Best International Exhibition in 2026: María Magdalena Campos-Pons: 'Anatomy of the Magnolia Tree for Koyo Kouoh and Toni Morrison' at the Venice Biennale
By multiple metrics, María Magdalena Campos-Pons’ presence at the Venice Biennale was exemplary. Her installation and performance received global attention, and the corresponding exhibition Resonance shone a generous light on some of Nashville’s best artists — from LiFran Fort to Vesna Pavlović to Vadis Turner. But all that would be just a footnote if the work she had created for the show weren’t itself superlative. The eight monumental panels showed off Campos-Pons’ skill as a multimedia artist with an astute conceptual mind. She brought multiple visionaries into the same conversation, so that novelist Toni Morrison, the biennale’s curator Koyo Koyoh, the magnolia trees of Vanderbilt’s arboretum and the university’s art department were all enmeshed with the internationally relevant contemporary art market.
