The Venice Biennale is here again, and with it the chance to meet—or at least talk about— hundreds of the most important artists from around the world. It’s at the Biennale that many of the Prosecco-soaked conversations that fuel the international art ecosystem take place.
While perusing the pavilions, however, one must be on guard for that age-old art-world faux pas: mangling an artist’s name. The last thing any of us want to do is sound like a dolt while discussing the work of Runo Lagomarsino (ROO-no LAH-go-mar-SEE-no) with the Biennale’s curator Okwui Enwezor (AWK-wee en-WHEY-zor). To help avoid this potential embarrassment, Artspace has put together a list of the gnarliest names you’ll encounter at the 2015 Venice Biennale (plus a few others that are likely to come up).
Abounaddara — ah-BOO-na-DAR-ah (collective)
Boris Achour — BOOR-is ah-CHOOR
Saâdane Afif — sah-DAAN ah-FEEF
John Akomfrah — jon ah-KOM-frah
Allora & Calzadilla — aah-LLORAH and CAL-zah-DEE-yah
Meriç Algün Ringborg — mer-ICH all-goon RING-borg
Kutluğ Ataman — coot-loog ah-tah-MON
Georg Baselitz — ghee-org BAH-sel-itz
Eduardo Basualdo — ed-uar-do bah-SWAL-doe
Marcel Broodthaers — MAR-sell BROT-hairs
Tania Bruguera — TAN-ya bru-GARE-ah
Olga Chernysheva — OL-gah churn-e-SHEV-ah
Yves Laris Cohen — EVE la-RIS COH-hen
Philip-Lorca diCorcia — FILL-ip LOR-ca dee-COR-see-ah
Thea Djordjadze — te-ah DOR-jah-tse
Marlene Dumas — mar-LANE doo-MAH
Cerith Wyn Evans — care-ith win EV-ans
Harun Farocki — HAH-roon fah-RAH-key
Peter Friedl — PEE-ter FREE-del
Theaster Gates — thee-AS-ter GATES
Isa Genzken — EE-sah GENZ-ken
Katharina Grosse — KAT-ar-E-na GROSS
Joana Hadjithomas — jo-ana HA-jee-TOE-mas
Jeppe Hein — YEP-eh hein
Emily Kngwarreye — em-ill-e en-WAAR-ay
Oliver Laric — OLL-e-vor LAR-itch
Madhusudhanan — maad-HOO-SOO-daan-an
David Maljkovic — DAH-vid mal-E-kov-itch
Victor Man — VIK-tor MAAN
Naeem Mohaiemen — nie-eem mo-HAI-men
Reinhard Mucha — rhine-hardt MOO-ha
Cheikh Ndiaye — shaake EN-jai
William Pope.L — will-E-yam pope-el
Przemek Pyszczek — p-SHEM-ek pish-check
Lili Reynaud-Dewar — lee-lee REY-no du-RAAN
Jacolby Satterwhite — ja-COL-bee sah-TER-white
Gedi Sibony — GED-ee si-BONE-ee
Lucy Skaer — LOO-see SKAY-er
Sergei Tcherepnin — SER-gay cher-REP-nin
Rirkrit Tiravanija — RIRK-writ tee-RAH-va-nit
Qiu Zhijie — CHEW di-jhe
RELATED ARTICLES:
Art 101: How To Pronounce Artists' Names, Vol. 1
Art 101: How To Pronounce Artists' Names, Vol. 2
Art 101: How To Pronounce Artists' Names, Vol. 3
Art 101: How To Pronounce the Most Deceptive Gallery Names
