From natural sculptures to Ridley Scott's Alien, learn more about how Precious Okoyomon, Mire Lee, and Chiara Enzo are bringing their talents to Venice's prestigious art exhibition.

Since 1895, the Venice Biennale has served as a showcase for some of the world's most prestigious <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/art/google-creator-labs-young-artists-photographers-filmmakers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">artists</a>. Delayed a year due to the pandemic, this year's Biennale features a majority of women and nonbinary artists, curated by Artistic Director Cecilia Alemani.
Among these artists are Mire Lee, Chiara Enzo, and Precious Okoyomon. Lee brings viewers into the unsettling world of <a href="https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-nightmarish-works-hr-giger-artist-alien" target="_blank" rel="noopener">H.R. Giger</a>, Enzo explores the human soul through micro paintings, and Okoyomon looks to the chaos of nature for inspiration.
L'OFFICIEL speaks with Lee, Enzo, and Okoyomon to learn more about their inspirations and artwork.&nbsp;

Mire Lee

Mire Lee&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/elle-fanning-sculptural-trend-balmain-instyle-awards" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sculptural</a> installations are often unsightly and heavily material, most often reminiscent of intestines or dissected <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/film-tv/bridgerton-actress-nicola-coughlan-begs-people-to-stop-talking-about-her-body-instagram" target="_blank" rel="noopener">body</a> parts that exude liquids that allude to bodily fluids. Despite the feelings of repulsion, her works come to life with <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/trend-movement-inspire-spring-style-2021" target="_blank" rel="noopener">movements</a> that attract viewers instantly engaged by the mechanical and visceral lexicon: cascades of offal combine with kinetic devices composed of industrial materials such as silicone tubes, <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/how-to-wear-belly-chains-y2k-trend" target="_blank" rel="noopener">chains</a>, concrete, and steel structures contrasted with the consistency of glycerin splashes, sticky liquids, <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/beauty/natural-ingredients-sustainability-beauty-skincare-products" target="_blank" rel="noopener">natural</a> <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/beauty/french-green-clay-benefits-mask-skincare-body-health-wellness" target="_blank" rel="noopener">clay</a>, and the audiovisual languages of <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/luxury-video-games-louis-vuitton-burberry-animal-crossing-league-of-legends" target="_blank" rel="noopener">video</a>. In its entirety, the artist&rsquo;s compositions create atypical entities and dysfunctional organisms that move away from the canons of objective <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/beauty/what-beauty-products-can-be-recycled" target="_blank" rel="noopener">beauty</a>.
Detached from all kinds of <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/pop-culture/kim-kardashian-slams-ex-kanye-west-social-media-instagram-attacks-north-west-tiktok" target="_blank" rel="noopener">social media</a>, the contemporary artist prefers anonymity: she lives and works between <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/art/idfa-discover-the-best-documentaries" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amsterdam</a> and <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/art/south-korean-photographer-cho-gi-seok-coexistence-exhibition-fotografiska-nyc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">South Korea</a> and has a degree in sculpture and media art from the National University College of Fine Arts. Her creations have been exhibited in major institutions: the Art Sonje Center in <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/inside-max-mara-s-new-exhibition-in-seoul" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Seoul</a>, Lily Roberts in <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/christian-dior-reopening-paris-flagship-boutique-30-avenue-montaigne-2022" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Paris</a>, the Art Institute in Utrecht, and last year she was included in the Future Generation Art Prize list.
Lee&rsquo;s latest exhibition of her work &ldquo;H.R. Giger &amp; Mire Lee&rdquo; at the Schinkel Pavillon in <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/ottolinger-dumitrascu-spring-2018" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Berlin</a> is a dialogue between Lee&rsquo;s apparatus and the xenomorphic creatures of Swiss artist H.R. Giger, such as the renowned &ldquo;Necronom IV,&rdquo; the erotic diaries and sketches that inspired the creatures in <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/film-tv/lady-gaga-house-of-gucci-wraps-filming-italy-tweet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ridley Scott</a>&rsquo;s Alien. <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/pop-culture/julia-fox-explores-sexuality-kanye-west-relationship-nsfw-call-her-daddy-podcast-interview" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sexuality</a>, corporeality, and technology coexist permanently in the macro area that analyzes the relationship between human beings and technology at the Biennale. Her work at the exhibition is a set of cells animated by the excited gestures of a machine that recalls the digestive system of an animal.
&ndash; Simone Vertua

