Day 2
Upon Jonathan's advice, the taxi boat from San Marco, dropped us near Palazzo Grassi; three floors of contemporary art, displayed mainly in immense dimensions to accommodate the grand space of the building. It was not the magenta, bright Balloon Dog by Jeff Koons that first captured our attention, but the 'Contamination' patchwork sprawl from Joana Vasconcelos, of brightly coloured forms that invaded the entrance of this magnificent Palazzo.
No photography was allowed, and we took time to view every global work of art by various artists.
There was a short trailer shown in a dark room by Bernard Henry Levy of a fabricated film starring Sharon Stone of The American Dream; where she ran for presidency.
On a higher floor, Farhad Moshiri, from Iran's colourful exhibit on a white wall read:
'Life is Beautiful', composed from colourful knife handles of different textures, which could only be distinguished by a closer look. Indeed, La Dolce Vita was made beautiful from the acquisition of many knife wounds in the past. I can relate to that.
From Yang Jiechang, born in Southern China, were two walls covered in paintings of his works titled, 'Stranger than Paradise', in which Yang humorously illustrated a paradisal vision of animals and men frolicking (and I mean sexually mucking about) joyfully in nature.
What's the world coming to?
Alighiero Boetti's statue of a man holding a lead pipe over his head where steam is coming out is named accordingly 'Mi fuma il cervello'. Steam is comin' out of my brain! Boy, do I feel that way at times.
Last but not least, we came across the colossal, finely detailed oil paintings by the Zambian artist; Jonathan Wateridge. Scenes from the production of a fictional American film centred on an unseen catastrophic event. Awesome!
We left the Palazzo Grassi in awe, to walk over the bridge running across the Grand Canal, passed through numerous alleys, canals and astounding architectural delights, and crossed smaller bridges to reach Punta della Dogana museum, 'In Praise of Doubt' with a motto that read; "The world belongs to you".
It was incredible to see such a contemporary interior of concrete walls, decorated by contemporary art, housing such Roman-style architecture on the white exterior of the building, situated on the far left side of the photo below.
Again, no photos allowed, I noticed the life-size horse hanging by the neck from a wall above.
Up the stairs, there was an exhibit of a large size room created by Roni Horn of New York; 'Well and Truly', displaying a dimly lit living room of an old era, possibly revisited in the future.
After enough art consumption for one day, we rerouted back for a few hours of retail therapy. After all, we were in Italy!
On the way back to the hotel, always on foot as the roads are only made for walking, we stumbled across a small workshop/art gallery in a back street and entered to find Gigi Bon; lawyer, turned artist at work, behind her chaotic desk. Her main subject of sculpture was rhinos.
When I asked why she was so dedicated to the rhino, she answered:
"I feel myself a rhino. Being Venetian, we're so few that we're close to extinction."
That evening's late dinner was at the nearby Do Forni restaurant, resembling an ancient Venetian Tavern with traditional cuisine. My body was craving meat after all the seafood we had consumed, so the choice of the Beef Stroganoff turned out to be an excellent idea. The dish was made on a frying pan next to our table, to perfection. I vividly imagine the succulent taste of the tender beef, infused with a refined creamy sauce, accompanied by roast potatoes. Gastronomy at its best. Yummy.
Enriched with architecture, art and culinary excellence, we rushed back to our hotel room, for a night of tossing and turning due to a full stomach!
Upon Jonathan's advice, the taxi boat from San Marco, dropped us near Palazzo Grassi; three floors of contemporary art, displayed mainly in immense dimensions to accommodate the grand space of the building. It was not the magenta, bright Balloon Dog by Jeff Koons that first captured our attention, but the 'Contamination' patchwork sprawl from Joana Vasconcelos, of brightly coloured forms that invaded the entrance of this magnificent Palazzo.
No photography was allowed, and we took time to view every global work of art by various artists.
There was a short trailer shown in a dark room by Bernard Henry Levy of a fabricated film starring Sharon Stone of The American Dream; where she ran for presidency.
On a higher floor, Farhad Moshiri, from Iran's colourful exhibit on a white wall read:
'Life is Beautiful', composed from colourful knife handles of different textures, which could only be distinguished by a closer look. Indeed, La Dolce Vita was made beautiful from the acquisition of many knife wounds in the past. I can relate to that.
From Yang Jiechang, born in Southern China, were two walls covered in paintings of his works titled, 'Stranger than Paradise', in which Yang humorously illustrated a paradisal vision of animals and men frolicking (and I mean sexually mucking about) joyfully in nature.
What's the world coming to?
Alighiero Boetti's statue of a man holding a lead pipe over his head where steam is coming out is named accordingly 'Mi fuma il cervello'. Steam is comin' out of my brain! Boy, do I feel that way at times.
Last but not least, we came across the colossal, finely detailed oil paintings by the Zambian artist; Jonathan Wateridge. Scenes from the production of a fictional American film centred on an unseen catastrophic event. Awesome!
We left the Palazzo Grassi in awe, to walk over the bridge running across the Grand Canal, passed through numerous alleys, canals and astounding architectural delights, and crossed smaller bridges to reach Punta della Dogana museum, 'In Praise of Doubt' with a motto that read; "The world belongs to you".
It was incredible to see such a contemporary interior of concrete walls, decorated by contemporary art, housing such Roman-style architecture on the white exterior of the building, situated on the far left side of the photo below.
Again, no photos allowed, I noticed the life-size horse hanging by the neck from a wall above.
Up the stairs, there was an exhibit of a large size room created by Roni Horn of New York; 'Well and Truly', displaying a dimly lit living room of an old era, possibly revisited in the future.
After enough art consumption for one day, we rerouted back for a few hours of retail therapy. After all, we were in Italy!
On the way back to the hotel, always on foot as the roads are only made for walking, we stumbled across a small workshop/art gallery in a back street and entered to find Gigi Bon; lawyer, turned artist at work, behind her chaotic desk. Her main subject of sculpture was rhinos.
When I asked why she was so dedicated to the rhino, she answered:
"I feel myself a rhino. Being Venetian, we're so few that we're close to extinction."
That evening's late dinner was at the nearby Do Forni restaurant, resembling an ancient Venetian Tavern with traditional cuisine. My body was craving meat after all the seafood we had consumed, so the choice of the Beef Stroganoff turned out to be an excellent idea. The dish was made on a frying pan next to our table, to perfection. I vividly imagine the succulent taste of the tender beef, infused with a refined creamy sauce, accompanied by roast potatoes. Gastronomy at its best. Yummy.
Enriched with architecture, art and culinary excellence, we rushed back to our hotel room, for a night of tossing and turning due to a full stomach!
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