It never fails to surprise me how many nations get so lost in the desire to satisfy local art world politics that they lose relevance in their selection of the artists and curators for the Venice Biennale. The appointment of Vittorio Sgarbi, the Italian politician, art critic, Old Master collector, and contemporary art skeptic as the curator of the Italian Pavilion at the 2011 Venice Biennale is a classic example of this kind of sorry syndrome.

Sgarbi is not well known outside Italy. For those who don't know him, let me illuminate: he is the Glenn Beck of the Italian art world, a vehement conservative and ideologue who hates contemporary art and artists. He was Silvio Berlusconi's undersecretary of culture from 2001-2002. In 2004 he founded a political party, "The Party of Beauty," to oppose development in Italian cities, and since 2008 has been the mayor of a Sicilian village.

None of this would be worrying if Sgarbi weren't so vindictive. He has made a disturbing habit of ridiculing artists and insulting curators and even critics who support artists whom he dislikes. He is always limbering up for a good old brawl, as I discovered a decade ago when he threatened to sue me for $50 million dollars over an unflattering review I wrote about an Old Master show he helped organize. This is a vain egotist who won't back down.

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Sgarbi's appointment as curator of the Italian Pavilion at the 2011 Venice Biennale gives us, finally, an opportunity to survey the kind of art he deems worthy of our attention. Not surprisingly he has expressed the desire to fill the pavilion with a single work by Mantegna, hardly an inspired choice. But no matter what art he displays, his role as the curator has nothing to do with the Biennale or even with contemporary art. It is all about Italian politics.

Sgarbi's appointment coincides with the 150th anniversary, in 2011, of Italy's unification. Culture minister Sandro Bondi wanted to use the Italian pavilion as an opportunity to celebrate Italy's heritage, and in Sgarbi he found the right man for the job. Personally I can't wait to see what Sgarbi delivers, but one thing is sure: it will be bitterly controversial. I also know Sgarbi will not let the occasion pass without a fight. He has been waiting a lifetime to stick a dagger in the heart of the contemporary art world and now has his chance. It is time for art critics to put on their helmets.