Lynn Hershman Leeson

Reviews for Logic Paralyzes the Heart at the 59th international art exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia in 2022

April 2022, Hyperallergic

Captivating Highlights from the 2022 Venice Biennale by Laura Raicovich

“On the themes of surveillance and the power of machines, Lynn Hershman Leeson’s installation features AI-invented images of missing persons, all of whom do not exist, alongside a video of a cyborg who narrates contemplation of an infinitely expanding digital universe that increasingly exerts military-like systems of control over the human body.”

“Curated by Cecilia Alemani, The Milk of Dreams (titled after Leonora Carrington’s children’s story of the same name,) is my favorite of the Biennale exhibitions I have experienced. It has the depth, in addition to the inevitable breadth, that makes it at once a pleasurable experience of discovery, as well as a deep dive into a panoply of world views. The presentation at the Arsenale is exquisite…..”

April 2022, The Art Newspaper

The stuff of dreams: Cecilia Alemani delivers a perfectly judged Biennale

“In Hershman Leeson’s video her cyborg illuminates the history of artificial intelligence, from Alan Turing’s Enigma machine, to the first coining of the term cyborg (61 years before the film was made), through its use in military technologies, in partnerships between corporations and security agencies, and in the horrors of predictive policing. It reveals how AI algorithms often exploit the most vulnerable in society.”

April 2022, Special Mention Awarded to Lynn Hershman Leeson from La Biennale di Venezia

Lynn Hershman Leeson has been awarded a special mention from the Jury for her participation in the 59th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale de Venezia – The Milk of Dreams.

The award was presented with the following motivation: “for indexing the cybernetic concerns that run through the exhibitions in an illuminating and powerful way that also includes visionary moments of her early practice that foresaw the influence of technology in our everyday lives.”

April 2022, Artnet

3 Themes to Expect in Cecilia Alemani’s Venice Biennale Exhibition, From Ghostly Apparitions to Indigenous Perspectives

“Another one to look out for is the legendary new media art pioneer Lynn Hershman Leeson, who made what is regarded by some as the first ever media work in 1966, by incorporating sound into her work… In Venice, Leeson is showing a film called Logic Paralyzes the Heart, about a 61-year-old cyborg played by the Chinese-American actress Joan Chen, who goes on a retreat to find ways to become more human. It will be installed in a room wallpapered with AI-generated faces of people who don’t exist.”