Vaunted Texas Museum is Headed to Venice: International Art Moment Ask the Questions of Our Time

The Dallas Contemporary is heading to Venice this month. The vaunted art museum will present Paula Crown: The Architecture of Memory, an exhibition to run as a partner program to the American Pavilion, organized by School of the Art Institute of Chicago and University of Chicago, at the 16th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia.

The exhibition, commissioned and curated by Dallas Contemporary director Peter Doroshenko, will be Paula Crown’s debut to the international biennale scene.

The artist, whose practice includes drawing, painting, video, sculpture, and installation, has been featured locally at the Dallas Contemporary (2014) and the Goss-Michael Foundation (2016). Her work is often complex, challenging viewers’ conceptions of reality, and examining societal structures through advanced interventions.

The Architecture of Memory will be a relevant reflection on this year’s Biennale theme of “Freespace.”

“Crown’s timely art works examine critical theory issues that exist between language and space – fitting subjects for the Venice Architectural Biennale. Her oeuvre is a catalyst for both discussion and contemplation,” Doroshenko said in a statement.

The provocative exhibition will be accompanied by a supporting publication, educational programs and student workshops.

“After years of ongoing dialogue with Peter and my interest in the work being presented by Dallas Contemporary, it is an honor to be part of this ambitious new program. I can’t imagine a more urgent time to give form to feeling and generate crucial conversations about individual and collective responsibility on numerous levels — political, environmental, and social,” Crown said in a statement.

The installation will take shape at Studio Cannaregio, a new gallery in the oldest neighborhood of Venice. The artist has created three new works to fill the 2,200-square-foot space.

“The history of Studio Cannaregio and the city of Venice provide the perfect setting for reflection and to ask the pressing question: What will be contemporary culture’s mark on the planet?” Crown added.

Paula Crown: The Architecture of Memory will be on view May 25 through November 26, 2018.