A ninth-century Venetian church largely closed to the public for more than 100 years has reopened as the home for Ocean Space, an interdisciplinary arts centre with a focus on marine conservation. An immersive multimedia installation by American artist Joan Jonas inaugurates the new ‘embassy for oceans’, which has been spearheaded by the eco-minded offshoot of Austrian art patron Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza’s foundation TBA21 (Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary).
‘Today, [Venice] struggles alongside numerous other coastal communities and island states the effects of climate change and sea level rise, making the mission and programme of Ocean Space ever more topical to the local community and its visitors,’ explained Thyssen-Bornemisza in a statement. Since its inception in 2011, the nomadic TBA21-Academy has collaborated with a global network of artists, scientists, explorers, legal experts, and policy makers intent on fostering a greater understanding of our oceans through the lens of art. The academy’s diverse non-profit programme encompasses exhibitions, installations, commissions, residencies and expeditions.
Rendering of Ocean Space, in Venice’s Church of San Lorenzo. Designed by the Office for Political Innovation, the first phase of the project opened in March 2019. Courtesy of Andrés Jaque and Office for Political Innovation
Curated by Stefanie Hessler, Jonas’ installation Moving Off the Land II is the culmination of three years of research in aquariums worldwide. The work intertwines prose by writers including Emily Dickinson and Herman Melville with moving images captured during Jonas’ residency off the Jamaica coast. Oceans have surfaced in the artist’s work previously, including her project for the 56th Venice Biennale – a poetic reflection on the fragility of nature.
RELATED STORY
Dozens of drawings of marine life suspended from scaffolding carry the eye upwards to the church’s lofty ceilings. ‘I purposefully left the scaffolding up because I like the kind of roughness of it, and the idea off temporality and the situation relating in some way to the situation in the oceans,’ said the artist. Coinciding with the Venice Biennale vernissage, Jonas will perform in the space on 7 May, accompanied live by composer and drummer Ikue Mori.
Following the conclusion of Jonas’ exhibition at the end of September, further work will begin on the interiors before Ocean Space’s programme relaunches in spring 2020. Spanish architect André Jaque of Office Political Innovation is responsible for the interior architectural intervention, which is expected to complete within the next two years. Taking advantage of the soaring nave within the Church of San Lorenzo, Jaque’s design centres on a modular structure of platforms, allowing for a range of exhibitions, installations and workshops.
Moving Off the Land II, 2019, by Joan Jonas, video still. Courtesy of the artist
INFORMATION
‘Moving Off the Land II’ is on view until 29 September. For more information, visit the Ocean Space website, TBA21-Academy website and Office for Political Innovation website
ADDRESS
Church of San Lorenzo
Campo San Lorenzo
30122 Venice
-
Fendi celebrates 100 years with all-out runway show at its new Milan HQIn the wake of Kim Jones’ departure, Silvia Venturini Fendi took the reins for a special co-ed A/W 2025 collection marking the house’s centenary, unveiling it as the first act of celebrations within Fendi’s expansive new headquarters in Milan
-
‘Leigh Bowery!’ at Tate Modern: 1980s alt-glamour, club culture and rebellionThe new Leigh Bowery exhibition in London is a dazzling, sequin-drenched look back at the 1980s, through the life of one of its brightest stars
-
Inside the unexpected collaboration between Marni’s Francesco Risso and artists Slawn and SoldierNew exhibition ‘The Pink Sun’ will take place at Francesco Risso’s palazzo in Milan in collaboration with Saatchi Yates, opening after the Marni show today, 26 February
-
Saskia Colwell’s playful drawings resemble marble sculpturesSaskia Colwell draws on classical and modern references for ‘Skin on Skin’, her solo exhibition at Victoria Miro, Venice
-
Remembering Oliviero Toscani, fashion photographer and author of provocative Benetton campaignsBest known for the controversial adverts he shot for the Italian fashion brand, former art director Oliviero Toscani has died, aged 82
-
Distracting decadence: how Silvio Berlusconi’s legacy shaped Italian TVStefano De Luigi's monograph Televisiva examines how Berlusconi’s empire reshaped Italian TV, and subsequently infiltrated the premiership
-
Louis Fratino leans into queer cultural history in ItalyLouis Fratino’s 'Satura', on view at the Centro Pecci in Italy, engages with queer history, Italian landscapes and the body itself
-
Don't miss Luxembourg's retro-futuristic lab pavilion in VeniceAs the Venice Biennale enters its last few weeks, catch 'A Comparative Dialogue Act' at the Luxembourg Pavilion
-
Portrait of a modernist maverick: last chance to see the Jean Cocteau retrospective in Venice‘Cocteau: The Juggler’s Revenge’, celebrating the French artist's defiance of artistic labels, is in its final week at Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice
-
‘Everything human-made is of interest to me’: Hildigunnur Birgisdóttir in VeniceArtist Hildigunnur Birgisdóttir explores consumerism at the Icelandic Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2024
-
‘Personal Structures’ in Venice is about ‘artists breaking free’‘Personal Structures 2024: Beyond Boundaries’ reveals a rich tapestry of perspectives on the challenges of our time, from culture to climate and identity
