Neon Neon to play Venice Biennale

Wales in Venice Cymru yn Fenis is excited to announce that Neon Neon will be playing an exclusive set at their party at the Venice Biennale on Friday 31 May, to celebrate the opening of The Starry Messenger by artist Bedwyr Williams, who is representing Wales this year.

Neon Neon, the collaboration between Gruff Rhys (Super Furry Animals) and Boom Bip, will be joined by musician Cate Le Bon and AV wizards Casey & Ewan as part of the launch event for the prestigious exhibition this year. A special performance by Bedwyr Williams, well known for his comedic live turns, will also take place at the event.

Neon Neon (Gruff Rhys and Boom Bip) have just released their new album, Praxis Makes Perfect, a conceptual power-pop tour de force inspired by the life of maverick Italian publisher Giangiacomo Feltrinelli. Born into one of Italy's wealthiest families, Feltrinelli was a controversial left-wing activist with connections to Che Guevara and Fidel Castro. He published some of the greatest literary works of the 20th century including The Leopard, which became the biggest- selling novel in Italian history, and Doctor Zhivago. Praxis Makes Perfect is a musical biopic of Feltrinelli's colourful life viewed through the lens of Gruff Rhys' highly original songwriting and Boom Bip's shimmering, synth-heavy production.

Bedwyr Williams is the acclaimed Welsh artist participating at the Wales in Venice Cymru Yn Fenis Collateral Event of the 55th International Art Exhibition, in a project jointly curated by MOSTYN and Oriel Davies and supported by the Arts Council of Wales. His exhibition, The Starry Messenger, explores the relationships between stargazing and the individual, the cosmos, and the role of the amateur in a professional world.

The Starry Messenger references Galileo's short treatise, Sidereus Nuncius (Starry Messenger), which was written in Venice and published in 1610 and detailed Galileo's early observations, when he first looked through a telescope. Throughout the exhibition, visitors' senses will be filled with the sights and sounds of a domesticated cosmos, as Williams draws on imagery from both the homely setting of the hobbyist and the unknowable universe at large, paying homage to the awe-struck amateur astronomer.

Bedwyr Williams & The Starry Messenger exhibition location:
Santa Maria Ausiliatrice (Ludoteca), Fondamenta San Gioacchin, 30122 Venezia
Google map: http://goo.gl/maps/uqGyK

1 June - 24 November 2013
10am - 6pm