June 11 (Bloomberg) -- One thing strikes you about the 52nd Venice Biennale -- its sheer size.

This exhibition has a record number of participating countries: 76. Along with the formidable scale goes another more interesting quality. This is the first Biennale at which contemporary art has seemed a truly global phenomenon.

We have heard a great deal in recent years about the art boom in China. The shows sprouting all over Venice, however, give a sense of the artistic potential of the whole world, including Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and the rest of Asia.

Credit for that must go partly to historical forces, partly to Robert Storr, the exhibition's first American director. The displays spill out of the historical locations of the Biennale in the Giardini and the old Arsenale and spread all over town. Everybody wants to join in the wonderful world of modern art.

Storr has made something impressive out of a near impossible task. Even his title for the event ``Think With the Senses -- Feel With the Mind. Art in the Present Tense'' makes a bit more sense than the monikers of Biennales usually do, though not all that much more, I must admit.

Richter, Ryman

The large international exhibition in the ex-Italian Pavilion in the Giardini looks, on the surface, much as it always does, with numerous rooms full of work by blue-chip artists such as Ellsworth Kelly, Gerhard Richter, Sigmar Polke and Robert Ryman. Yet Storr has managed to make it look more handsome and less chaotic than it normally seems. On the facade is a grand piece made up of works by the conceptual artist Laurence Weiner.

Inside, Storr has included many strong artists from outside the usual European/North American magic circle. Among them are Cheri Samba from the Congo and Odili Donald Odita, born in Nigeria, whose jazzy wall painting you encounter close to the entrance. This year, the Golden Lion Award for Lifetime Achievement goes to the photographer Malick Sidibe from Mali, on Storr's suggestion.

The most grueling section of the Biennale is always the colossal art mall established in the warehouses of the old Arsenal. There's something symbolic in art having taken over the old military heart of Venice. This part of the exhibition seems to go on forever, though the galleries probably don't really extend for much more than a mile.

Messy Energy

Given the sheer quantity of exhibits, it is to the credit of the late Jason Rhoades from the U.S. and the Austrian Franz West that their contributions hold your attention. The Rhoades piece is a chaotic, messy installation, though this one was the most energetic I've seen. West's sculptures, which look halfway between chunks of lava and portions of ice cream, are deliberately indeterminate. Like clouds, they invite you to wonder whether this one looks like a face, that one like a dragon.

Near the end of the Arsenale trail, when even the most enthusiastic art buff starts to feel an urge for an ice cream and a boat ride back to the hotel, comes the new Italian Pavilion, which is among the best national displays. It is split between two artists.

Francesco Vezzoli has created ``Democrazy,'' a brilliant comment on the forthcoming U.S. elections. He has filmed two political advertisements for two candidates -- Patricia Hill, played by Sharon Stone, and Patrick Hill, played by the French thinker Bernard-Henri Levy. They are different, but as the names suggest, fundamentally the same.

That piece has plenty of pizzazz, though I preferred the other section which Giuseppe Penone has turned into a meditation on growth and form, the walls lined with wood, the floor with marble cut with the veining of timber.

Surreal Aviaries

The national pavilions in the Giardini, often the central focus at the Biennale, are overshadowed this year. The German and Canadian contributions look good. The latter especially, in which David Altmejd has created a sort of surreal aviary full of mirrors, birds and mannequins, caught my eye.

Many of the most interesting national pavilions are those -- now the majority -- out of the Giardini, and spread over Venice. For artistic purposes, perhaps an indication of the political future, the U.K. has split into four.

The Welsh Pavilion on the Giudecca island has an impressive installation of ceramic sculpture by Richard Deacon, hanging from massive nails in an old warehouse space. The Northern Irish show, near the San Zaccaria church, has a couple of pieces by Willie Doherty, dark meditations on the Troubles, that are among the best video works in Venice.

If you want to see this Biennale thoroughly allow at least a week, and hire a boat if you can. It may be the largest accumulation of new art the world has ever seen.

The Venice Biennale runs through Nov. 21.

(Martin Gayford is a critic for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer of this story: Martin Gayford in Venice at martin@cgayford.freeserve.co.uk.

Last Updated: June 11, 2007 01:49 EDT