BIENNALE VENICE 2024

“AMIGOS Y AMIGAS”
A project conceived by Fabio Cherstich and hosted by Paolo Castellarin at Palazzo Tiepolo in Venice from the 15th to the 21st of April 2024.

The Venice exhibition, devised especially for the spaces of Palazzo Tiepolo, triggers a choral dialogue that revolves around a significant collection of large works on paper by Roberto Juarez, and aims to narrate a series of connections and coincidences among the artists in the exhibition.

On one hand, there’s Roberto and his friends: a story of art, sisterhood, and the pain of artists who—bound by community and friendships—contributed to the dynamic art and cultural scene of the East Village in the 1980s, with works by Jimmy Wright, Mark Tambella, Donna Francis, Elaine Reichek, Jeff Perrone, Arch Connelly, and Stephen Barker.

On the other, a selection of artists who are part of my own sphere of affection, and whose works dialogue in emotional and formal content with those of the historical artists in the exhibition: Anna Franceschini, Davide Stucchi, Tomaso De Luca, and Raul De Nieves.

The artists in the exhibition question the relationship between art and decoration, maximalism and synthesis, the concept of queerness and the sharing of their own emotional and private experience with viewers.

Amigos y Amigas is an act of affection and sharing, borne out of a desire to weave a network of emotional and artistic connections that cross time and space.
Through the works on display, we are invited to explore the intimate connection between the artists, their own personal experiences, and the cultural context that shaped them.