While firmly rooted in a certain his- tory of Western art, the works of Kosovar artist Petrit Halilaj offer an interesting example of the reverberations of European pagan influences. To a certain degree, the Balkans have remained a separate province in Europe, home to syncretic cultures influenced by the traditions of Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean Basin, and Continental Europe – all of which line up conveniently with the list of cities where the artist has worked: Bozzolo (Italy), Berlin (Germany), and Pristina (Kosovo). Mixing living and stuffed animals, wooden structures in a Medieval vernacular, precious metals, and excrement, her installations sing with poetry and a note of nostalgia of a time when individuals were defined by more than ownership, while reminding us that it was not that long ago when Europe was still able to generate exoticism based on differences observed even within such a small continent. Today, that exoticism faces the prospect of extinction under the homogenization of cultures, the dictates of capital, and the historic rise of xenophobia – the same tendency that may have set so many fires and spilled so much blood throughout the Balkans during the 20th century.

Exhibition view 2014 Installation. Mixted media
(soil, branches, dead leaves, stones, soap), kamel mennour, Paris, 2014 © Petrit Halilaj Photo. Fabrice Seixas & archives kamel mennour Courtesy the artist and kamel mennour, Paris/London

KATHERINE NUNEZ & ISSAY RODRIGUEZ

Born respectively in 1992 and 1991, Katherine Nuñez and Issay Rodríguez are the youngest artists at the Venice Biennale. The global art world first took notice of the two Filipino artists during Art Dubai with their collective 98B COLLABoratory. For the Biennale, they are preparing a work drawing on a process the pair have used in the past and will update for the occasion, apparently evoking the very idea of “labor” involved in the production of a work of art. On the Biennale’s status as the quintessence of the Western art world in relation to the art scene in their homeland, Issay Rodríguez says: “It’s like joining or cooking for a special dinner in a different village who used to send crops to you though a small hole in a wall for years. Learning to cook it from the other side, seeing their garden once, going back and using your own tools and spices to come up with a dish you can share: this is the closest way by which I could imagine what the Venice Biennale is.”

In Between the Lines, 2016, installation view Photo : Marika Constantino

RACHEL ROSE

When attempting to write about her work, it is difficult to overlook the impeccable pedigree and legacy of privilege embodied by the young American artist Rachel Rose. Edu- cated at Columbia and Yale – notably by painter Robert Reid who influenced an entire generation of artists like Matthew Barney and Sarah Zee – Rachel Rose has in five years assembled a resume of video installations equaled in their virtuosity only by her artist interviews. These compelling moments of artistic discourse have earned her the praise of prestigious institutions around the world. But what does Rachel Rose talk about? Further exploring the existential doubts of relational aesthetics (her films call to mind Parreno and Huyghe), Rose offers intelligent commentary on the duplicity of human relations, anxieties concerning technology, the beauty of landscape and nature, or many other commonplace topics – all while ambiguously respecting the spectacle she condemns.

Courtesy of the artist, Pilar Corrias Gallery, London and Gavin Brown’s enterprise, New York/Rome.

TAUS MAKHACHEVA

Taus Makhacheva is first and foremost a video artist who explores the many facets of her native region of Dagestan in Russia. Her films document landscapes, faces, and costumes through polished scenes that provide the backdrop to choreographed actions. While fiction appears here and there, it does not seem like the main goal of the artist, who focuses instead on triggering aesthetic emotions in the viewer through her precise photography and easy maneuvering between genres, from documentary and archival images, to performance and sketch comedy. Relying on actors found most likely from the street or among her friends, Makhacheva admits that she is painting a portrait of the “Caucasian world” through contemporary art. That same quest seems to have become a commonality among young “European” artists: seeking out Europe’s roots in a way that does not tumble into essentialism or supremacy.

Landscape, 2013 – ongoing Series of wooden objects Dimensions Variable Courtesy of the artist and narrative projects, London

 

Written by Dorothée Dupuis