The 59th Venice Biennale, which will be held from April 23 to November 27, 2022, under the patronage of the Republic of San Marino, will see participation of artists Mouna Rebeiz and Rachel Lee Hovnanian. Both artists are represented by Leila Heller Gallery, which has a substantial presence in the UAE.
Mouna is presenting “The Soothsayer,” her new works that invites the viewer to a symbolic and metaphoric journey in the St. George Anglican Church in Venice, Italy. The exhibition is titled “The Soothsayer,” in a nod to the character of Shakespeare’s tragedy who warned the emperor Julius Caesar of his premeditated assassination in the Senate. However, he was ignored and dubbed a “dreamer.”
The artist’s work meets at the intersection of the unlikely – in this case artificial intelligence and the mystic. “The visitor is guided along the path of his own discovery and that of humanity: a majestic set of the revisited 22 Major Arcana of the Tarot of Marseille, a puzzle of coloured pieces and an abstract totemic sculpture.”
The works are set in an arc along the central nave, the reinterpreted 22 Major Arcana of the Tarot of Marseille, and painted on polished aluminium plates using a singular pictorial technique.
Meanwhile, artist Rachel Lee Hovnanian will present “Angels Listening”, an immersive installation that has been curated by Annalisa Bugliani. Presented at the Biblioteca Zenobiana del Temanza and in its gardens in Dorsoduro, “Angels Listening” will be on view from April 23 to November 27, 2022.
It features seven large-scale angels created from white bronze, and who have been ‘silenced’ as Hovnanian purposefully created the cherubic figures of this installation with two “pieces of tape”, also sculpted in bronze, covering their mouths. This represents the suppression of truth, and offers a reflection on the role of art in today’s society.
