ArtReview sent a questionnaire to a selection of the artists exhibiting in various national pavilions of the Venice Biennale, the responses to which will be published over the coming days. Mathias Poledna is representing Austria. The pavilion is located in the Giardini.
What can you tell us about your plans for Venice?
Good sense tells us that earthly things are rare and fleeting, and that true reality exists only in dreams.
Are you approaching the show in a different way to how you would with a ‘normal’ exhibition?
Yes and no.
What does it mean to ‘represent’ your country? Do you find it an honour or problematic?
It means I get to produce new work.
What audience are you addressing with the work? The masses of artist peers, gallerists, curators and critics concentrated around the opening or the general public who come through over the following months?
Anybody who chooses to engage with it.
What are your earliest or best memories of the biennale?
Carlo Scarpa
You’ll no doubt be very busy, but what else are you looking forward to seeing?
Good art, I hope.
