On Friday, Aug. 23, the North Fork Arts Center (211 Front St., Greenport) will host a special screening and discussion of the documentary “Taking Venice.”
Directed by Amei Wallach, the film chronicles an infamous scandal that occurred during the 1964 Venice Biennale, one of the largest international art exhibitions in the world, and how the American government decided to use “culture” as a tactic during the Cold War.
“It’s kind of an urban legend in the art world,” says Wallach of the events that unfolded during the Biennale.
As the legend goes, then-unknown, now-legendary artist Robert Rauschenberg was chosen by Washington insider Alice Denney (who appears in the documentary) and art dealer Leo Castelli to compete in the juried competition at the Biennale for the grand prize. Rumors of rigging and foul play persisted, especially when Rauschenberg’s work started winning big, and the unique multimedia art pieces that he brought to the show were called “junk art” by many in the international art community. Unfolding with the quickness of a caper, “Taking Venice” explores just how true some of those accusations were, as well as the lasting effect Rauschenberg had on the art world.
“We very consciously cut it like a caper,” says Wallach. “It’s for people who are interested in art, history, politics, the Cold War, the Kennedys — any number of things.”
According to Wallach, an award-winning journalist and documentarian, the film is an exploration of how the ’60s-era United States government believed that art had such power over hearts and minds that winning the grand prize could change the course of the Cold War. In bringing Rauschenberg and his work to the show, the United States turned the Biennale into a spectacle unlike the art world had seen at that point.
“I think what people like about this film is that they’re not being ‘told’ something, they’re not being ‘taught’ something,” she says. “They’re just along for the ride.”
“Taking Venice” was in development for seven years prior to its completion and ride on the festival circuit. Wallach discovered many interesting wrinkles to the story, including pictures by famed international photographer Ugo Mulas that showed paintings being loaded onto boats, a famous moment that is a focal point of the film.
“We kept coming up with little gems,” says Wallach. “We kept coming up with surprising footage.”
One of the movie’s pivotal subjects, “New Yorker” writer and art critic Calvin Tomkins, attended the 1964 Venice Biennale and gave insight into how Rauschenberg, a gay, Jewish artist, felt being chosen by the government to be a symbol for American nationalism. “Taking Venice” also features interviews with Rauschenberg’s partner, American artist Jasper Johns, offering insight into Rauschenberg’s personal life.
The North Fork-based Wallach found much support on the East End while making “Taking Venice.”
“This film took a village,” says Wallach. “I started filming in 2016 and did some interviews and we started cutting the film and getting nowhere. One of the things we needed was color, so I went to Venice to shoot recreations [in 2019].”
Shooting in Venice drained the film’s budget, but Wallach’s friend and fellow North Forker Andy Tarshis helped fund the hiring of editor Rob Tinworth, who gave it the caper vibe. Once a rough cut was ready, Wallach and Tarshis screened the film in the North Fork living rooms of Tarshis, Joyce Beckinstein, Scott McIntire and Lori Hollander, Beth and John Wittenberg, as well as many others.
As the film comes to the North Fork Arts Center in Greenport, Wallach feels it’s “a dream come true. It’s a homecoming. [NFAC director] Tony Spiridakis came to one of the early screenings, and we both had our films at the Boulder Film Festival. We needed the [arts center] on the North Fork.”
“Taking Venice” will debut at the North Fork Arts Center on Friday, Aug. 23 at 7:30 p.m., followed by a Q & A with Wallach moderated by art journalist and fellow North Fork denizen Lindsay Pollock. Buy tickets for the screening here. Watch the trailer below.
