This page welcomes contributions from art writers and culture critics: essays on various topics and reviews/reports on exhibitions, workshops, symposia and other such events (word limit 3000), accompanied by images (not more than 5 per submission). Once a submission passes screening, it will be posted for public viewing. E-mail submissions as attachments to editor@globalthek.com. Each posted item will remain in view for at least one year from the date of posting. Use the Feedback page to comment on anything published on this page.

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Meditations on Humanity: Sajal Sarkar’s “Perilous Home”

Curated by the local Visual Arts Center, a series of twenty-five watercolors and drawings on paper by Sajal Sarkar was exhibited at the Free Public Library of the city of Summit in New Jersey from June 1 to July 31, 2019. Three years ago, the artist permanently moved to the United States from India. The series, “Perilous Home”, a body of work done in the last three years, represents a noticeable turning point from the work Sarkar made before his move—paintings, ..

Perilous Home, watercolor on paper, 2016.

“I don't know what motivated the artist, which means these paintings have an intrinsic quality. I think Goethe called it the 'essential dimension', the thing that makes great works of art great” (Richter, Text, 85)

Criticality in painting developed in such a way as to determine the intentionality of the artist, the formal handling of medium in relation to the work, and the intrinsic individuality..
 

When you are all but convinced that art these days does little more than serve self-promotion and the market, someone comes along to show that all is not lost, that art can still make a difference. It happens rarely, but when it does, you have to salute that artist. Rituparno Ghosh, the first openly gay and transsexual Bengali filmmaker and actor, died in his sleep last Wednesday night (May 30) at his residence in Kolkata. He was 52. It is for film experts to evaluate the quality of his remarkable output of around twenty films over a little more than two decades; all I do here is touch on what seem to me the crucial aspects of his legacy..

Spectacles of Fantasy: Dana Schutz at the ICA by The Critical Tourist

Does a high-profile controversy or a scandal around a work of art blemish the artist for life? Is it ever possible to discuss her other projects without reference to that particular incident, or is every mark she makes forever destined to be judged by it? Or worse, does the dispute’s gravity justifies boycotting the artist altogether? Such questions nagged me as I walked through the solo exhibition of Dana Schutz’s paintings at Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art (July 26-November 26, 2017). A specific painting by Schutz, exhibited at ..