Lannan Series

Village Voice art critic Schjeldahl's reviews may occasion controversy--for example, his curt dismissal of Australian aboriginal painting or his putdown of Susan Rothenberg's later horses. Yet he is also a totally engaged art critic, as revealed by this awesomely alert batch of reviews, essays, articles, plus one interview and two funny poems (``I Missed Punk'' and a verse-monologue lament on being a critic). He champions Eric Fischl's moralistic psychodramas, Edvard Munch's art of ``emotional recognitions,'' Larry Rivers's reveling in chaos, Leon Golub's exposes of torturers and mercenaries. Anselm Kiefer, known for canvases laden with references to Nazism, is put in perspective here as a mostly self-referential, ahistorical painter. Ranging from Manet to minimalism, these partisan, passionate writings, edited by art appraiser Wilson, function as a savvy handbook on the current art scene. (Nov.)