49th International Art Exhibition
Plateau of Humankind
The 49th International Art Exhibition took place from June 10 to November 4, 2001, under the title Plateau of Humankind. It was directed, as the 1999 edition, by the Swiss critic Harald Szeemann and attracted over 243,400 visitors. Szeemann said that “No set theme was applied in choosing the artists; indeed, it is their work which decides the dimension of the event. The Venice Biennale hopes to serve as a raised platform offering a view over humankind”. A key work by Joseph Beuys, The End of the Twentieth Century, was exhibited. According to Szeemann, “It was Beuys above all who was the indefatigable spokesman for the concept of liberty”. Alongside Beuys, various other artists of the 20th century were exhibited: “Cy Twombly, whose generous gestures restore myth to the modern world; Richard Serra, the creator of a new concept of the monumental; Niele Toroni, the champion of painting as trace. Then come a number of those contemporary artists who have focused on the human figure – for example, Ron Mueck”.
Artists
- Chantal Akerman
- Francis Alys
- Vanessa Beecroft
- HAI Bo
- Botto & Bruno
- Tania Bruguera
- Chris Burden
- Loris Cecchini
- Chris Cunningham
- Josef Dabernig
- Lucinda Devlin
- Rineke Dijkstra
- Stan Douglas
- Cristina Garcia Rodero
- Luis Gonzalez Palma
- Paul Graham
- Veli Granoe
- Gary Hill
- Laura Horelli
- Abbas Kiarostami
- Marko Lehanka
- Tuomo Manninen
- Eva Marisaldi
- Chantal Michel
- Priscilla Monge
- Arnold Odermatt
- Paul Pfeiffer
- Heli Rekula
- Gerhard Richter
- Tracey Rose
- Anri Sala
- Ene-Liis Semper
- Santiago Sierra
- Javier Tellez
- Fiona Tan
- Salla Tykkae
- Bill Viola
- Not Vital
- Massimo Vitali
- Jeff Wall
- Magnus Wallin
- Nick Waplington
- XU Zhen
- Heimo Zobernig
