Travelling Light from 15th May London and Venice 6th June

Two worlds will literally collide in Travelling Light, an exhibition which promises to explode London’s edgy East End onto the luminescent international art stage when all eyes will be upon it: the opening week of the 53rd Venice Biennale Art Exhibition.

Travelling Light is an exciting collaborative project between a dynamic trio of female East End director/curators, Sophie Wilson of Pharos Gallery, Chiara Williams and Debra Wilson of WW Gallery. Intending to stretch the imagination of their artists through imposing size and weight constraints, the brief demands that work arrives by post for the London exhibition before being transported to Venice for the Biennale. The dogma has encouraged lateral thinking and some interesting responses: artists used to working on a larger scale have had to challenge their usual practice and leave their comfort zone, often to surprising, silly and outright creative ends.

The exhibition will showcase a total of 58 artists including: Kate Davis, Jarik Jongman, Oona Grimes, Maria Chevska, Sardine & Tobleroni, Boa Swindler, Lucy May and Eva Lis. Submissions have arrived from all over the globe, which is appropriate not only because the theme of this year’s Venice Biennale is, ‘Making Worlds’, but because the ethos of community-grounded Pharos and WW Gallery is inclusiveness. Many of the selected artists are London based, but hail from as far afield as USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Russia, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, France, Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Greece, Wales, Scotland and England.

Travelling Light will open in London at WW Gallery from 15th – 28th May. From there it will travel along the trade route to Venice, a path historically well trodden by merchants and hedonists attracted to the trade and pleasure capital of Europe. From 6th – 10th June it will be hung in a palazzo between the Accademia Galleries and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. A bright new addition to the many ‘Collateral Events’ that have sprung forth from the expanding Biennale, Travelling Light is featured by the British Council on the Artupdate map. In addition, the Italian Cultural Institute invited the curators to the Venice Biennale press conference on the 27th March to share Travelling Light with the national and international press.

A group of all-female artists/documenters of varying nationalities will accompany the curators to Venice in order to make and record site-specific works. One of these artists is Roma Tearne, the Sri Lankan born artist and writer whose first book, Mosquito, was shortlisted for the 2008 Costa First Novel Award. The Travelling Light team will be collaborating with her on a series of stunts across London and Venice. Hinting at the involvement of blindfolds, balaclavas and prominent landmarks, the public art interventions will accompany the release of Tearne’s latest book, Brixton Beach on 1st June 2009. Additionally there will be a special acoustic performance by Italian born Olivia Chaney at the London private view and by Veneto musician Alberto Grollo at the Venice private view. Travelling Light is more than just an art exhibition; it is a truly international event and is stirring considerable media interest.

Travelling Light Team >
www.wilsonwilliamsgallery.com/travellinglight.htm

TravellingLight London/VeniceBiennale09 >
15 May – 10 June 2009

Venues & opening times >
London: Fri 15 May – Thur 28 May
30 Queensdown Rd. E5 8NN
Open 12-6pm, Sat-Sun or by appointment
Nearest station: Hackney Downs

Venice: Sat 6 June – Wed 10 June
622 Fondamenta Bragadin, 30123 Venice
Open daily 10-6pm
Nearest vaporetto stop: Accademia

Follow & join in >
Blog: http://travellinglight09.blogspot.com/
Website: http://www.wilsonwilliamsgallery.com/travellinglight.htm