Sign up to our newsletter and become a Club Huck member.

Stay informed with the cutting edge of sport, music and counterculture

The history of art in 5 minutes

Behind the Biennale: A Short History of the World’s Most Important Art Exhibition

Behind the Biennale: A Short History of the World’s Most Important Art Exhibition

What would the world be like without the Venice Biennale? A chorus of art-world insiders and Venice locals respond with insights and stories, helping us navigate the cultural influence of this somewhat enigmatic, 120-year-old tradition. Produced in collaboration with UBS, and directed by Oscar Boyson, this film pulls back the curtain on the event’s reach, extending beyond art and into politics and history at large. A Short History introduces “Behind the Biennale,” a series of short films released throughout the summer, uncovering the stories of artists, curators, visitors, and Venetians. Written and Directed by Oscar Boyson Edited by Thomas Niles Producer: Mary Beth Minthorn Associate Producer: Matthew Echelman Cinematographer: Kevin Phillips Associate Producer: Matthew Echelman Sound: Colin Alexander Music: Antonio Vivaldi Color: Irving Harvey

vimeo.com
A history of the Venice Biennale — The first short film in a series that celebrates the Venice Biennale digs into the rich history of the art world's most revered event.

Filmmaker Oscar Boyson has directed a five-minute video that sums up the last 120 years of the Venice Biennale, the most important art fair in the world.

The film – which makes a lot of the high-concept work feel accessible through pop references (this is where Madonna got on the gondola in Like a Virgin) – focuses on the most influential, or controversial, moments in the fair’s history and analyses how those moments have helped shape culture and even national identity.

This film is the first in a series of short films, Behind the Biennale, to be released in the run-up to this year’s Biennale featuring the stories of artists, curators, visitors, and Venetians.


You might like

Activism

Venice Biennale will not award artists from Israel & Russia due to war crime accusations

Art Not Genocide — Both countries will still be allowed to exhibit work at their respective pavilions, but be excluded from judging considerations, as they have leaders facing arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court.

Written by: Noah Petersons

Huck 83: Life Is A Journey Issue

“I didn’t care if I got sacked”: Sleazenation’s Scott King in conversation with Radge’s Meg McWilliams

Radgenation — For our 20th Anniversary Issue, Huck’s editor Josh Jones sits down with the legendary art director and the founder of a new magazine from England’s northeast to talk about taking risks, crafting singular covers and disrupting the middle class dominance of the creative industries.

Written by: Josh Jones

Huck 83: Life Is A Journey Issue

Joe Bloom’s View From a Bridge

More stories, more human — The artist and creator of the vertical video generation’s most loved storytelling platform explains the process behind creating the show, and the importance of bucking trends.

Written by: Isaac Muk

Culture

When David Wojnarowicz became Arthur Rimbaud

Arthur Rimbaud in New York — In 1978, the American artist and his friends donned masks to pay tribute to the French poet, who was born a century before him. Miss Rosen traces the differing yet parallel lives of the queer revolutionaries.

Written by: Miss Rosen

Culture

Inside Bombay Beach, California’s ‘Rotting Riviera’

Man-made decay — The Salton Sea was created by accident after a failed attempt to divert the Colorado River in the early 20th century. Jack Burke reports from its post-apocalyptic shores, where DIY art and ecological collapse meet.

Written by: Jack Burke

© Mitsutoshi Hanaga. Courtesy of Mitsutoshi Hanaga Project Committee
Culture

How Japan revolutionised art & photography in the ’60s and ’70s

From Angura to Provoke — A new photobook chronicles the radical avant-garde scene of the postwar period, whose subversion of the medium of image making remains shocking and groundbreaking to this day.

Written by: Miss Rosen

Huck is supported by our readers, subscribers and Club Huck members.

You've read articles this month Thanks for reading

Join Club Huck — it's free!

Valued Huck reader, thank you for engaging with our journalism and taking an interest in our dispatches from the sharp edge of culture, sport, music and rebellion.

We want to offer you the chance to join Club Huck [it's free!] where you will receive exclusive newsletters, including personal takes on the state of pop culture and media from columnist Emma Garland, culture recommendations, interviews and dispatches straight to your inbox.

You'll also get priority access to Huck events, merch discounts, and more fun surprises.

Already part of the club? Enter your email above and we'll get you logged in.