Venice Biennale, The Nationals: Greek Pavilion

For those who have the 55th Venice Biennale on their itineraries, we offer quick picks in the form of slide shows, appearing over the coming days, of one- and two-person shows at the national pavilions. With 88 countries participating, 10 for the first time, it’s impossible to be comprehensive. So we aim to serve visitors with limited time, attending just the two main venues: Giardini and Arsenale. Wherever you wander in Venice, however, keep your eyes peeled for the red Biennale logo, signaling nationals tucked into churches and palazzi.

Photos by Paola Ferrario.

O. HENRY OF AUSTERITY: GREECE (Giardini) A homeless forager of metal scraps hits pay dirt when he finds discarded paper flowers made of euros. An art dealer discovers the forager’s abandoned cart and sells it to a senile artist/collector with a penchant for making paper flowers. The collector creates a bouquet of paper flowers out of euros that she bags and discards. The trenchant irony in Stefanos Tsivopoulos’s three-channel video History Zero lays bare the relativity of value.