Lawrence Weiner, The Grace of a Gesture (Italian), Palazzo Bembo, Venezia, 2013
Photo by Katy Hamer
Lawrence Weiner, “The Grace of a Gesture” opened in Venice on the ground floor of the Palazzo Bembo near the Rialto Bridge. The exhibition is being held on the occasion of the Biennale di Venezia and the acquisition of the work by the same title by The Written Art Foundation. Weiner uses words as objects. He delves into the realm of the signified and the signifier. He leaves us as viewers in a state of confusion rather than in state of satisfaction after having attained specific information. The work is not necessarily precious or didactic but rather presents itself as keys with doors that we do not know how to access or find. In Venice, “The Grace of a Gesture” has been translated in various languages that appear on the walls of the Palazzo Bembo and also in poster format on the sides of Vaporetti, transporting visitors through the city of water to various ports.
What is “The Grace of a Gesture”? The work was originally inspired by the city of Lisbon in Portugal and came to fruition in 2010. Weiner, born in New York in 1942, has often been inspired by urbanity and the structures and forms that come with a city. Language, in fact, could be considered urban in that it is made of forms and structures, rules and restriction, for without this particular structure, buildings would not stand and language would not be under comprehensible. Weiner uses words, in abstract phrases that may or may not make sense. Such as with “The Grace of a Gesture” we are left to wonder, “What is the gesture?”, “Does it exist?”.
Lawrence Weiner, The Grace of a Gesture (German), Palazzo Bembo, Venezia, 2013
Photo by Katy Hamer

The gesture is just that, an action, a recognition, a breath. It is life and the way that we live and yes, it is filled with grace. Upon recognition that the grace of a gesture can be indeed be projected upon, it opens many possibilities and reflects the world around us in five simple words. However, those words are written in the native tongue of the artist, once they are translated in various languages, including Italian, German, Russian, French, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Hebrew and Arabic, the physical structure is transformed. Here one can ponder, is the work about the communication of a specific set of words or is it the aesthetic structure that it is comprised of? The visual translation of one work in ten languages lends an elasticity to the piece that unlike paint, or other traditional art mediums, is as transferable as it is static. Does the text based artworks exist in the font in which they are written, the color in which they are printed or the message that they legibly communicate? Here the answer to the question appears to be the message that is communicated. Applied on brightly painted turquoise walls in the Palazzo, “The Grace of a Gesture” becomes many things while always remaining the same.

Lawrence Weiner, The Grace of a Gesture, Palazzo Bembo, Venezia, 2013
Photo by Katy Hamer

Also in the exhibition are words that relate to physical substances (water, air, lead, mud) and the physical presence they attain when combined in various ways. In a catalogue essay by Thomas Kellein, the author states, “Such words are written on the wall. In contemplating them, we realize we are dealing with three-dimensionality-its quality of providing space and encompassing substances.” Kellein, references the immediate comprehension of the words Weiner chooses to transport the reader into a physical dimension rather that a flat plane. He then states, “We could imagine that Lawrence Weiner is speaking to us, and that we are listening to him as we read. We are moving in our imagination. Generally, he is not present. We allow ourselves to be affected by his language and start entering his domain.”

Lawrence Weiner, The Grace of a Gesture, Palazzo Bembo, Venezia, 2013
Photo by Katy Hamer

“The Grace of a Gesture” will be on view in Venice, a Collateral Event as part of the Biennale di Venezia, from June 1st – November 24th, 2013 at Palazzo Bembo. Several works have been brought together from a 1991 exhibition originally show at the DIA Center, New York, and offer the possibility and reminder of what Lawrence Weiner states, “There is no art without language. You have no means with which to consider yourself without language. There is no “I” without a language. Without the I, there is no art, there’s nothing.”

More soon.
xo