Venice biennale

An art exhibition begun in 1895, it is held every two years in Venice, Italy as a world-wide event to exchange ideas on the latest trends and movements in the art world---an Olympics for art! Nation states, not individuals, are invited to participate, and the exhibition site is in the Giardini di Castello. A committee from each participating country runs the Biennale, and each country has artist representatives. In 2011, Kazuyo Sejima became the first woman Director of the Biennale. The American government chooses professionals from a single museum each time to oversee the American pavilion and to select the exhibiting artists. Artists who have represented the United States include Isamu Noguchi, Stuart Davis, Arshile Gorky, Jasper Johns, Frank Stella, Philip Guston, Claes Oldenburg, Louise Nevelson, Red Grooms, Robert Colescott, Byron Burford and Susan Rothenberg. Sources: Peter Duus, "The Life of Isamu Noguchi"; "National Museum of Women in the Arts" magazine, Fall, 2010; AskART database