Bruce Nauman Tobias Rehberger John Baldessari Ligia Pape Yoko Ono Ingar Dragset Michael Elmgreen Ono, Plensa, Coyne, and Wodiczko Celebrate Award Wins

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Rehberger’s Was du liebst, bringt dich auch zum Weinen (What you love also makes you cry) was a dizzying confluence of black and white lines with dabs of color that the international jury said shifted “social communication” into “aesthetic practice” as it awarded him the prize for best artist at the exhibition.

It's shaping up as a good year for Rehberger, who recently won a biennial prize from the German state of Baden-Württemberg for his work involving design, architecture, and personal space.

Top honors for the best national participation went to the United States on the strength of Bruce Nauman’s "Topological Gardens," which was on display at the American pavilion in the Giardini as well as two local universities. The exhibition explored Nauman’s work and was based on the mathematical field of topology, which considers space amid changing conditions.

The Silver Lion for a Promising Young Artist went to Nathalie Djurberg, a Swede working in multimedia in Berlin. She was cited for her work Experimentet and “her unsettling fairy tales, fantasies, and ‘black pedagogy.’”

Two Golden Lions for lifetime achievement, previously announced, went to Yoko Ono and visual artist John Baldessari.

The jury also assigned four special mentions, in the categories of "Remaking Worlds," "Curating Worlds," "Expanding Worlds," and "Translating Worlds" to go along with the Biennale's overall Making Worlds theme. For the first, a posthumous nod went to Ligia Pape, who died in 2004 and worked in diverse media and performance genres. Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset were lauded for bringing together the works of 24 artists in the adjoining Danish and Nordic pavilions. Video artist Ming Wong was named for examining her native Singapore’s multiethnic cultural identities via the demise of the city-state’s film industry. The jury also cited Roberto Cuoghi for a translation project using sounds and atmospheres.