Disorient

by Fiona Tan (Artist), Saskia Bos (Contributor), Bruce Grenville (Contributor)

With her new work Disorient , Fiona Tan represents the Netherlands at the fifty-third Venice Biennale. Her audio-visual installation refers to Venice’s pivotal position in the history of geostrategy in the time before the discovery of new routes to Asia diluted the city’s power. Fiona Tan describes herself as "a professional foreigner, whose identity is defined by that which I am not." Her recent notable exhibitions include the Vancouver Art Gallery; Freer Galleries, Washington; New Orleans Biennial; New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; ICP Triennial, New York; Documenta 11, Kassel; and the forty-ninth Venice Biennale.

128 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2009

About the author

Fiona Tan is a visual artist and filmmaker. She is best known for her skilfully crafted video and film installations, in which explorations of memory, identity and the role of visual images are key. Her installations and photographic works have been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions in international venues. She has written and directed to date three feature length films.

Recent solo exhibitions took place at Eye Filmmuseum, Amsterdam, Museum der Moderne Salzburg and Kunsthalle Krems, Austria, Museum Ludwig Cologne, Museum für Modern Kunst, Frankfurt, Mudam, Luxembourg, Nasjonalmuseet Oslo, The BALTIC, Gateshead, UK, MAXXI, Rome and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. With her solo presentation Disorient, Tan represented The Netherlands at the 53rd Venice Biennale in 2009. Her work has been shown at various international group shows including in the São Paulo Biennial, Venice Architecture Biennale, Documenta IX, Istanbul Biennale. Her work is represented in numerous international public and private collections including the Tate Modern, London, the Guggenheim Museum New York, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, the Neue National Galerie, Berlin and the MCA, Chicago.