Anish Kapoor says the US should be excluded from the Venice Biennale because of the country’s “abhorrent politics of hate” and its “incessant warmongering”.
The artist, who represented Britain at the 1990 edition, told the Guardian that he commended the biennale jury’s decision to resign just a few days before the event, which is billed as the “Olympics of art”, in protest at the inclusion of Israel and Russia.
However, Kapoor said the five-member international jury should have included the US in their reasoning for pulling out of judging the prizes, which will now be delayed until November.
He called the decision to resign “courageous”, but added that “I would hope that they might have also excluded the United States for its abhorrent politics of hate and its incessant warmongering.”
The US entry to the biennale, Alma Allen – an artist few people in the art world were aware of before his selection – has faced intense scrutiny because of perceived interference from the Trump administration in his selection.
The announcement of the US artist was delayed significantly by the longest government shutdown in the country’s history, while several other artists reportedly turned down the opportunity. Entrants were told that the work must “reflect and promote American values”.
The curator of the US pavilion, Jeffrey Uslip, defended Allen’s entry, which is named Call Me the Breeze and features around 30 sculptures or biomorphic forms, all called Not Yet Titled.
“A lot of people expect abstract work or political work to look a certain way,” he told the Guardian. “I’d like the same people to tell me that Noguchi’s biomorphic abstract sculpture had nothing to do with the second world war.
“When they see [Allen’s] Guatemalan green quartzite in the courtyard, it is human-sized, it is a bag form. It requires people to look and not just say: ‘Oh, this is abstract, so it can’t be political.”
Allen, who was homeless for a time and began making sculptures while living in New York City where he worked in construction, said his art “represents the experiences that I have had in my life”.
“This is how my life has gone,” he said previously. “There are moments of luck and moments of difficulty. And sometimes they happen at the same time.”
The US pavilion is far from the only flashpoint at the 61st biennale, where politics are also threatening to overshadow proceedings around the Israeli and Russian pavilions.
More than 200 participants in the event signed a letter, organised by the Art Not Genocide Alliance (Anga), demanding the cancellation of the Israeli pavilion, billed as “a collective refusal to allow you to platform the Israeli state as it commits genocide”.
A strike is organised by Anga for Friday that could bring the event, which is hosting its preview this week, to a standstill. Israel’s foreign ministry has condemned Anga, calling its actions “anti-Israeli political indoctrination” and “direct discrimination”.
On Monday, the Italian ministry of culture confirmed that the Russian pavilion will not be open to the public, though the art installation will be viewable through the windows.
After Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the biennale condemned it and banned anyone linked to the Kremlin. It never formally barred Russia from participating, but the country was absent from the 2022 and 2024 editions.
The Italian government has clashed with organisers over the reintroduction of Russia, claiming the decision had been made “entirely independently by the Biennale Foundation, despite the Italian government’s opposition”.
Last week, the European Commission wrote to the Biennale Foundation saying it planned to terminate or suspend its €2m (£1.73m) grant for the exhibition because of Russia’s involvement.
Kapoor, who has a show in Venice, previously threatened legal action against the Trump administration after border patrol agents posed for a photo in front of his Cloud Gate sculpture in Chicago.
He said the scene represented “fascist America”, while the artist has previously taken legal action against the National Rifle Association after they used an image of Cloud Gate. The parties settled out of court.