Luca Beatrice Reflects on the 2017 Venice Biennale and Italy Pavilion

In a personal editorial for Artribune, critic Luca Beatrice shares his impressions of the 57th Venice Biennale (2017). He praises the Italy Pavilion curated by Cecilia Alemani, which featured three artists: Roberto Cuoghi, Adelita Husni-Bey, and Giorgio Andreotta Calò. Beatrice, who co-curated the Italy Pavilion in 2009 with Beatrice Buscaroli under Minister Bondi, admits that his own past pavilion was inferior. He commends Alemani for focusing on individual projects rather than a thematic group show, and for taking responsibility for her choices. He notes that the Italy Pavilion deserved a prize but was outperformed by Germany, which he respects for its confident, self-reflective art. Beatrice also lauds the main Biennale exhibition curated by Christine Macel, titled "Viva Arte Viva," for centering the artist over the artwork, with clear explanatory labels—a welcome change after Okwui Enwezor's dense 2015 edition. He discovered new artists and reconnected with painter Riccardo Guarneri. He credits Paolo Baratta, President of La Biennale di Venezia, as the true mastermind behind the institution, calling him "the Doge" and a strategist. Beatrice declares he will skip Documenta 14 in Kassel, dismissing its art-without-object approach. He ends by mentioning his anticipation for the Champions League final in Cardiff, where his beloved Juventus will play.