Mellon Foundation Gives $1 Million To US Pavilion At 2024 Venice Biennale

Today, Portland Art Museum (PAM) in Oregon and SITE Sante Fe (SITE) in New Mexico, the commissioning institutions of the U.S. Pavilion at the 60th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, announced that the Mellon Foundation will serve as the presenting sponsor for  Jeffrey Gibson: the space in which to place me thanks to a lead gift of $1 million.  

On view from April 20 through November 24, 2024, Jeffrey Gibson: the space in which to place me is presented by PAM and SITE, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Celebrated for an artistic practice that combines American, Indigenous, and Queer histories with influences from music and pop culture, Gibson creates a dynamic visual language that invites deep reflection on identity, inspires empathy, and advocates for a widening of access to democracy and freedom for all. Gibson is a member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and of Cherokee descent. This exhibition represents the first major opportunity for audiences to experience his work outside of the U.S. and marks the first solo exhibition for an Indigenous artist representing the U.S. at the Biennale Arte. 

As the nation's largest supporter of the arts and humanities, the Mellon Foundation seeks to build just and meaningful communities, and is dedicated to supporting artists across disciplines while creating a more robust and representative artistic ecosystem.  

“We are honored to partner with the Mellon Foundation to bring Jeffrey's work to the Venice Biennale, and to share his vision on a global stage,” said Brian Ferriso, Director of the Portland Art Museum. “Mellon has a rich history of supporting artistic innovation, and we are thrilled to have their support as we champion Jeffrey's multi-faceted practice celebrating the diversity of American culture and the myriad identities it encompasses.” 

“Jeffrey Gibson is an extraordinary artist whose work conveys the potent complexity of the American experience,” said Mellon Foundation President Elizabeth Alexander. “We are pleased to sponsor him as he represents our country at the 2024 Venice Biennale, offering viewers from around the world a vivid perspective into the past, present, and possible futures of the United States in this historic exhibition.” 

“We are deeply grateful to the Mellon Foundation for their generous support in presenting Jeffrey Gibson: the space in which to place me to an international audience,” said Louis Grachos, Phillips Executive Director of SITE Santa Fe. “Their funding allows us to help Jeffrey realize his ambitious vision for the U.S. Pavilion, one which showcases the contributions of Indigenous people to U.S. culture at large and which honors our shared humanity.” 

For the 2024 U.S. Pavilion, Gibson will activate the interior and exterior of the building with a series of new and recent works that invite reflection on individual and collective identities including sculpture, paintings, multimedia works, and a site-specific installation activating the pavilion's courtyard. The project is commissioned by Kathleen Ash-Milby, Curator of Native American Art at the Portland Art Museum and a member of the Navajo Nation; Louis Grachos, Phillips Executive Director of SITE Santa Fe; and Abigail Winograd, independent curator, and is co-curated by Ash-Milby and Winograd. This exhibition is also the first to be commissioned and co-curated by a Native American curator.  

Jeffrey Gibson: the space in which to place me is made possible by The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State. Presenting Support is provided by the Mellon Foundation. Lead Support is provided by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Major support is provided by Agnes Gund, Arison Arts Foundation, the Hearthland Foundation, the Terra Foundation for American Art, and Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation. Generous support is provided by Lisa Domenico Brooke, Becky and David Gochman, the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund, The Pollock-Krasner Foundation, The Robert Lehman Foundation, the Schmidt Family Foundation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and the Sakana Foundation. Essential support is provided by Regina L. Aldisert, the Nicolas Berggruen Charitable Trust, David Bolger, Laura Donnelley, and the Trellis Art Fund. 
 

For more information on the 2024 U.S. Pavilion, please visit: www.jeffreygibsonvenice2024.org 

Jeffrey Gibson (b. 1972, Colorado Springs, CO) is a member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and of Cherokee descent who currently lives and works near Hudson, NY. Gibson's approach to art-making is defined by its hybrid and cosmopolitan nature, largely informed by his international upbringing in the U.S., Korea, and Germany. During his itinerant childhood as the son of a retired civil employee of the U.S. Army, he found solace and friendship in the world of music, at various times exploring the sounds and social traditions of the punk and rave music of his generation, and in the powwow traditions of his intertribal Native heritage. Resisting static, preconceived notions of what people believe Native American art looks like, he combines Native art traditions with the visual languages of modernism to explore the confluence of personal identity, culture, history, and international social narratives.  

Recent solo exhibitions include Jeffrey Gibson: DREAMING OF HOW IT'S MEANT TO BE (Stephen Friedman Gallery, 2024), Jeffrey Gibson: ANCESTRAL SUPERBLOOM (Sikkema Jenkins & Co., 2023)This Burning World: Jeffrey Gibson (ICA San Francisco, 2022), Jeffrey Gibson: The Body Electric (SITE Santa Fe, 2022), Jeffrey Gibson: They Come From Fire (Portland Art Museum, 2022), Jeffrey Gibson: INFINITE INDIGENOUS QUEER LOVE (deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, 2022) and Jeffrey Gibson: Like A Hammer (Denver Art Museum, 2018). His work is included in many permanent collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, National Gallery of Canada, and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. His recently published book, An Indigenous Present (August 2023), showcases diverse approaches to Indigenous concepts, forms and mediums by North American Indigenous contemporary artists, musicians, filmmakers, choreographers, architects, writers, photographers, and designers. 

Gibson has been recognized with numerous awards, including a 2019 MacArthur Foundation Fellowship and he is currently an artist-in-residence at Bard College. Gibson received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1995 and his Master of Arts in painting from the Royal College of Art, London, in 1998. 

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