In his remarks about the 2004 Biennial, which opened in New York on March 11 the Whitney Museum's new director, Adam Weinberg, described the show as a "requisite, periodic report from the front"—a loaded metaphor to apply to an exhibition of art conceived and created during wartime. The odd thing is you'd never know it from looking at the work. This year's curators—Chrissie Iles, Shamim Momim, and Debra Singer, all associated with the Whitney—have chosen strong and often thought-provoking work. Yet there's a general feeling of retrenchment in the air.