Essential Desires

Through an extensive collection of their works presented in the book, Curtin tells the story of the evolving history of Thailand’s contemporary art and its connection to the global art scene and the country’s critical political progressions. The story is intense, concise, and told without overly sensationalizing any aspect. He also introduces the refreshing and reinvigorating energy of the later generation . . . It’s comprehensive and complete, and it puts everything together so that we don’t have to waste our time looking around for bits and pieces of information here and there. Because life is short, and art is both long and prolific. * art4d magazine * Appealing to both academia and coffee tables, Essential Desires is an important and insightful addition to the small body of English-language books on the history of Thai modern and contemporary art . . . But while Essential Desires is certainly a catalog of prolonged growing pains, it is also a record of creativity flourishing against the odds. Bolstering the book's partial historical account are succinct biographies that betray Curtin's long-standing faith in, and fascination with, Thailand's irrepressible visual artists. * Nikkei Asia Magazine * an important scholarly contribution . . . I highly recommend this book as it offers a comprehensive historical narrative of post-1990s Thai art in a global context and selectively illustrates the variety of Thailand's artistic practices while advancing the notion of artists' creative resilience amidst an unsettled local atmosphere. -- Leonor Veiga * Sehepunkte * A fine overview of contemporary Thai art in its historical context by a knowledgeable and sensitive critic who has lived and worked in Thailand for two decades. * Thanavi Chotpradit, lecturer in modern and contemporary Thai art history, Silpakorn University, Bangkok * Essential Desires serves as a valuable handbook to contemporary Thai art, providing an effective survey of recent developments, carefully and clearly placed in the context of Thailand’s complicated cultural-political milieu. * Pamela Corey, SOAS, University of London * This contribution to the field is outstanding. Curtin’s insights into contemporary Thai art are from not only an observer but a practitioner, which grants him an authority, in his own right, to speak on behalf of the Thai contemporary art circle. * Pandit Chanrochanakit, assistant professor in the Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok *