Stephen Friedman Gallery at Venice Biennale

Jeffrey Gibson represents the United States at La Biennale di Venezia.

Celebrated for an artistic practice that combines American, Indigenous, and Queer histories with influences from music and pop culture, Gibson creates a dynamic visual language that reflects the inherent diversity and hybridity of American culture. Using abundant colour, complex pattern, and text, he invites deep reflection on identity, inspires empathy, and advocates for a widening of access to democracy and freedom for all. 

The 2024 U.S. Pavilion is co-commissioned by Kathleen Ash-Milby, Curator of Native American Art at the Portland Art Museum and a member of the Navajo Nation, Louis Grachos, Phillips Executive Director of SITE Santa Fe, and Abigail Winograd, independent curator, and is co-curated by Ash-Milby and Winograd. A member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and of Cherokee descent, Gibson is the first Indigenous artist to represent the U.S. solo in the 129-year history of the Biennale. This exhibition is also the first to be co-commissioned and co-curated by a Native American curator. 

“Throughout his career, Jeffrey has challenged us to look at the world differently through his innovative and vibrant work,” said Ash-Milby. “His inclusive and collaborative approach is a powerful commentary on the influence and persistence of Native American cultures within the United States and globally, making him the ideal representative for the United States at this moment.” 

Yinka Shonibare CBE RA has been selected as part of the official Nigerian Pavilion at the Biennale. 

'Nigeria Imaginary', curated by Nigerian-British curator Aindrea Emelife, explores different viewpoints and constructed ideas, memories of and nostalgia for Nigeria, with a scope that is cross-generational and inter-geographic. The artists were chosen for their unique perspectives on Nigeria, with a selection of artists who grew up in Nigeria and within the Diaspora curated to capture a sense of optimism imbued in inherited and collective cultural history. Emelife explains, ‘Nigeria Imaginary looks at the many Nigerias that live in our minds: the Nigeria that could be and is yet to be.’

The nine artists included in the presentation are Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, Ndidi Dike, Onyeka Igwe, Toyin Ojih Odutola, Abraham Oghobase, Precious Okoyomon, Yinka Shonibare CBE RA and Fatimah Tuggar.

Leilah Babirye and Yinka Shonibare CBE RA participate in the 60th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia.

Curated by Adriano Pedrosa, the exhibition takes place in the Central Pavilion (Giardini) and in the Arsenale, and is divided into two sections: the 'Nucleo Contemporaneo' and the 'Nucleo Storico'.

The title 'Stranieri Ovunque - Foreigners Everywhere' is drawn from a series of works started in 2004 by the Paris-born and Palermo-based Claire Fontaine collective. The works consist of neon sculptures in different colours that render in a growing number of languages the words "Foreigners Everywhere”. The phrase comes, in turn, from the name of a Turin collective who fought racism and xenophobia in Italy in the early 2000s.

"The expression Stranieri Ovunque," explains Pedrosa, "has several meanings. First of all, that wherever you go and wherever you are you will always encounter foreigners— they/we are everywhere. Secondly, that no matter where you find yourself, you are always truly, and deep down inside, a foreigner."