Bearing the lightness of being: the 54th Venice Biennale International Art Exhibition, Venice, Italy, 2011

Abstract

ILLUMInations, the title of the 54th Venice Biennale International Art Exhibition, sparks a number of associations relating to art production and contemporary politics. As a whole, the word implies a kind of spiritual or intellectual enlightenment, which is reinforced through the accentuation of the first part of the word. The notion of light is a classical theme in art, commencing with the Illuminated manuscripts produced by monks during the twelfth century – an attempt to illuminate the masses by bringing them Christianity – to the philosophical interpretation of light during the Age of Enlightenment – the surge of scientific discovery and reason that ultimately fuelled later inventions such as the light bulb. The Modern period was ushered in through the development of photography – a means of inscribing a fragment of reality onto paper with light – which, in turn, rendered naturalistic representation obsolete and prompted artistic experiments with light as it became the subject of numerous Impressionist canvases.