I fell in love with him at the Venice Biennale, he had birds and squirrels living under his arms, a fuzzy decaying corpse of a giant – some mysterious being had sprinkled glittering beads over him, so he twinkled … a nightmare? Oh no, an experience created by David Altmejd, a much-talked about artist.

You can find big art shows everywhere now from Beijing to Moscow. Most countries in the world are going into serious worries about financing and recession – but the art world is supersonic. Art prices have no relationship to the mood the rest of the world is in.

By the time my friends and I got to Venice last year, it was midsummer and hot, and I mean 95 degrees hot – barbecue hot.

The Biennale was happening all over town but the primary locations were the Giardini (the gardens), where there were air-conditioned pavilions full of wonders; and the Arsenale, a former rope factory that was not air-conditioned – I stress air-conditioning because, at 95 degrees, the works had to be deeply involving to keep me from melting into a puddle very early on.

If Robert Storr, the former Museum of Modern Art curator, takes on the next Biennale, I hope he remembers how he perspired in his shirt and what delusions one can have in highly theatrical, angry art installations at 95 degrees with no air of any kind available to breathe. Mr. Storr! Puhleeze! How about fans??? In Miami Beach they have fans.

The press wrote that last year’s Biennale in Venice was so serious it was sometimes boring. I am an admirer of America’s art critics who often seem more informed than critics of other issues, so it is from my heart that I suggest it is time they have their eyes examined. None of us found the Biennale boring for a moment, even while being broiled. Art fairs are no longer boring because they are events that attract an extraordinary mix of people wearing the clothes that you see in magazines. There are always rock stars performing in startling places. And you can count on couples holding hands with people they should not be holding hands with at big art fairs.