Tina Gillen represents the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg at the 59th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia with Faraway So Close. The exhibition, for which the artist is producing a new series of large-scale works, takes the form of an expansive painterly installation in the Luxembourg Pavilion, located within the historic premises of the Sale d’Armi in Venice’s Arsenale. In Faraway So Close, Gillen directs her attention to the connections between the interior space and the outside world.
![1 Tina Gillen Luxembourg Pavilion Biennale Arte 2022 Florian Kleinefenn](https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_2400x1600_crop_center-center_line/1_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628589 2400w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_992x661_crop_center-center_line/1_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628590 992w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_1984x1322_crop_center-center_line/1_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628592 1984w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_768x512_crop_center-center_line/1_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628593 768w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_1536x1024_crop_center-center_line/1_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628594 1536w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_576x384_crop_center-center_line/1_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628594 576w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_1152x768_crop_center-center_line/1_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628595 1152w)
![2 Tina Gillen Luxembourg Pavilion Biennale Arte 2022 Florian Kleinefenn](https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_2400x1600_crop_center-center_line/2_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628599 2400w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_992x661_crop_center-center_line/2_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628601 992w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_1984x1322_crop_center-center_line/2_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628603 1984w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_768x512_crop_center-center_line/2_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628603 768w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_1536x1024_crop_center-center_line/2_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628605 1536w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_576x384_crop_center-center_line/2_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628605 576w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_1152x768_crop_center-center_line/2_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628606 1152w)
![3 Tina Gillen Luxembourg Pavilion Biennale Arte 2022 Florian Kleinefenn](https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_2400x1600_crop_center-center_line/3_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628610 2400w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_992x661_crop_center-center_line/3_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628611 992w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_1984x1322_crop_center-center_line/3_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628613 1984w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_768x512_crop_center-center_line/3_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628614 768w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_1536x1024_crop_center-center_line/3_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628615 1536w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_576x384_crop_center-center_line/3_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628615 576w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_1152x768_crop_center-center_line/3_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628616 1152w)
![4 Tina Gillen Luxembourg Pavilion Biennale Arte 2022 Florian Kleinefenn](https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_2400x1600_crop_center-center_line/4_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628619 2400w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_992x661_crop_center-center_line/4_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628621 992w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_1984x1322_crop_center-center_line/4_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628623 1984w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_768x512_crop_center-center_line/4_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628624 768w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_1536x1024_crop_center-center_line/4_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628625 1536w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_576x384_crop_center-center_line/4_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628625 576w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_1152x768_crop_center-center_line/4_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628626 1152w)
![5 Tina Gillen Luxembourg Pavilion Biennale Arte 2022 Florian Kleinefenn](https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_2400x1600_crop_center-center_line/5_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628630 2400w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_992x661_crop_center-center_line/5_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628631 992w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_1984x1322_crop_center-center_line/5_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628633 1984w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_768x512_crop_center-center_line/5_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628633 768w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_1536x1024_crop_center-center_line/5_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628635 1536w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_576x384_crop_center-center_line/5_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628635 576w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_1152x768_crop_center-center_line/5_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628636 1152w)
![6 Tina Gillen Luxembourg Pavilion Biennale Arte 2022 Florian Kleinefenn](https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_2400x1600_crop_center-center_line/6_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628640 2400w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_992x661_crop_center-center_line/6_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628641 992w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_1984x1322_crop_center-center_line/6_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628643 1984w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_768x512_crop_center-center_line/6_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628644 768w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_1536x1024_crop_center-center_line/6_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628646 1536w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_576x384_crop_center-center_line/6_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628646 576w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_1152x768_crop_center-center_line/6_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628648 1152w)
![7 Tina Gillen Luxembourg Pavilion Biennale Arte 2022 Florian Kleinefenn](https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_2400x1600_crop_center-center_line/7_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628652 2400w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_992x661_crop_center-center_line/7_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628653 992w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_1984x1322_crop_center-center_line/7_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628655 1984w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_768x512_crop_center-center_line/7_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628656 768w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_1536x1024_crop_center-center_line/7_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628657 1536w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_576x384_crop_center-center_line/7_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628658 576w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_1152x768_crop_center-center_line/7_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628659 1152w)
