Venice Art Festival vs. The World

AFP
By Gildas Le Roux

Unidentified artwork at the Venice Biennale

ITALY - An array of sometimes disconcerting sights and sounds went on public display Saturday on the shores of the Venice lagoon for the Biennale contemporary art festival. From a picture of Jesus in his underwear to a human skull decorated with pearls, the images at the festival provoke, bemuse or titillate. "Art has become a hospital to which only the doctors and patients' relatives have access," said Vittorio Sgarbi, an Italian art critic and the curator of the pavilion, referring to the isolation of art critics and artists. The art world is like "a giant sanatorium cut off from the world," he said. [link]