Chiara Enzo

&ldquo;I was going through a very difficult personal period, I felt extremely limited physically and, consequently, <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/travel-living/celebrity-vacation-homes-travel-visit-airbnb" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mentally</a>,&rdquo; says the artist Chiara Enzo, discussing what led her to an artistic practice.&ldquo; I wondered, what was the reason for the suffering that these constraints brought with them? How could I find meaning in what was happening to me? Desperate for an answer, I encountered my own concept of existence. In contrast to the widespread representation of the demiurge artist who creates great works and has a great vision of the whole, I focused on a different reading of reality. Couldn&rsquo;t I embrace it all? I shifted my attention to something more tangible: my body. The <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/beauty/are-fragrances-in-skincare-products-bad-dermotologist-tips" target="_blank" rel="noopener">skin</a>, our edge, what separates &lsquo;you&rsquo; from the <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/art/brian-kenny-2019-art-creative" target="_blank" rel="noopener">outside</a>. Thus began my exploration and, consequently, my fragmented narration of the <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/travel-living/top-destinations-instagram-influencers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world</a>.
&rdquo;An intimate and painstaking analysis of the present and an exaltation of man&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/film-tv/frank-grillo-donnybrook-tiff-2018" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vulnerability</a> through works with a high emotional content, Enzo&rsquo;s paintings are the overwhelming proof of the continuing evolution of the art of painting. &ldquo;Although in <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/italy-moves-closer-to-banning-fur-farms" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Italy</a> there is still this legacy of thought, I don&rsquo;t worry about it. <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/art/monet-painting-artwork-on-sale-after-25-years-sothebys-auction" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Painting</a> has already been defined several times as a dead language, yet it has always been reborn,&rdquo; says the artist. Enzo&rsquo;s works have the ability to lay bare the human soul simply by deepening a detail, all in an extra-small format. &ldquo;There are various contributing causes that led me to work on such a small scale. Being an extremely introspective person, I have always detached myself from too-large works that impose themselves on the viewer. The goal of my work is to attract without constraints, I want to create an active <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/pop-culture/taylor-swift-joe-alwyn-relationship-timeline-dating" target="_blank" rel="noopener">relationship</a> between the work and the observer: even just the fact that you have to (or want) to get closer to observe it better, causes movement to be created around it.
&rdquo;The goal is to create a small window that yearns for something elusive: &ldquo;Imagination is the key element: there is a missing character that everyone must complete for themselves. This sense of <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/pop-culture/bella-hadid-misses-met-gala-fashion-month-releases-kin-euphorics" target="_blank" rel="noopener">absence</a> makes each work&mdash;with its apparent incompleteness&mdash;recall the others. There is a very close link between one painting and another; one can also conceive of my work as a single perennially incomplete work.&rdquo;
Enzo considers participating in the 59th Venice Biennale to be a big leap. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never participated in such an important event, especially a Biennale like this one, with its strong representation of women and other minorities! I know and respect the work of the curator Alemani, her ability to dig into <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/wellness/palace-of-versailles-history-of-hygiene-french-royalty-marie-antoinette-beauty-routine" target="_blank" rel="noopener">history</a> and look at different paths. Despite finding that the world of <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/art/fatherhood-contemporary-artists-parenting-kids" target="_blank" rel="noopener">contemporary art</a> is still extremely male-dominated, this new chapter is certainly an excellent step forward.&rdquo;
In Venice, Enzo presents an elaborate reflection on the human body and its metamorphosis. &ldquo;There is a certain fluidity, it can be looked at from several points of view and some aspects could fall within the other issues addressed by the exhibition. I let myself be carried away by the mediation we experience of our physicality: nowadays everyone lives their corporeality indirectly, mediated by <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/claudia-schiffer-90s-supermodel-photography-captivate-exhibition" target="_blank" rel="noopener">photography</a>, <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/film-tv/kaia-gerber-american-horror-stories-first-images-trailer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">images</a>, and social media. This is why I worked with different types of <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/harry-styles-fashion-moments-golden-music-video-tattoos-shirtless" target="_blank" rel="noopener">video</a> and photographic frames, which best reflect the contemporary concept of &lsquo;body.&rsquo;&rdquo;
&ndash; Margherita Meda

Precious Okoyomon

”Open circle Lived Relation (detail); Resistance is an atmospheric condition,” 2020, by Precious Okoyomon.

