Rich Texts: Selected Writing for Art (Sternberg Press / Institut für Kunstkritik series);

Compiled for the first time here, essays by American critic, artist, gallerist and dealer John Kelsey convey some of the most poignant challenges in the art world and in the many social roles it creates. ''When the critic chooses to become a smuggler, a hack, a cook, or an artist,'' Kelsey said, ''it's maybe because criticism as such remains tied to an outmoded social relation.'' Kelsey's ''rich texts'' play the double role of explaining the art world and actively participating in it; they close the distance between the work of art and how we talk about it. These playful, elegant writings -- many originally published in Artforum -- embody a timelessness that strikes at the core of the contemporary art world. The newest edition from the terrific Institut fur Kunstkritik series.