Feeling the Stones: The First Diriyah Biennale

Han Mengyun, /The Pavilion of Three Mirrors /(2021). Oil on canvas, 3 polished-steel pavilions, 17 × 11 m; steel pavilions

Han Mengyun, The Pavilion of Three Mirrors (2021). Oil on canvas, 3 polished-steel pavilions, 17 × 11 m; steel pavilions

Marwah AlMugait, /This Sea Is Mine /(2021). Live performance, 3-channel video installation, 13'42"

Marwah AlMugait, This Sea Is Mine (2021). Live performance, 3-channel video installation, 13'42"

Abdullah Al Othman, /Manifesto: The Language & City/ (2021). Neon, LED, found wooden signage, 8 × 5 m. Commissioned by Diriyah Biennale Foundation

Abdullah Al Othman, Manifesto: The Language & City (2021). Neon, LED, found wooden signage, 8 × 5 m. Commissioned by Diriyah Biennale Foundation

Ahmed Mater, /Desert Meeting /(2021). Video installation, motion photographs on five cathode-ray tube televisions, 130 × 60 × 43 cm. Courtesy the artist and Lakum Gallery

Ahmed Mater, Desert Meeting (2021). Video installation, motion photographs on five cathode-ray tube televisions, 130 × 60 × 43 cm. Courtesy the artist and Lakum Gallery

Bricklab and Mammafotogramma, /Through the Looking Glass /(2021). Murano glass and steel, dimensions variable

Bricklab and Mammafotogramma, Through the Looking Glass (2021). Murano glass and steel, dimensions variable

Dana Awartani, /Standing on the Ruins of Aleppo /(2021). Clay earth, 23.7 × 13.5 m

Dana Awartani, Standing on the Ruins of Aleppo (2021). Clay earth, 23.7 × 13.5 m

Huang Rui, installation view from Diriyah Biennale. Left to right: /Seamstresses in a Street Production Unit /(1980), /Wall of Poets /(1981), /Cyclist /(1982), /Looking into the Distance /(1981). 

Huang Rui, installation view from Diriyah Biennale. Left to right: Seamstresses in a Street Production Unit (1980), Wall of Poets (1981), Cyclist (1982), Looking into the Distance (1981). 

John Gerrard, /Leaf Work (Derrigimlagh)/ (2021). Simulation, LED wall, polished-mirror pavilion, 400 × 400 cm. Courtesy the artist and PACE Gallery

John Gerrard, Leaf Work (Derrigimlagh) (2021). Simulation, LED wall, polished-mirror pavilion, 400 × 400 cm. Courtesy the artist and PACE Gallery

Larry Bell, /Iceberg/ (2020). French blue, capri blue, periwinkle, and turquoise laminated glass, 244 × 432 × 497 cm. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth

Larry Bell, Iceberg (2020). French blue, capri blue, periwinkle, and turquoise laminated glass, 244 × 432 × 497 cm. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth

Lawrence Lek, /Nøtel (Red Sea Edition)/, (2021). Open-world video game, gaming PCs, controllers, monitors, video loops, sound by Kode9. 6.4 × 6.4 × 2 m. Courtesy the artist and Sadie Coles HQ, London

Lawrence Lek, Nøtel (Red Sea Edition), (2021). Open-world video game, gaming PCs, controllers, monitors, video loops, sound by Kode9. 6.4 × 6.4 × 2 m. Courtesy the artist and Sadie Coles HQ, London

Lulwah Al-Homoud, /The Language of Existence/ (2021). Etchings on plexiglass with encapsulated blue LED strips, 99 pieces, 30 × 40 cm each

Lulwah Al-Homoud, The Language of Existence (2021). Etchings on plexiglass with encapsulated blue LED strips, 99 pieces, 30 × 40 cm each

Sarah Brahim, /Soft Machines, Far Away Engines /(2021). Projection-mapped video performance, dimensions variable

Sarah Brahim, Soft Machines, Far Away Engines (2021). Projection-mapped video performance, dimensions variable

Simon Denny, /Real Mass Entrepreneurship /(2017-2021). Installation, locally sourced commercial display elements, airbrush and acrylic on synthetic plaster and wood, plexiglas, fluorescent lamps, 4K video. Courtesy the artist and Galerie Buchholz 

Simon Denny, Real Mass Entrepreneurship (2017-2021). Installation, locally sourced commercial display elements, airbrush and acrylic on synthetic plaster and wood, plexiglas, fluorescent lamps, 4K video. Courtesy the artist and Galerie Buchholz 

Tavares Strachan room at the Diriyah Biennale 2021-22, /EIGHTEEN NINETY /(2020). 

