Venice Biennale 2024: Artists Representing the U.S. Who Express Native American History and Colonial Exploitation

The U.S. pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2024 showcases innovative works addressing Native American history and colonial exploitation, showcasing global artistic innovation.

Pablo Delano

Pablo Delano, a San Juan-born artist and photographer, presents his latest archival-based conceptual installation, The Museum of the Old Colony (2024), showcasing his profound exploration of colonial histories.

The Museum of the Old Colony meticulously examines the complex and enduring colonial structures that have shaped Puerto Rico’s socio-political landscape.

The Museum of the Old Colony meticulously examines the complex and enduring colonial structures that have shaped Puerto Rico’s socio-political landscape.

Oswaldo Guayasamín

Oswaldo Guayasamín, born in Quito, Ecuador, in 1919 and passed away in Baltimore, United States, in 1999, was a pioneering painter and a fervent political activist.

Cabeza de Hombre Llorando (1957) is a striking Expressionism painting by Guayasamín, featuring a man weeping in profound sorrow and endurance.

Guayasamín's art transcends aesthetics, expressing social commentary and activism, infused with a profound sense of urgency and moral responsibility.

Alfredo Ramos Martínez

Alfredo Ramos Martínez, born in Monterrey in 1871, was a key figure in Mexican modernism, particularly during the Mexican Revolution.

Among Ramos Martínez’s most notable works is Mancacoyota (1930), a portrait that encapsulates the artist’s reverence for Indigenous culture and his vision of a new Mexican identity.

The painting contrasts a woman's face with vibrant red blossoms, referencing Mexican Impressionism, highlighting the harmony between the individual and the natural world and cultural identity and environmental interconnectedness.

Kay WalkingStick

Kay WalkingStick, born in Syracuse in 1935, creates paintings and sculptures that explore America's complex history, blending her Scottish-Irish and Cherokee heritage.

WalkingStick's artwork, The Silence of the Glacier, showcases the serene beauty of Glacier National Park, blending icy blues and whites with warm, earthy tones.