MIXING IDENTITIES – CANVAS ART FAIR 2024

MIXING IDENTITIES – CANVAS INTERNATIONAL ART FAIR 2024
October 11- 25, 2024
Palazzo Albrizzi-Capello, Venice

ITSLIQUID Group, in collaboration with ACIT Venice – Italian-German Cultural Association, is pleased to announce the opening of MIXING IDENTITIES, the second appointment of CANVAS INTERNATIONAL ART FAIR 2024, that will take place in Venice at Palazzo Albrizzi-Capello on October 11, 2024, during the 60th Venice Biennale of Art.

CANVAS is an International Art Fair that will present collective and solo projects by leading and emerging international artists. The 2024 edition will represent a forum for the direct exchange of ideas and contacts between collectors, artists, photographers, designers and art professionals. The art fair features paintings, sculptures, photography, installations, video art and live performance.

The word “canvas” was used for the first time in Italy in the 14th century and it has become the most common support medium for oil painting, replacing wooden panels. Over the centuries, the canvas’ meaning has changed, starting from paintings, through
photographic and cinematographic film, exploring the human body, to the digital world.
Canvas is the creatives’ common ground, on which they can express themselves. We
invite all the artists to share their personal artistic research through any kind of media, from painting to sculptures and installation, from photography to video art and live performance.

The concept of MIXING IDENTITIES is based on the reconstruction of new identities: their transformation is essential to face the changes of the contemporary world. The process of building ourselves passes through the continuous relations with other people’s identities and the identities of communities, cultures and societies. The event focuses on the human body as a changing system that connects us with other bodies and spaces to perceive the surrounding reality, a strong communication system with its own language and infinite ways of expression. We invited artists to analyse the hidden parts of our identities, through an immersive experience inside the fascinating universe of the complex labyrinths of our consciousness.

A wide as well as varied range of interpretations for the core concept of the exhibition has been provided by all artists on display, starting from Jacobleu, whose painting, “Notability”, manages to convey a sense of a multifaceted search for one’s self. Born in Cote d’Ivoire, Jacobleu’s work is inspired by his local tradition, initiation rites and moments of sharing energy; the artist translates everything through colorful and shimmering works, making use of mixed media (paintings, pastels, and collages). Through his works, the viewer embarks on a journey to both mystical and festive worlds, leading to a true rediscovery of identities.The same goes for Singaporean painter and poet Yuqin Casey Chin, whose peculiar style draws extensively from storytelling to explore alterity, otherness, play, and what connections and communication might persist across disparate spheres of existence: her work, “We hold onto the arms of a great beast”, is as a twirling overlaying of colours, shapes, and dynamism which captures the inner universal flowing into one’s sense of self.

A completely different approach is chosen by Insook Hong from South Korea. A canvas in his case does provide a safeguarded space for a quiet peek into nature: indeed “Landscape Garden No.01” presents itself as a glimpse into a hidden corner of the non-industrialized world, where each and everyone will be capable of patching together all the broken images of a scattered identity and find their true self. Despite digital tools being among his favourites, Denver artist Fletcher Graham has contributed to the exhibition with a painting on canvas: “Interruptos” tackles the concept of mixing identities as “broken” ones. His exploration of a classical theme is carried out through the lens of Surrealism, with a view to asking observers to give their own personal contribution to the reconstruction of a new image, starting from what was left of the ancient and recent past alike.

Palazzo Albrizzi-Capello is the perfect scenario for surprising changes of scenes when it
comes to explore the concept of mixing identities by means of diverse tools and
techniques, speaking of which Ecuadorian artist Carolina Alonso stands out for her
mastery of colours. Her painting, “Tortue”, the French for turtle, plays with the idea of time by means of a vividly chromatic background on which the outline of a turtle represents the lack of struggle in following one’s own journey for identity. Brushstrokes full of colours are directly poured onto the canvas, adding to the tangible sense of growth both on the materialistic as well spiritual realm. The main feeling is one of peacefully going with the flow in the absolute absence of any rush.

Last but not least, Dutch photographer Rob Topfoto draws from Old Dutch painters’
figurative style to present a work which lays in between the past and future: a pure-looking girl can turn into an “Aristocratic Girl” thanks to a Dutch Renaissance set and light exposure. However, the artistry of Rob opfoo manages to preserve the authentic contemporary countenance and deepness of gaze of the model. Thus, The work unfolds another perspective on the mix of past and present which necessarily adds to the construction of complex identities today.

The exhibition will be further enriched by a curated selection of video artists, whose works explore the intersection of digital media and physical experience, offering viewers an immersive journey into the evolving dialogue between body and space (see link).

OPENING
October 11, 2024 | 06:00 PM
Palazzo Albrizzi-Capello
Associazione Culturale Italo-Tedesca (ACIT), Cannaregio 4118, Venice
Opening hours | Monday – Friday . 09.30 AM – 05.30 PM

RSVP
info@itsliquid.com | +39.3387574098
Click here to register for the event (free entry)