Tavares Strachan room at the Diriyah Biennale 2021-22, EIGHTEEN NINETY (2020). 

Wang Luyan, sculptures from 2010-2019. Installation view from Diriyah Biennale 2021-22.

Wang Luyan, sculptures from 2010-2019. Installation view from Diriyah Biennale 2021-22.

William Kentridge, /More Sweetly Play the Dance /(2015). 8-channel video installation with four megaphones, sound, 15'00"

William Kentridge, More Sweetly Play the Dance (2015). 8-channel video installation with four megaphones, sound, 15'00"

Zou Zhao, /Plain Sights /(2021). Performance, translucent glass, hats, furniture, structure, curtain, dimensions variable. All images: courtesy Canvas and Diriyah Biennale Foundation © Diriyah Biennale Foundation and the artists

Zou Zhao, Plain Sights (2021). Performance, translucent glass, hats, furniture, structure, curtain, dimensions variable. All images: courtesy Canvas and Diriyah Biennale Foundation © Diriyah Biennale Foundation and the artists

Han Mengyun, The Pavilion of Three Mirrors (2021). Oil on canvas, 3 polished-steel pavilions, 17 × 11 m; steel pavilions

Marwah AlMugait, This Sea Is Mine (2021). Live performance, 3-channel video installation, 13'42"

Abdullah Al Othman, Manifesto: The Language & City (2021). Neon, LED, found wooden signage, 8 × 5 m. Commissioned by Diriyah Biennale Foundation

Ahmed Mater, Desert Meeting (2021). Video installation, motion photographs on five cathode-ray tube televisions, 130 × 60 × 43 cm. Courtesy the artist and Lakum Gallery

Bricklab and Mammafotogramma, Through the Looking Glass (2021). Murano glass and steel, dimensions variable

Dana Awartani, Standing on the Ruins of Aleppo (2021). Clay earth, 23.7 × 13.5 m

Huang Rui, installation view from Diriyah Biennale. Left to right: Seamstresses in a Street Production Unit (1980), Wall of Poets (1981), Cyclist (1982), Looking into the Distance (1981). 

John Gerrard, Leaf Work (Derrigimlagh) (2021). Simulation, LED wall, polished-mirror pavilion, 400 × 400 cm. Courtesy the artist and PACE Gallery

Larry Bell, Iceberg (2020). French blue, capri blue, periwinkle, and turquoise laminated glass, 244 × 432 × 497 cm. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth

Lawrence Lek, Nøtel (Red Sea Edition), (2021). Open-world video game, gaming PCs, controllers, monitors, video loops, sound by Kode9. 6.4 × 6.4 × 2 m. Courtesy the artist and Sadie Coles HQ, London

Lulwah Al-Homoud, The Language of Existence (2021). Etchings on plexiglass with encapsulated blue LED strips, 99 pieces, 30 × 40 cm each

Sarah Brahim, Soft Machines, Far Away Engines (2021). Projection-mapped video performance, dimensions variable

Simon Denny, Real Mass Entrepreneurship (2017-2021). Installation, locally sourced commercial display elements, airbrush and acrylic on synthetic plaster and wood, plexiglas, fluorescent lamps, 4K video. Courtesy the artist and Galerie Buchholz 

Tavares Strachan room at the Diriyah Biennale 2021-22, EIGHTEEN NINETY (2020). 

Wang Luyan, sculptures from 2010-2019. Installation view from Diriyah Biennale 2021-22.

William Kentridge, More Sweetly Play the Dance (2015). 8-channel video installation with four megaphones, sound, 15'00"

Zou Zhao, Plain Sights (2021). Performance, translucent glass, hats, furniture, structure, curtain, dimensions variable. All images: courtesy Canvas and Diriyah Biennale Foundation © Diriyah Biennale Foundation and the artists

Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale
Curated by Philip Tinari
JAX District, Diriyah, Saudi Arabia
11 December 2021 – 11 March 2022

Read Stephanie Bailey’s review of the Biennale here.

Saudi Arabia
Diriyah Biennale

People

Art Basel’s Fairs Director On the Market for Inner Worlds

Ahead of the Alpine extravaganza, Vincenzo de Bellis talks his Peep-Hole origins, sickness as an artistic thematic, and viewing the fairs as curatorial snapshots of the right now.

