In its 57th year and offering work from 120 artists worldwide, the Venice Biennale is arguably the most progressive event in the contemporary art calendar. With Viva Arte Viva as its resounding theme, Christine Macel, chief curator at the Pompidou Centre, curates the 2017 Biennale. This June Phillips is pleased to present a selection of artists chosen to represent their countries in Venice. Although geographically distant – Estonia, France, Israel, Switzerland and the United States – works by Katja Novitskova, Xavier Veilhan, Gal Weinstein, Carol Bove and Mark Bradford are thematically linked, signifying a poignant reflection of our contemporary world.

Examining the city as a social laboratory of everyday practice, Bradford’s Tomorrow is Another Day utilises urban detritus, offering a decaying mural, gritty collages and fragmented images to communicate his concerns for the marginalized, encompassing both their vulnerability and resiliency to the unfulfilled American promise. Similarly Bradford’s Untitled, 2002, offers a celestial Minimalist grid recalling the energetic and often frenzied topography of the Los Angeles cityscape. The work delicately conveys a panoramic and ethereal landscape that further reveals the temporary condition of materials – the ephemerality of urban life.