus Fisher Gallery and for Artspace's Wonderland exhibition earlier this year.

The significance of the Sao Paulo Bienal is evaluated by its impressive history and by the large number of artists and international curators who visit and exchange opinions.

To work alongside international art stars such as Belgian painter Luc Tuymans, German photographer Thomas Demand, or American Marc Dion was an important experience for the five New Zealand artists who went to Sao Paulo.

The last Sao Paulo event attracted more than 700,000 visitors. This year, as a gift to the people for the 450th birthday of the city, entrance is free for the four months of the exhibition, which is open daily from 9am-9pm. The assumption that more than a million people will see this year's event is probably conservative.

The concept, its diversity and the method of display ensure that a large number of visitors will remember New Zealand not only as a wonderful place to visit but also for its art.


Exhibition

* What: Sao Paulo Bienal

* Where and when: Parque do Ibirapuera, Sao Paulo, Brazil, to Dec 19

Postcards from NZ


The artists represented at Sao Paulo are:

Billy Apple, Dan Arps, Steve Carr, Derrick Cherrie, Joanna Chow, Paul Cullen, Judy Darragh, Andrea du Chatenier, Violet Faigan, Megan Ruth Hansen-Knarhoi, Jason Lindsey, Niki Hastings-McFall, Lonnie Hutchinson, Douglas Kelaher, Sean Kerr, Richard Killeen, Joanna Langford, Peter Madden, Daniel Malone, Richard Maloy, Dane Mitchell, Kate Newby, Ani O'Neill, Michael Parekowhai, Reuben Paterson, Lisa Reihana, John Reynolds, Natalie Robertson, Peter Robinson, A.D. Schierning, Jim Speers, Yuk King Tan, Merylyn Tweedie, Francis Upritchard, Terry Urbahn, Rohan Wealleans and Ri Williamson; curator, Tobias Berger.