"After news broke earlier this month that the sculptor Robert Lazzarini had been dropped as the unannounced selection to represent the United States at next year's Venice Biennale, outlets including the newsletter and Vanity Fair reported that the Utah-born, Mexico-based artist Alma Allen has been tapped to take over the US Pavilion in 2026 instead. The pavilion's commissioning curator, Jeffrey Uslip, has stated that no official announcement could be made until the US government shutdown ended."
"This is due in part to the Trump administration's cuts to the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the agency that typically co-ordinates with the US State Department to form a selection committee to pick the US Pavilion exhibition. The White House has directed federal arts funding agencies to prioritise projects related to the country's upcoming semiquincentennial, or 250th anniversary."
"Despite the funding obstacles, Lazzarini, whose sculptures use spatial distortion as a means of complicating audience expectations, was reportedly chosen in September. His winning proposal focused on renderings of US national symbols, such as George Washington, eagles and the American flag rendered in his signature wobbly, anamorphic style. According to the Post, Lazzarini believes the collapse of his pavilion project was due to bureaucratic problems, not political interference."
Robert Lazzarini was dropped as the unannounced selection to represent the United States at the 2026 Venice Biennale. Alma Allen has been tapped to take over the US Pavilion. Commissioning curator Jeffrey Uslip said no official announcement could be made until the US government shutdown ended. Two days after the government reopened, no US Pavilion announcement had been made. Preparation and selection under Donald Trump's second administration have been fraught because of cuts to the National Endowment for the Arts and a White House directive prioritizing semiquincentennial-related projects. The State Department directly selected Lazzarini and contributed $250,000 to a reported $5m budget; Lazzarini attributes the collapse to bureaucratic problems rather than political interference.
Read at The Art Newspaper - International art news and events
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