Small World Crammed on Biennale’s Grand Stage

The French billionaire François Pinault has transformed the old Customs House into a museum for his collection. Left, a painting by Cindy Sherman and a sculpture by Jeff Koons.
Photo: Todd Heisler/The New York Times

Small World Crammed on Biennale’s Grand Stage
By MICHAEL KIMMELMAN Published: June 11, 2009(New York Times Permalink)
The 53rd Venice Biennale is tidy, disciplined, cautious and unremarkable, suggesting a somewhat dull, deflated contemporary art world, professionalized to a fault, in search of a fresh consensus.