VENICE, Italy (AP) — U.S. artist Alma Allen had just months to prepare his exhibition for the Venice Biennale after a fraught selection process came down to the wire. The self-taught sculptor from Utah who works in Mexico is keenly aware of his place as an outsider within the cliquey art world, and is bracing for the critical gaze as he takes one of the most prestigious stages in contemporary art. A selection process that has been described as “opaque” has cast a shadow over the opening. Institutions that typically vie for the coveted Biennale commission shied away out of apparent concern that they would be subjected to administration politics after the open call removed language focusing on diversity, equity and inclusion and replaced it with requirements to promote “American values.” In a seemingly ironic act, Allen created a bronze evil eye to hang on the exterior of the brick, Jeffersonian-style U.S. Pavilion to ward off bad vibes, he joked.…