Coming from a secular perspective, it seems strange to speak, in almost mystical terms, of being taken out of oneself.

David Carrier
David Carrier’s most recent books are Art Writing Online: The State of the Art World and Philosophical Skepticism as the Subject of Art: Maria Bussmann’s Drawings. His book In Caravaggio’s Shadow: Naples as a Work of Art is forthcoming.
History According to the Comic Book
Where indelible images restlessly bond with the ambiguity of words.
The Meanings of Minimalist Memorials
Monuments are built only when the political struggle they commemorate has been definitively won.
The End of Art History
Writing a global art history demands that we give up historical thinking.
Where Does a Work of Art Belong?
Like the international financial markets, the art museum is a controlling Western institution.
The Lives of the Art Museum
Like cabinets of curiosities from the old regime, art museums often display plunder.
The Art World We Have Lost
Loren Munk’s “SOHO Map” offers a visual record of a densely peopled art world.
A Mural Rises in Pittsburgh
Liberation Wall by Kyle Holbrook and Moving Lives of Kids Community Mural Project commemorates people and events that deserve attention right now.
Félix Fénéon: Critic, Collector, Anarchist
What is the relationship between Félix Fénéon’s politics and the art he admired?
The Moral Complexity of War Games
An-My Lê is a Vietnamese-born photographer who has portrayed — and participated in — re-enactments of the Vietnam War.
The Prophecies of Deborah Kass
What can we say about an image that understood Trump’s root persona early on, and froze it in time?
Talking About Art Now
What comes after postmodernism is less interesting than the changed nature of the art system and art writing.