Wednesday, December 17, 2008



Velvet Underground’s John Cale to Represent Wales at Venice
12.17.08

Velvet Underground founding member John Cale is to represent Wales at the Venice Biennale next year. The sixty-six-year-old musician will produce new audiovisual work, in collaboration with artists, filmmakers, and poets, reports the BBC. The work is said to be influenced by Cale's own personal relationship with the Welsh language and the wider issues of communication. Cale, born in Garnant, south Wales, went on to work with the likes of the Stooges, Terry Riley, Brian Eno, Happy Mondays, Modern Lovers, Manic Street Preachers, Super Furry Animals, and Patti Smith. He is best known for founding the Velvet Underground with Lou Reed after moving to New York in 1963. “As surprised and honored as I was to be asked to contribute to the Welsh presentation at the Venice Biennale of Art 2009, it also was a challenge that I eagerly accepted,” Cale said. “It offers an occasion to address certain pernicious issues in my background that had lain dormant for so long. There are certain experiences uniquely suited to the exorcism of mixed media and I am grateful for this opportunity to address them.”

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