A distinctive voice in art criticism since the 1960s, Guy Brett has followed an independent path in mapping and interpreting contemporary art. Always informed by a trans-national perspective and positioning himself as an open-minded observer rather than a theorist, he sees art as a liberating force within contemporary life and thought.

Instrumental in making the work of Latin American artists accessible to a wider public, Brett includes seminal essays on key Latin American practitioners, as well as texts that explore the cross-cultural and experimental diversity of the London art scene since the 1960s. Linked to these individual studies are wide-ranging and imaginative writings on the nature of decorative art, the figure of the angel in Latin American ‘colonial’ painting, art as sanctuary, and the question of British identity.The relationship between art and life and the inadequacy of dualistic thinking are two of the recurrent themes that link the multitude of individual voices, senses of beauty, strategies and investigations presented in this anthology.

Carnival of Perception traces the outlines of a collective reality, expressed in a play of wit and spirit, full of paradox and reversal.Guy Brett has written extensively for the art press and has organised a number of notable international exhibitions. Featured artists: Rasheed Araeen, Derek Boshier, Lygia Clark, Juan Davila, Eugenio Dittborn, John Dugger, Rose Finn-Kelcey, Mona Hatoum, Susan Hiller, Tina Keane, David Medalla, Hélio Oiticica, Gabriel Orozco, Hannah O’Shea, Cornelia Parker, João Penalva, Carlyle Reedy and Takis.