In this collection of critical essays on the visual arts, the practice of art criticism intersects with art history and theory. The essays span more than two decades of art writing from 1979 to 2001, coinciding with an active and exciting period in the development of art in the country. Set against the background of social and political ferment, they acquire historical importance. This is especially so since the principal effort is to situate art within the coordinates of society and history. Likewise, these essays go beyond the traditional approach based on the analysis of form and content, toward a semiotics-based method. This method creates a more intimate link between the material aspects of the work and its significations, one which seeks a more stable grounding than the purely suggestive and impressionistic. Image to Meaning aims to appeal to all lovers of art, as it combines intellectual analysis with a sense of enjoyment and emotional satisfaction. Art criticism, after all, involves not looking at art from the outside but closely engaging it from within.