The French have a phrase for it: Succès de scandale. Something that wouldn't have been worthwhile otherwise becomes so by generating controversy. Hearing about Francesco Vezzoli's current show at Manhattan's 21st Street Gagosian Gallery, entitled Sacrilegio, causes one to wonder if the young Italian artist is courting just...

One way of reading the slowly cooling controversy over the Smithsonian's removal of David Wojnarowicz's "A Fire in My Belly" video is that it was desperately necessary. In the attacks and defenses, the protests and petitions, one sensed a palpable relief. Finally, the art world was back to normal. Religious...