French artist Loris Gréaud will revive an abandoned glass furnace on an island in Murano district during the Venice Biennale for his immersive installation "The Unplayed Notes Factory." It will play host "to a whole new trade: an unofficial production line," Gréaud teases. "The continuous performance of the glass gaffers (blowers) on site will soon turn into a strange 'tableau vivant.'"<br /><br />Curated by Nicolas Bourriaud, his installation is part of the Glasstress initiative organized by Fondazione Berengo, which will show glassworks by 27 artists, largely at Palazzo Franchetti. Head to its garden to see an ambitious installation by Koen Vanmechelen.
"The Unplayed Notes Factory" (2017) by Loris Gréaud, on view at the Campiello della Pescheria, Murano from May 11 to Nov. 26, 2017 —
French artist Loris Gréaud will revive an abandoned glass furnace on an island in Murano district during the Venice Biennale for his immersive installation "The Unplayed Notes Factory." It will play host "to a whole new trade: an unofficial production line," Gréaud teases. "The continuous performance of the glass gaffers (blowers) on site will soon turn into a strange 'tableau vivant.'"

Curated by Nicolas Bourriaud, his installation is part of the Glasstress initiative organized by Fondazione Berengo, which will show glassworks by 27 artists, largely at Palazzo Franchetti. Head to its garden to see an ambitious installation by Koen Vanmechelen.
Courtesy Oliver Haas
Damien Hirst leads visitors on a trail around two museums filled with treasures plundered from an "ancient shipwreck." His coral-covered heroes, gods and leviathans aren't quite what they seem, however. Look closely and you'll spot some familiar faces peering back at you.<br /><br />Venice -- a city slowly sinking beneath the sea -- is an apt setting for this watery spectacle and Hirst's high-voltage artworks give the buildings a heady charge. Barnacle encrusted figures fill the Punta della Dogana, an old customs house, while a headless "Demon with Bowl" dominates the atrium of the 18th-century Palazzo Grassi. The show has divided critics since its opening last month, but it remains a Venice Biennale must-see.
"Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable" by Damien Hirst, on at Punta della Dogana and Palazzo Grassi until Dec. 3, 2017 —
Damien Hirst leads visitors on a trail around two museums filled with treasures plundered from an "ancient shipwreck." His coral-covered heroes, gods and leviathans aren't quite what they seem, however. Look closely and you'll spot some familiar faces peering back at you.

Venice -- a city slowly sinking beneath the sea -- is an apt setting for this watery spectacle and Hirst's high-voltage artworks give the buildings a heady charge. Barnacle encrusted figures fill the Punta della Dogana, an old customs house, while a headless "Demon with Bowl" dominates the atrium of the 18th-century Palazzo Grassi. The show has divided critics since its opening last month, but it remains a Venice Biennale must-see.
Awakening/Getty Images Europe/Getty Images
You won't fail to miss this totemic golden installation, rising 65 feet. It was conceived by enigmatic American artist James Lee Byars, who died in 1997 and is best known for his performance pieces. <br /><br />Byars always wanted to exhibit the work -- first realized for a 1990 Berlin show -- in a public space, and finally this wish has come true with a spot on Campo San Vio, right next to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. The tower's iridescent surface will reflect the mosaic of the adjacent Palazzo Barbarigo. Byars' structure is also tall enough to serve as an orientation device for those lost in Venice.
"The Golden Tower" (1990) by James Lee Byars, on display at Campo San Vio, Dorsoduro from May 13 to Nov. 26, 2017 —
You won't fail to miss this totemic golden installation, rising 65 feet. It was conceived by enigmatic American artist James Lee Byars, who died in 1997 and is best known for his performance pieces.

