Marriage of the Sea / Sposalizio del Mare
The Rape of Venice / Il ratto di Venezia

Austin Young / Fallen Fruit

THE POOL NYC, Palazzo Cesari Marchesi, Venice
Opening: April 18, 2024, 5–10 PM
Opening performance: Irene Machetti, 6–8 PM
On view: April 18, 2024 – ongoing by appointment
Calle Rombiasio 2539, Campo Santa Maria del Giglio, 30124 Venice, Italy

Presented on the occasion of the 60th Venice Biennale. Original photographs by the artist, taken in Venice, combined with archival imagery; printed on fabric wall coverings and curtains and vinyl with applied gold leaf. dimensions variable.

Marriage of the Sea / Sposalizio del Mare (The Rape of Venice) weaves a visual and conceptual narrative around the ancestral bond between Venice (La Serenissima) and the Adriatic Sea. The work imagines this historic relationship through a large-scale immersive installation composed of fabric wall coverings and sheer curtains, transforming the space into a sensorial environment.

Celebrating the Venetian lagoon, the installation presents a kaleidoscopic portrait of the city that brings together the artist’s original photographs with archival imagery gathered through visits to Venice’s museums, churches, and palazzos. The layering of images evokes Venice as both a lived city and a repository of collective memory, suspended between past and present.

“As an artist, I attempt to create a sublime experience that changes how you feel upon entering a room, aiming to share my perceptions through an aesthetic experience.” Through beauty and sensory immersion, the work deepens viewers’ emotional engagement with place, history, and memory.” – Austin Young

Invoking the ancient ritual of the Sposalizio del Mare, the project invites reflection on contemporary challenges facing Venice, prompting broader questions about humanity’s relationship to water, ecology, and the fragile environments we inhabit.