Photo by Werner Maschmann, © documenta GmbH

Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany

Photo by El Anatsui, courtesy Collection Akron Museum of Art, Akron, Ohio, USA

El Anatsui, "Dzesi 2" (2006). On view at the Venice Biennale

Venice Biennale 2007

June 10-Nov. 21
Venice, Italy
www.labiennale.org

documenta 12

June 16-Sept. 23
Kassel, Germany
www.documenta12.de

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For those keeping score, ARTINFO has prepared a guide to what the critics are saying about the summer's biggest international exhibitions: the 52nd Venice Biennale and documenta 12 in Kassel, Germany. Have we forgotten anyone? Of course, we have. Have we mischaracterized anyone's opinions? Quite possibly ... you'll have to read and find out.



52nd Venice Biennale

David Cohen, New York Sun: Pax Americana reigns, but nationality remains a point of contention.

Richard Dorment, Daily Telegraph: The most successful Biennale in recent memory. 

Martin Gayford, Bloomberg: Spend a week and hire a boat. The Biennale is big, and worth a proper visit.

Blake Gopnik, Washington Post: I liked it enough to write six (count ’em) reviews. 

Waldemar Januszczak, Sunday Times: Alas, it's quantity, not quality.

Michael Kimmelmann, New York Times: I still haven't met a show I liked and couldn't criticize! (subscription firewall)

Jerry Saltz, New York: I wrote this (p)review before I went. How was I able to do this? "There are currently more than 60 biennials and triennials around the world"—and they're all the same. 

Peter Schjeldahl, New Yorker: Some say, "boring"; I say, "tranquila."

Adrian Searle, The Guardian: "I prefer the truly bad" to the merely vacuous.



documenta 12

David Cohen, New York Sun: “The whole show feels like a consciousness-raising rehabilitation program for ‘bourgeois deviationists’ too concerned with the aesthetic realm.” Is that something you might be interested in? 

Holland Cotter, New York Times: Thoughts after a first visit: “Perversely esoteric, kinda like it." (That remains my judgment, though on second and third visits things seemed "diminished," "porous," "obvious," "pedantic," "confining," and "too small, private, underdone, done-before.")  

Richard Dorment, Daily Telegraph: I am exhausted and depressed.

Catherine Hickley, Bloomberg: What is bare life? I don’t know, but I do know it’s not a helpful curatorial leitmotif. “I’ll spare you the rest.”

Christopher Miles, L.A. Times: "The high points are few in the massive but disappointing exhibition.…The tendency to categorize is what plagues the show.”

Jerry Saltz, New York: I wrote this (p)review before I went. How was I able to do this? "There are currently more than 60 biennials and triennials around the world"—and they're all the same.

Adrian Searle, The Guardian: I wondered at first, "Is it just me?" Later I realized, "No, everything looks miserable."