The Kenyan artist Michael Armitage paints on lubugo bark cloth, building dense and feverish scenes in which East African politics meet Western art history and myth. Figures drift between past and present—some drawn from Kenya’s recent history, others harder to place. “I find it very difficult to differentiate between historical and contemporary work,” Armitage told The Art Newspaper in 2020. Now showing his work across the entirety of the Palazzo Grassi, Armitage brings together a decade of paintings and drawings, timed to the Venice Biennale. It’s one of the most anticipated shows of the year. —Elena Clavarino