Opening of Chilean Pavilion: 5 June, 12 a.m. – Arsenale

INFORMATION

 Exhibition

Title: Threshold

Artist: Iván Navarro

Curators: Antonio Arévalo and Justo Pastor Mellado

Pavilion commissioners: Claudia Barattini and Javiera Parada

Display: Architect Luigi D’Oro

 Location

The Chilean Pavilion is a 300 square-metre show space inside the Arsenale

 Opening: 5^th June at 12 a.m

 Open to public: from 7^th June to 22^th November 2009

 Catalogue

Catalogue published by Edizioni Charta (Milan, New  York) 2009

Bilingual (English-Spanish) edition

Text by Anne Ellegood, Justo Pastor Mellado, Antonio Arévalo

For further information and high resolution images, please contact

Press office of Chilean Pavilion

Federica La Paglia

tel. +39 338 9982553

e-mail: f.lapaglia@gmail.com;  venecia2009@chileit.it

Book launch: June 4^th, 11:00 am at the Electa-Mondadori bookshop, 2^nd floor, Corderie dell’Arsenale

 Participants: Alfredo Jaar, Gerardo Mosquera, Iván Navarro and Gabi Scardi

 Organization: Division of Culture, Ministry of Foreign Relations of Chile, the Chilean Embassy in Italy and Puro Chile editions.

More information: Publishing house Claudia Pertuzé: + 562 2188090 info@puro-chile.cl ; www.puro-chile.cl

Catalina Mena: + 569 0512861. cmenal@vtr.net /// www.copiareleden.com

Press Office of Chilean Pavilion

Federica La Paglia

ph: + 39 338 9982553

f.lapaglia@gmail.com; venecia2009@chileit.it

For several years the visual art community in Chile has been telling us of the great need for a National Pavilion that might provide a space for the expression and exhibition of the wealth of Chilean artistic production. With few exceptions —among them the 2001 participation of renowned visual artist Juan Downey, whose installation About Cages earned the Chilean Pavilion a special Mention from the International Jury—Chile has participated in various Biennials within the context of the Latin American Pavilion, organized by the Italo-Latin American Institute, an entity to which we owe a lasting debt of gratitude and with which we enjoy profound cultural ties. It is for this very reason that the Chilean participation within the context of the National Pavilion takes on a special meaning, particularly in light of the fact that the year 2009 was such a significant one for the visual arts in Chile. This year marks the inauguration of the Chilean Triennial, an event that is part of President Michelle Bachelet’s governmental platform and that promises to be our great celebration of the Visual Arts all across Chile, with exhibitions from distinguished international curators and the participation of artists from all over the world. Without a doubt, the Triennial will mark a turning point in that it will firmly establish the Visual Arts among the priorities of public programs that support culture in Chile. At the same time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is proud to announce that Camilo Yáñez will be the general curator of the 7th MERCOSUR Biennial. It is the first time that this responsibility has been awarded to a Chilean, which only underscores what a truly significant moment this is for the arts in our country. At the last Venice Biennial we spoke of an incipient international presence. Today we can most confidently state that the efforts of this Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through the Directorate for Cultural Affairs and in conjunction with various actors in the field of the arts, whether institutional or independent, have come to fruition and strengthened Chile’s presence in the international circuit of contemporary art. For all the above, it is our great pleasure to present the distinguished Chilean artist Iván Navarro and his installation Umbral (Threshold) to this 53rd Venice Biennale International Art Exhibition. Navarro’s trajectory speaks for itself. Selected by the Advisory Council for the Visual Arts in collaboration with the Directorate for Cultural Affairs, Navarro confirms the theses posited by our institution regarding the dissemination and circulation of Chilean art. Navarro’s work offers a compelling dialogue with the curatorial proposals put forth by Daniel Birnbaum, and among the rising stars of Chilean art, he is without a doubt the artist who has achieved the greatest visibility in the many and various spheres of the art world. A resident of New York City for several years, his work has been exhibited in numerous museums and galleries, and is part of many collections, both private and public. His work, critical of the institutions of power, alludes to the many contours of reality as we know it. Recognized for his use of electric light and energy as well as their juxtaposition against the realm of darkness, he is an artist who has been a witness of his era, one who cannot escape history but who questions it over and over, utilizing and transcending a variety of different techniques culled from a variety of different sources, among them minimalism. Navarro speaks to us about subjects both social and political, but always with an ironic gaze that offers a multiplicity of possible interpretations. We would like to thank the Biennial Foundation for the invitation to participate in this event, through our National Pavilion, in a space as noble as the Artiglierie del Arsenale. We would also like to thank the Embassy of Chile in Italy, which has been essential to the organization of this project; the Advisory Council for its tireless support of the dissemination of Chilean visual arts; to the curators of the Pavilion, Antonio Arévalo and Justo Pastor Mellado, and to all those who have contributed their efforts to make this very significant exhibition possible.

Alejandro Foxley Rioseco Minister of Foreign Affairs of Chile 

March, 2009 

Introduction is a page written by Alejandro Foxley Rioseco and it was taken from Threshold’s Exhibition Catalogue made in Miland by Charta Art Books (2009).