Venice Biennale represents rebalancing in the art world

A Nigerian art critic and museum director was the first African to curate the Biennale contemporary art fair that opened May 9 for its seven-month run, while female artists are representing more countries than ever in national pavilions - trends seen as an informal rebalancing in the art world.
                   
There's Joan Jonas for the United States, Fiona Hall for Australia, Irina Nakhova for Russia, Sarah Lucas for Great Britain, Chiharu Shiota for Japan, Pamela Rosenkranz for Switzerland and Camille Norment for Norway. And those women are all from the more established Biennale participants in the Giardini, around one-third of the 89 national pavilions.
                   
The prominence of women in the national pavilions - which along with the main show curated by Okwui Enwezor comprise the 56th International Art Exhibition - may be coincidence. Still, the force of the female numbers is gaining notice as somehow tapping into a zeitgeist and challenging the notion of the art world as being male dominated.
                   
"I think it is wonderful so many women are representing countries this year. I think it is great," Jonas said, sitting outside the U.S. pavilion - where she had just been approached by a woman who thanked her for giving hope to female artists.
                   
Jonas, 78, received special mention by the jury Saturday for "an artist of significant oeuvre and influence," while the top honor Golden Lion for best national participation was awarded to the Republic of Armenia for its pavilion presenting works by the Armenian diaspora on the 100th anniversary of the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks. The Golden Lion for best artist in the international exhibit went to U.S. artist Adrian Piper, for her...