Byars always wanted to exhibit the work -- first realized for a 1990 Berlin show -- in a public space, and finally this wish has come true with a spot on Campo San Vio, right next to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. The tower's iridescent surface will reflect the mosaic of the adjacent Palazzo Barbarigo. Byars' structure is also tall enough to serve as an orientation device for those lost in Venice.
Courtesy Richard Ivey/Michael Werner Gallery, New York and London
Phyllida Barlow's sculptures and installations -- built from plywood, cardboard, plaster, cement, fabric and paint -- alter and challenge their environments. <br /><br />When her commission by the British Council was announced, Barlow declared: "It is going to be a remarkable experience to begin to consider the work for the imposing architecture of the British Pavilion." <br /><br />We're looking forward to seeing how her works inhabit their neoclassical surrounds.
Phyllida Barlow's British Council commission, on view at the Venice Biennale British Pavilion (Giardini di Castello) from May 13 to to Nov. 26, 2017 —
Phyllida Barlow's sculptures and installations -- built from plywood, cardboard, plaster, cement, fabric and paint -- alter and challenge their environments.

When her commission by the British Council was announced, Barlow declared: "It is going to be a remarkable experience to begin to consider the work for the imposing architecture of the British Pavilion."

We're looking forward to seeing how her works inhabit their neoclassical surrounds.
Courtesy Paul Crosby/Phyllida Barlow/Hauser & Wirth
We're expecting big things from man-of-the-moment Kader Attia, the 2016 Marcel Duchamp Prize-winner known for his large-scale, often architectural installations. <br />The French-Algerian artist will find the Arsenale's gigantic industrial frame hard to resist. We've heard he will be creating one of his installations made from cardboard boxes, ancient doors, or vitrines filled with twigs.
Kader Attia, on view at Arsenale from May 13 to Nov. 26, 2017 —
We're expecting big things from man-of-the-moment Kader Attia, the 2016 Marcel Duchamp Prize-winner known for his large-scale, often architectural installations.
The French-Algerian artist will find the Arsenale's gigantic industrial frame hard to resist. We've heard he will be creating one of his installations made from cardboard boxes, ancient doors, or vitrines filled with twigs.
Courtesy MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst/Axel Schneider
Italian artist Pablo Echaurren will present an ode to Marcel Duchamp at the 15th-century Scala Contarini del Bovolo, inviting the public to participate. Venice Biennale visitors will be asked to climb and descend the building's famous spiral staircase -- recalling Duchamp's seminal "Nu descendant un escalier, No. 2" -- via a series of signs, conceived by the artist. <br /><br />Also on view will be works produced over 40 years in which he holds a dialogue with the father of conceptual art.
"Pablo Echaurren: Du champ magnétique. Works 1977-2017," on at Scala Contarini del Bovolo until Oct. 15, 2017 —
Italian artist Pablo Echaurren will present an ode to Marcel Duchamp at the 15th-century Scala Contarini del Bovolo, inviting the public to participate. Venice Biennale visitors will be asked to climb and descend the building's famous spiral staircase -- recalling Duchamp's seminal "Nu descendant un escalier, No. 2" -- via a series of signs, conceived by the artist.

Also on view will be works produced over 40 years in which he holds a dialogue with the father of conceptual art.
Courtesy HarshLight
Arte Povera master Michelangelo Pistoletto will suspend a series of mirrors from the center of the 16th-century Basilica di San Giorgio Maggiore in a work titled '"Suspended Perimeter -- Love Difference." <br /><br />His site-specific Venice Biennale exhibition also extends to the chapter room, where you'll find "The Time of Judgement," representing the world's largest four religions. (Pistoletto's works reflect on the conflict between different religions and the need for acceptance and multiculturalism.)
"One and One Makes Three" by Michelangelo Pistoletto, on at Basilica di San Giorgio Maggiore, Isola di San Giorgio from May 10 to Nov. 26, 2017 —
Arte Povera master Michelangelo Pistoletto will suspend a series of mirrors from the center of the 16th-century Basilica di San Giorgio Maggiore in a work titled '"Suspended Perimeter -- Love Difference."

His site-specific Venice Biennale exhibition also extends to the chapter room, where you'll find "The Time of Judgement," representing the world's largest four religions. (Pistoletto's works reflect on the conflict between different religions and the need for acceptance and multiculturalism.)
Courtesy Didier Descouens