Puppies Puppies (Jade Guanaro Kuriki-Olivo) ‘14 MFA is one of 9 Yale alumni artists featured in the 2024 Venice Biennale.
Puppies Puppies has two pieces on display at the Biennale. Elena Ketelsen González describes:
A Sculpture for Trans Women… (2023) is a life-size bronze sculpture taken from a 3-D scan of the artist’s body. Emblazoned with the word “WOMAN”, the work – which will be activated with performances throughout the Exhibition – subverts the power of monuments to make visible and celebrates trans life in an act of protest and commemoration.
Electric Dress (Atsuko Tanaka) (2023) pays tribute to those killed in 2016 at the mass shooting that took place during a “Latin Night” party at Pulse, a queer nightclub in Orlando, Florida. The sculpture references Atsuko Tanaka’s Electric Dress (1956) with LED lights that flicker to the pulse of a heartbeat and lights that cycle through the rainbow colours found in the Progress Pride Flag. Both sculptures honour queer and trans life while confronting oblivion and invisibility.
This is the first time the work of Puppies Puppies is presented at Biennale Arte.
Photo credit: ‘Electric Dress’ by Puppies Puppies © Puppies Puppies | photograph: Diego Mayon