Mariechen Danz’s ‘Womb Tomb’ at the 2017 La Biennale de Venezia.

While Mark Bradford and Sharon Lockhart represent the United States and Poland, respectively, in the prestigious Venice Bienniale (La Biennale di Venezia), two other CalArtians’ work is also on view there.

Mariechen Danz

Mariechen Danz (Art MFA 08) presents performances and sculptural works at Arsenale 2 with Womb Tomb. The central work of the same name is a sculpture depicting a thermoactive human body. Laid out in the center of the gallery space, the body morphs in response to the environment.

From The New York Times:

“Danz treated her installation at the Arsenale like a primordial theater that the audience is invited to inhabit. The floor is made of a local mud, which rises to form a pedestal for her thermoactive sculpture, Womb Tomb, as well as a stage. A set of feet cast in different materials, like coal and agate, walk along the wall. “’The idea is that the whole room offers a change of perspective,” Danz says. “There is no clarity between north, south, east, west. The piece is a map of itself.’”

Paul Rosero

Paul Rosero’s (Art MFA 15) Arriba!, on view at the Antarctic Pavilion, is an artistic research project tackling the changing environment. As part of his research, Rosero traveled to Paradise Bay in Antarctica, bringing a cacao plant contained in a temperature-controlled capsule and placing it on top of a glacier. The sounds of a cacao harvest fills the space. Rosero also produced chocolate bars called Arriba! to accompany the show.

In Lago Agrio, Ecuador, Rosero found cacao trees growing out of oil-contaminated soil. This gave him the idea to test the plant’s resistance to extreme conditions. In his artist statement, Rosero indicates that he wanted to explore “the possible growing of tropical flora in extremely cold environments in the future. The approach was to present images related to ecological becomings of life after an environmental cataclysm.”

The 57th La Biennale di Venezia International Art Exhibition is open through Nov. 26.