Kiki Smith: The Venice Story
Text by Vivien Bittencourt, Vincent Katz, Kiki Smith. Vincent Katz and Vivien Bittencourt's book, produced in concert with their video of the same title, traces Kiki Smith's preparations for her eight-room installation at the Fondazione Querini Stampalia in Venice, which coincided with the 2005 Venice Biennale. It places readers in the midst of the puzzling but effective modus operandi of a highly sophisticated visual artist: Smith works at home, surrounded by books, a pet bird and tiny kitchenette, and moves easily between drawing, collaging, photographing, printing, painting plaster casts and creating furniture fashioned from liquor boxes. Following her to Venice, Katz and Bittencourt observe the complex installation of this work, which proves to be an integral part of its conceptual whole. The book features fascinating and revealing transcripts of the artist's spoken words--spontaneous reflections on her life as an artist among a family of artists. |