Precious Okoyomon thrives on <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/pop-culture/with-chaos-self-branding-takes-center-stage" target="_blank" rel="noopener">chaos</a>. The <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/art/marisol-sol-escobar-andy-warhol-pop-art-legacy-exhibition" target="_blank" rel="noopener">artist</a>, who builds large-scale installations utilizing unpredictable, natural materials, creates portals to new environments&mdash;an introduction into their dreamlike world. Recurring elements include the <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/wellness/earth-day-tips-for-living-sustainably" target="_blank" rel="noopener">earth</a>, the <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/skincare-supplement-for-sun-protection" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sun</a>, <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/international-woolmark-prize-2022-finalists-peter-do-ahluwalia-rui" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wool</a> and <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/beauty/french-green-clay-benefits-mask-skincare-body-health-wellness" target="_blank" rel="noopener">clay</a> dolls, stuffed bears, <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/music/neon-trees-new-single-used-to-like" target="_blank" rel="noopener">trees</a> with dangling nooses, and <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/travel-living/four-seasons-punta-mita-mexico-catch-of-the-day-experience" target="_blank" rel="noopener">culinary</a> experiments designed to challenge the limits of our comfort zones.
&ldquo;I grew up in a <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/lofficiel-house-of-dreams-virtual-museum-exhibition-registration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">house</a> imbued with a strong religious sense. As a child I was obsessed with Christian mysticism; I was devoted to the point of writing prayers in the form of <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/beauty/celine-rimbaud-new-fragrance-perfume" target="_blank" rel="noopener">poetry</a> which I then went to bury in the woods,&rdquo; says the artist. Born in <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/celebrity-influencer-fashion-trends-london-fashion-week-fall-winter-2022" target="_blank" rel="noopener">London</a>, Okoyomon spent their early childhood with their mother in Lagos, <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/designers-to-know-nigeria-arise-fashion-week-naomi-campbell-kenneth-ize" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nigeria</a>, and then moved to the US at the age of 7&mdash;first to <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/whitney-houston-style-moments-music-grammys-90s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Houston</a> and later Ohio. Okoyomon then studied philosophy in <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/chanel-boutique-chicago-drake-hotel-2019" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chicago</a> before moving to <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/brooklyn-beckham-nicola-peltz-wedding-victoria-beckham-david-beckham" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Brooklyn</a> in 2017. The artist won the <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/travel-living/frieze-la-art-festival-2022-rooftop-bars-hotels-gallery-exhibitions-events" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Frieze</a> Artist Award in 2021, and recently exhibited at the <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/prada-outdoor-mountain-installation-aspen-colorado-artcrush-festival" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Aspen</a> Art Museum and the Luma Foundation in Arles. Among Okoyomon&rsquo;s most impactful works is &ldquo;Earthseed,&rdquo; presented in 2020 at the Museum f&uuml;r Moderne Kunst&rsquo;s Zollamt in Frankfurt. The artist filled a former customs office with topsoil and planted an expanse of kudzu plants, considered invasive in the US. The plant was originally introduced to the American South from <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/influence-of-asian-bloggers-in-fashion-bryanboy-susie-lau" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Asia</a> in the late 19th century as a solution to earth eroded by the intensive cultivation of cotton. It quickly acclimated to its new environment, growing rapidly and suffocating other native species, becoming known as the &ldquo;vine that ate the South.&rdquo; Though kudzu has become a warning of the danger of taking species out of their respective environments, for Okoyomon&mdash;who needs &ldquo;to stay in the spiral of chaos to keep producing new magic&rdquo;&mdash;the plant is also a positive symbol of nature&rsquo;s chaotic resilience.
For this year&rsquo;s Venice Biennale, Okoyomon utilizes <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/beauty/sugar-bad-for-skin-beauty-skincare-wrinkles-collagen" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sugar</a> cane for the first time, together with kudzu. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s an installation inspired by a musical; a project that had a long gestation phase, about two years, created together with my dear friend Gio Escobar&mdash;an extraordinary composer&mdash;and a <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/pop-culture/remembering-billie-holiday-songs-style" target="_blank" rel="noopener">jazz</a> band,&rdquo; explains the artist. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a very special project with protective black figures made of wool, earth, and <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/pop-culture/megan-fox-machine-gun-kelly-blood-ritual" target="_blank" rel="noopener">blood</a>, and a river of black algae that feeds the sugar cane fields. My work is a long process. I work with the earth, and nothing grows overnight. The Venice Biennale is a very special occasion, a kind of time capsule. I titled the work &ldquo;To See the Earth Before the End of the World.&rdquo; I think this is really a very special moment, in which we all ask ourselves: &lsquo;Where are we now? What binds us to others? What will happen?&rsquo;
After the Venice opening, Okoyomon will return to several works in progress. First on the ever-changing garden at the <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/art/artcrush-gala-aspen-art-museum-creatives" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Aspen Art Museum</a>, then on the creation of a forest, which the artist estimates will take four years.
&ndash; Fabia Di Drusco

3 Artists to Watch at the 2022 Venice Biennale  

3 Artists to Watch at the 2022 Venice Biennale

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