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La Biennale. Visual arts '80. The [XXXIX (39) edition of the] Biennale di Venezia. Section of Visual Arts. General catalogue. 1980. Exhibition catalogue, Biennale di Venezia, June 1 - September 28, 1980. Texts: Martin Kunz, Achille Bonito Oliva, Michael Compton, and Harald Szeemann. Milano: Electa, 1980.

267 pages : black and white illustrations ; 29.6 x 21 cm.

ISBN 88-208-0265-1

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The catalogue of the 1980 Venice Biennale, directed by Luigi Carluccio, of which the general theme was the art of the 1970s.
This was the first occasion on which Martin Kunz—at the time the young Director of Kunstmuseum Luzern—participated in the preparation of a major international exhibition, and he was principally concerned with the section entitled Arte negli anni ’70 (Art in the 1970s).

text by EM
Catalog of the 1980 Venice Biennale whose general theme was the 1970s in art. First major international exhibition for Martin Kunz, then young director of the Lucerne Museum. Curators of the "Art of the 1970s" exhibitions are: Martin Kunz, Michael Compton, Achille Bonito Oliva and Harald Szeemann. The same commission, formed by the four curators, proposed to the Biennale Management that they be allowed to curate a retrospective on young international authors of the 1980s, outside the Biennale grounds, at the salt warehouses in the Venetian Di Dorso Duro district. Only six months before the Biennale opened, the proposal was accepted. To be reported as curators of this exhibition entitled "Aperto 80" were Achille Bonito Oliva and Harald Szeemann. The exhibition was a great success with the public and confirmed the good initial intuition of the Commission. Also appearing in the catalog are all the other sections of the Biennale on: Balthus, Czechoslovak modern art, the Bordeaux experience, Mario De Luigi, and August Strindberg.

Exhibition catalogue, Biennale di Venezia, June 1 - September 28, 1980. Texts: Martin Kunz, Achille Bonito Oliva, Michael Compton, and Harald Szeemann