James Lavadour Chosen for the Venice Biennale

PDX Contemporary Art announced last night that, with its recommendation, artist James Lavadourhas been selected to participate in a group exhibition called "Personal Structures" at the 55th Venice Biennale, to take place from June until December.

One of the most celebrated and interesting artists in the region, Lavadour is a fitting choice for the Biennale. Working from his studio on the Umatilla Reservation, where he is mostly self-taught and self-educated, Lavadour depicts the mammoth, rugged landscape of Eastern Oregon with boldly vibrant, textural paintings and prints that inhabit a geography in between representation and abstraction—a geography as much of spirit as geology. His unique expression of the American West has earned him exhibitions at the Smithsonian Institute National Museum of the American Indian in New York and Washington DC, the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, the Seattle Art Museum, and the Portland Art Museum, among many others.

"Of course I am excited and jubilant, but it has also been a rather long and suspenseful process," Lavadour wrote Culturephile via email. "I am very grateful to Jane Beebe and PDX Contemporary Art for their hard work that made this happen. I work hard in the studio and they work hard getting it out into the world. I love to paint, and it is truly a thrill for painting to open the door to the larger world."

Created in 2002 by the Dutch artist Rene Rietmeyer, the "Personal Structures" exhibition works to bring together established and less known artists whose work shares a focus on the concepts of time, space, and existence. (You can read more below.)

"I will be showing current work that has been developing in the studio," writes Lavadour. "I have several options but have not decided as of today."

From the curators of “Personal Structures” (via PDX Contemporary):

“During the next 55th International Art Exhibition Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia 2013, we will organize at Palazzo Bembo our exhibition "PERSONAL STRUCTURES". The exhibition will open the first of June and run until 24 November 2013.

The exhibition brings together an extraordinary combination of established artists next to artists whose oeuvre is less known. What they have in common is a dedication to the concepts Time - Space and Existence. The exhibition is curated and organized by the Global Art Affairs Foundation. Each artist in the exhibition presents recent artworks, either site- specific, especially made for this exhibition, or coming directly from the artist's studio. Several rooms in Palazzo Bembo are dedicated to one single artist and some rooms are presenting 2 or 3 artists. Their strong statements give each of the rooms a very specific atmosphere. The exhibition features a broad variety of artistic media, such as: videos, sculptures, paintings, photos, installations with light, wallpaper and performance.

Since the participating artists originate from diverse cultures and are of very different age, Time - Space and Existence are highlighted from unusual points of view. PERSONAL STRUCTURES therefore stimulates a more conscious relation from the spectator towards his daily surrounding and aims to increase the awareness of their own personal Existence as human beings within a specific Space and Time.

The exhibition PERSONAL STRUCTURES is part of an international art project. It was initiated in 2002 by the Dutch artist Rene Rietmeyer, who noticed that even in the most distant corners of the world, there are artists working with Time - Space and Existence, thereby expressing themselves in a very personal way. This observation led to the idea of bringing several of these artists together in publications, exhibitions and symposia.