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Davide Croff, president of the Venice Biennale, came to the Australian party, where the Histrionics entertained over 700 people at Callum Morton's Valhalla - it was the only exhibition outside the Giardini that he wanted to see and he thought it was wonderful.

Vincente Todoli, director of Tate Modern said of Morton's work ‘great, exceptional, fantastic', whilst editor of the influential The Art Newspaper, Cristina Ruiz, told British media that Morton's work was one of her five highlights of the Biennale.

Callum Morton said: ‘A lot of people have made the effort to visit the work and to see them milling about the building makes it appear like some dysfunctional pavilion at a World Fair and I love that image. When people have come without any knowledge of the work and discover the interior space along the way, watching their reaction to it is particularly pleasurable. I think it is staying in people's minds and that is what you want'.

12 June 2007
Richard Dorment
Telegraph UK

I also admired the selection of young artists from Scotland and the New Forest showing in the Palazzo Zenobio, but I have to say that they were all upstaged by an unknown Australian artist who didn't seem to be showing in anybody's pavilion.

Callum Morton's Valhalla takes the form of a building in ruins, like something you'd find in Beirut or Baghdad, only it is made of polystyrene. When you go inside, you find yourself standing in a sterile marble-clad lobby or waiting area facing a bank of lifts. Confused, I tried to speak to a charlady who was mopping the spotless floor, but she didn't answer my question, or even look up at me, as though I wasn't there.

With nothing better to do, I pressed the button for one of the two lifts, an act that set off the most terrible rumble of ancient machinery slowly creaking and clanking up from the bowels of the earth. At last, I began to understand that I was just where the title of the piece told me I would be, among the dead in Valhalla, waiting for the lift that would take me either up to my reward or down to my just deserts. To say the least, the whole experience was disconcerting, and I'll remember the artist's name.

11 June 2007
Phil Miller
The Herald, Scotland

Finally, the Australians (very good at real sports, apparently) provide a most visceral thrill: Callum Morton's immense Valhalla: a ruined, burning, thundering version of his own family's house, transformed into a gateway to Hades. Outside, the ruin smokes, inside, a pristine, antiseptic hotel lobby seems to lead to something unnameable and unimaginable.

11 June 2007
David Cohen - Special to the Sun
The New York Sun

In harmony with Mr. Storr's breakdown of dichotomies, there are many shows that elide the personal and the political. Callum Morton is one of three Australians showing in different venues. In the grounds of a private foundation in the Dorso Duro that also hosted shows for Armenia, Latin America, Scotland, and the New Forest in England, Mr. Morton erected a macabre, battle-worn wreck of a modernist breeze-block house. This turns out to have been modeled on his childhood home, built by his architect father, scaled down to two-thirds actual size. The intrepid visitor enters this smoldering ruin through a front door, only to discover an air-conditioned white marble elevator lobby attended by a custodian in a white jacket. Pressing the button actually releases various ominous sound effects.

Callum Morton has been named one of 5 artists to watch in German Art magazine Monopol. (31.05.07)
http://www.monopol-magazin.com/

Callum Morton, one of the artists representing Australia at the 2007 Venice Biennale has been nominated as a finalist in the Bulletin Bayer Smart 100, which recognises 100 of the most innovative and creative people working in various industries across Australia. The winners will be revealed in the June 20 special Smart 100 collector's issue.  http://bulletin.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=265431
http://bulletin.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=265434


Valhalla

To view map and directions click here.

Located in the grounds of Palazzo Zenobio, near Campo di Santa Margherita.
Take Vaporetto #1 line, the closest stop is Ca' Rezzonico.
Follow signs to Campo Santa Margherita. Palazzo Zenobio is on Fondamenta del Soccorso.

Opening Times
Tuesday to Sunday 10am – 6pm
Monday closed

About the exhibition and artist
Callum Morton’s new work explores his interest in the relationships between private and public space, reality and illusion, interior and exterior. Located in the grounds of Palazzo Zenobio, Morton has created a large-scale, architecturally-inspired installation.

Morton continues to create architectural conundrums, exploring modernism and debris, in this startling new site-specific installation. ’The unique characteristics of both the city of Venice and the Biennale event itself will provide a rich context for my new work.’

Morton’s recent installations include Stonewash, which transformed the exterior of a ruined building in Istanbul into a pristine Levis shop-front, and Babylonia, a craggy ‘L’Avventura’ floating island that hid a mysterious luxury hotel corridor – an inspired fusion of James Bond, The Shining and Disneyland.

Callum Morton won a Gold Medal representing Australia at Triennale India in 2004. Recent shows include: Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Poland and Contemporary Art Centre, Lithuania in 2006; 2nd Istanbul Pedestrians Exhibition, Turkey 2005; 2nd Auckland Triennial, New Zealand 2004; Hamburger Bahnhof, Germany 2003; Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa, Italy 2003; and Santa Monica Museum of Art, USA 1999.

Callum Morton was born in Montreal, Canada. He lives and works in Melbourne, Australia.

Callum Morton is represented by Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney; Anna Schwartz Gallery, Melbourne; Karyn Lovegrove Gallery, Los Angeles and Gimpel Fils, London. 

To view the exhibition floor brochure  Click here 205.43 Kb