![8 Tina Gillen Luxembourg Pavilion Biennale Arte 2022 Florian Kleinefenn](https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_2400x1600_crop_center-center_line/8_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628662 2400w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_992x661_crop_center-center_line/8_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628663 992w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_1984x1322_crop_center-center_line/8_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628665 1984w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_768x512_crop_center-center_line/8_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628666 768w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_1536x1024_crop_center-center_line/8_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628667 1536w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_576x384_crop_center-center_line/8_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628667 576w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_1152x768_crop_center-center_line/8_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628668 1152w)
![9 Tina Gillen Luxembourg Pavilion Biennale Arte 2022 Florian Kleinefenn](https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_2400x1600_crop_center-center_line/9_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628671 2400w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_992x661_crop_center-center_line/9_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628672 992w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_1984x1322_crop_center-center_line/9_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628674 1984w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_768x512_crop_center-center_line/9_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628675 768w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_1536x1024_crop_center-center_line/9_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628676 1536w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_576x384_crop_center-center_line/9_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628676 576w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_1152x768_crop_center-center_line/9_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628677 1152w)
![10 Tina Gillen Luxembourg Pavilion Biennale Arte 2022 Florian Kleinefenn](https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_992x1488_crop_center-center_line/10_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628679 992w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_1984x2976_crop_center-center_line/10_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628684 1984w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_768x1152_crop_center-center_line/10_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628685 768w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_1536x2304_crop_center-center_line/10_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628688 1536w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_576x864_crop_center-center_line/10_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628688 576w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_1152x1728_crop_center-center_line/10_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628690 1152w)
![11 Tina Gillen Luxembourg Pavilion Biennale Arte 2022 Florian Kleinefenn](https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_992x1488_crop_center-center_line/11_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628692 992w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_1984x2976_crop_center-center_line/11_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628697 1984w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_768x1152_crop_center-center_line/11_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628698 768w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_1536x2304_crop_center-center_line/11_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628701 1536w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_576x864_crop_center-center_line/11_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628702 576w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_1152x1728_crop_center-center_line/11_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628703 1152w)
![12 Tina Gillen Luxembourg Pavilion Biennale Arte 2022 Florian Kleinefenn](https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_992x1488_crop_center-center_line/12_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628706 992w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_1984x2976_crop_center-center_line/12_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628711 1984w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_768x1152_crop_center-center_line/12_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628712 768w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_1536x2304_crop_center-center_line/12_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628715 1536w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_576x864_crop_center-center_line/12_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628715 576w, https://luxembourgpavilion.lu/assets/images/_1152x1728_crop_center-center_line/12_TinaGillen_LuxembourgPavilion_BiennaleArte_2022__Florian_Kleinefenn.jpg?v=1650628717 1152w)
Concerned primarily with the medium of painting, the work of Tina Gillen examines how we relate to the world around us, namely through the themes of landscape and dwelling. Her paintings often originate in photographic images that she modifies, simplifies, pictorially ‘translates’, and pairs with other elements to arrive at compositions that purposefully nurture a certain ambiguity, somewhere between abstraction and figuration, construction and improvisation, the surface of the canvas and the translation of a space.
Faraway So Close is an ambitious painting installation made especially for the Luxembourg Pavilion. Conceived in response to the history of the space as a military storage, it brings together large-scale paintings in a scenographic treatment inspired by painted film backdrops, ‘as if the paintings were only there temporarily, waiting to be moved again, rearranged.’
The exhibition is an extension of Gillen’s recent pictorial research on the representation of natural phenomena that elude our control such as meteorological events, rising sea levels and volcanic activity. Collectively, the paintings evoke the four elements that were historically associated with the constitution of the universe – earth, water, fire and air –, as well as the ‘uncertain landscapes’ (Marielle Macé) marked by climate and environmental changes brought by human activities.
At the heart of the installation is a sculptural component titled Rifugio (2022), whose shape was inspired by a seaside bungalow the artist discovered on the Côte d’Opale in northern France and painted in a previous work on paper. When transposed to the exhibition space and placed in relation with the paintings, this form becomes a polysemic space to the artist, acting both as a place for withdrawal and a gateway into the world, as a shelter and as a space beset by an abundance of information. Faraway So Close speaks to the complexity of the relationships that exist between interior spaces and the outside world, between proximity and distance.
23.04
–27.11.2022
Arsenale, Sale d’Armi, Venice
-
Commissioner:
Ministry of Culture, Luxembourg -
Organiser:
Mudam Luxembourg – Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean -
With the support of:
Let's make it happen and Kultur | lx – Arts Council Luxembourg -
Curator:
Christophe Gallois, assisted by Ilaria Fagone -
Exhibition Design:
Tina Gillen in collaboration with Polaris Architects