2023 The Arte Laguna Prize Exhibition In Venice
The Back Story
With encouragement from my friend Doug Winter, I applied for the Arte Laguna Prize (ALP), an international exhibition with a strong commitment to Sustainability. To my amazement, I became a finalist in the Sculpture and Installation category. Since there was no funding to bring my large-scale work to Venice, I got approval to show three of my pieces that were already in Madrid. After a few weeks of logistics, my pieces were loaded onto a truck and arrived at the Arsenale Nord the week that the exhibition was being hung.
(You can see my artwork at the rear of the huge gallery in the photo to the right)
My first trip to Italy
Venice looks exactly like every picture you ever saw. It’s the most photogenic place I’ve ever been to. I flew from New York City with my assistant, Sandra Hernandez and we stayed at an AirBB in the Castello section which was closest to the Arsenale Nord. Everyone prepared me that getting lost is part of exploring Venice. By the end of a week, we got pretty good at taking the water taxi and navigating with MapQuest. It’s easy to do 10,000 steps a day in Venice! Did you know there’s nearly 400 bridges in Venice?
On a more personal note, Italy was my father’s spiritual home. I imagined my parents seeing every view I saw and I understood first hand why Italy captured my Dad’s imagination.
Highlights of the Arte Laguna Prize exhibition
Certainly the biggest highlight was seeing two of my pieces, Homeland and Missing on an international stage. If I had any lingering doubts about my work, they were dispelled at this show. I felt that my work remained unique and strong in a field of 240 artists from around the world.
Everywhere we went in Venice, whether by boat or land, we saw posters and kiosks announcing the Arte Laguna Prize exhibition. Although it doesn’t compete with the Venice Biennale, it’s a major event in Venice. The public poured in even during the closing hours.
I did a gallery talk at the Arsenale Nord, which was simultaneously translated into Italian. Did you know that there’s a difference between Italian and Venetian? Apparently, Venetians can understand Italian but it’s not necessarily the same for other Italians.
What’s Next?
Just when I was trying to figure out how to store or ship my work after the show, I had two amazing breakthroughs. Bethany Ann Putman, President of the Ajijic Society of the Arts and new Director of 360 Xochi Quetzal, texted me contact information for an artist who had grown up in Ajijic and studied at the Lake Chapala Society summer art camp. Francisco had been sponsored to come to Venice to study painting and never returned to Mexico. We were delighted to meet him and he stepped forward to store a crate of my artwork.
My next lucky break came on the last day of the exhibition when the Director took a group of us artists out for an extravagant sushi dinner. I was introduced to Ezior Ramera, one of the underwriters of the exhibition. He decided to show two of my pieces at Stile, his furniture showroom in Brescia, the furniture capital of Italy, just outside of Milan.
The Finale in Milan
We flew in and out of Milan, so the finale of this amazing trip was spending a day at the world-famous Milan Design Week. We got to see the zenith of the Italian high fashion and design world: stunning clothes, shoes, home decor and art.
And as icing on the cake, I was able to set up a meeting in Milan with renown Italian curator, Barbara Pavan. Ms. Pavan is also the editor of Arte Morbida, a major Italian art magazine, where my artwork will be featured in July 2023. She was traveling with another Italian fiber artist, Michela ……..We spent two hours at Princi, a stylish Italian café and it was a love fest! We left the meeting determined to do future exhibitions together.
This was the trip of a lifetime. I came home feeling inspired, proud and excited about future possibilities in Italy. Time to start studying Italian!
RESOURCES:
Arte Laguna Prize:
https://artelagunaprize.com/
Stile Showroom in Brescia, Italy where Kruger’s work is currently on
display: https://www.stileoriginaldesign.it/en/
Arte Morbida Textile Magazine: https://www.artemorbida.com/?lang=en
Italian textile artist, Michela Cavagna from Turin, Italy:
https://www.michelacavagna.com/
https://www.instagram.com/michelacavagnart/
Barbara Pavan, Curator and Editor:
https://www.instagram.com/barbarapavan469/
https://www.artemorbida.com/barbara-pavan/?lang=en
https://www.thefemalecurators.com/en/2022/10/09/open-dialogues-interview-with-barbara-pavan/
Artist Francisco Miramontes from Ajijic, Mexico:
http://www.frojasmiramontes.com
https://instagram.com/franciscorojasmiramontes?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2