Discourse
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Louise Lawler, (Stevie Wonder) Living Room Corner Arranged by Mr. & Mrs. Burton Tremaine, Sr., New York City , 1984/1985, silver dye bleach print with printed text on mat, 46.5 x 60.5 cm. All images courtesy: the artist and Sprüth Magers

Louise Lawler, (Stevie Wonder) Living Room Corner Arranged by Mr. & Mrs. Burton Tremaine, Sr., New York City, 1984/1985, silver dye bleach print with printed text on mat, 46.5 x 60.5 cm. All images courtesy: the artist and Sprüth Magers

And Other Pictures

Espying 20th-century art icons in all their public guises and moments of uncanny repose, Louise Lawler’s photographs convey that how we look is as formative as what we’re meant to see.

Views
Still from Jeamin Cha, Nameless Syndrome , South Korea, 2022. © Jeamin Cha

Still from Jeamin Cha, Nameless Syndrome, South Korea, 2022. © Jeamin Cha

The machine doesn’t always love you back

The melancholy muse, glitchy machinimas, and plenty of Super 8: The 69th Oberhausen Short Film Festival mined the space between arthouse and art world for new and archival gems.

People
#10
Kenneth Anger (left) and Tav Falco (right) in conversation at the 2006 Viennale. Photo: Wolfgang Thaler

Kenneth Anger (left) and Tav Falco (right) in conversation at the 2006 Viennale. Photo: Wolfgang Thaler

The Dark Side of the Moon: Kenneth Anger

In memory of Kenneth Anger (1927–2023), we’re republishing our 2006 interview with the iconoclastic filmmaker on silk flowers, vindictive scientologists, and his refusal to hustle for production money.

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Mak2, Home Sweet Home: Love Pool 6 , 2022, oil and acrylic on canvas in three parts, each: 205 x 122 cm; overall: 205 x 366 cm. All images courtesy: the artist and Peres Projects

Mak2, Home Sweet Home: Love Pool 6, 2022, oil and acrylic on canvas in three parts, each: 205 x 122 cm; overall: 205 x 366 cm. All images courtesy: the artist and Peres Projects

8-Bit Intimacies

In triptychs of hot-and-heavy bodies at Peres Projects, Berlin, Hong-Kong-based artist Mak2 materializes the tensions of synthetic desire and our urges to gawk and look away.

Discourse
North Face x Gucci linen puffer from a campaign shot in Iceland, 2021. Courtesy: Gucci. Photo: Jalan and Jibril Durimel

North Face x Gucci linen puffer from a campaign shot in Iceland, 2021. Courtesy: Gucci. Photo: Jalan and Jibril Durimel

Theory of Style: On Seasonality

“Fashion is the future, clothes are what we already wear.” In her May column, Joanna Walsh ponders how fast fashion’s accelerationism plays with seasons, desire, and the virtual, projecting us into an elsewhere we’ll never venture into.

Views
#75

Xiyadie, Sorting sweet potatoes (Dad, don't yell, we're in the cellar sorting sweet potatoes), 2019, papercut with water-based dye and Chinese pigments on Xuan paper, 140 x 140 cm. All images courtesy: the artist

Sorrows and Delights

An exhibition of Xiyadie’s steamy papercuts at The Drawing Center, New York narrates his four-decade usurpation of a traditionalist folk form and a coming-out transition from shame to bliss.

People

The Many Fathers of Success: Ei Arakawa

Ahead of his first-ever pool performance at Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg, Ei Arakawa walks through the changing infrastructure for artist-parents, the integrality of surprise to humor, and modelling queer fatherhood.

Views
View of “My eyes like shovels.” Courtesy: the artists and Hua International, Berlin

View of “My eyes like shovels.” Courtesy: the artists and Hua International, Berlin

GALLERY WEEKEND BERLIN 2023

Spike editor Isabella Zamboni picks the six most vibrant shows from Gallery Weekend Berlin 2023. Home ghosts, Kurdish ropes, watery half animals, too-blue eyes, Neapolitan satyrs, hysterical bureaucrats: Indulge in the capital’s most spirited visions.

Spike Events

Artist Talk: Wolfgang Staehle

On Tuesday 16 May at Soho House Berlin, net.art pioneer and The Thing co-founder Wolfgang Staehle maps out the technical and aesthetic ancestries of our contemporary adventures in cyberspace.

Discourse
Nile Koetting, Cherry script , 2023, e ink display animation, 9.5 x 12 x 2 cm. Courtesy: the artist and Parliament, Paris

Nile Koetting, Cherry script, 2023, e ink display animation, 9.5 x 12 x 2 cm. Courtesy: the artist and Parliament, Paris

User Error: The ghost in the machine

Two exhibitions in Paris – Nile Koetting at Parliament Gallery and the group show “Au delà” at Lafayette Anticipations – conjure data’s limitations in the face of the divine.

"Not even an early evening series on Austrian TV could have got away with that"

Exhibition Histories: "Please Love Austria!"