Introduction to Review
By Rayleen Forester
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A surge in attendance across international art museums, festivals and fairs has fostered the kind of ‘growth’ industry analysts have not seen since 2019. As global art networks continue to revel in its pre-pandemic passion for international travel it is in this ‘biennale year’ that art criticism has made ample space for exhibition reviews.
The 2024 Venice Biennale saw over 370 artist participants and a range of collateral events (including a Golden Lion for the Australian pavilion) that have garnered a deluge of responses through online and print outlets. Small acts of rebellion and solidarity at the Whitney Biennale caused a stir and made it onto mainstream media. On a ‘local’ level Adelaide Biennial and Sydney Biennale saw investments in ‘destination venues’ and strategic commissions that strengthened institutional promises of diversifying its platform.
In a year of witnessing a ‘snapshot’ of practice, the exhibition review plays an important role in the ecology of exhibition reporting and transparency. The review examines, synthesizes, and assesses the societal discourse surrounding presentations and publications. While an essay is meant to be read, a review serves as the most concise and prominent testament to that reading and its impact. Reviews play a crucial role in connecting language and ideas with actual sites, projects, and spatial choices—acting as a vital link between an exhibition (featuring theory, critique, and history), its practicalities, the physical environment and its audience.
Embracing this mode of critical thinking and writing fine print will be spending this season responding to work in review form. Focussing on exhibitions, biennials, fairs and showcases from around the world we hope that by platforming these modes of writing, we as a publishing body can explore how connections can be made through one's experience of art.