On view May 11 through November 24, 2019, the Biennale will mark a major international presentation for the artist, whose work has remained at the forefront of American creativity and who will create new site-specific pieces for the U.S. Pavilion. The 2019 U.S. Pavilion is commissioned and curated by Deputy Director Brooke Kamin Rapaport and Senior Curator Martin Friedman of Madison Square Park Conservancy in New York City. The exhibition marks the first time in the history of the Biennale that the U.S. Pavilion will be organized by an institution whose visual arts program is focused exclusively on public art. Madison Square Park Conservancy and Mr. Puryear previously collaborated on the commission of a public art installation of his monumental sculpture Big Bling in 2016.
The Venice Biennale, one of the most influential international art exhibitions in the world, provides an opportunity to showcase American excellence in the visual arts. U.S. participation dates back to the first Venice Biennale, inaugurated in 1895. In recent years, the U.S. Pavilion has attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors.
