
EMIL LUKAS with Harry Philbrick
Art
On the occasion of Emil Lukas’s fourth exhibition at Sperone Westwater, the Rail’s new editor-at-large Harry Philbrick met the artist at the gallery talk about this recent body of work, which includes his landmark bubble wrap paintings, larvae paintings, thread paintings, and the enigmatic stack structures that evoke the artist’s archeological index of broad interests in what lies between art, science, alchemy, as well as other materials and matters.

KEVIN BEASLEY with Yasaman Alipour
Art
Kevin Beasley has gained a reputation for his playful sculptures and activated sound-installations where everyday objects and dismissed voices are turned into signifiers to reflect on culture, politics, and history. A view of a landscape is a project that started in graduate school, and now, after many productive years, it is brought to the public at the Whitney Museum. Separated into three rooms—a running cotton gin motor encapsulated, an immersive sound-room dedicated to its forgotten voice, and three sculptural reliefs in the hallway that narrate Beasley’s journey—the exhibition becomes an occasion to reflect on the artist’s unique practice and his deep concerns: political, historic, and ever-so personal.

IAN CHENG with Osman Can Yerebakan
Art
Since earning his MFA from Columbia University in 2009, Cheng has been investigating ways to infuse humanity into the machine, not shying away from the possibilities embedded in chaos, in defiance of pristine and consequential order technology and science manifest. After debuting at Serpentine Galleries early last year, BOB continues Cheng’s utilization of simulation to challenge narrative constructs of art, a path he embarked on with his Emissaries saga, composed of intertwined and infinite narrative possibilities within live simulation, which will be a part of the upcoming Sharjah Biennial 14 in March.

CHARLES STEIN with Raymond Foye
Art
Poet Charles Stein teaches art writing at the MFA program of the School of Visual Arts, New York. His work comprises a complexly integrated field of poems, philosophy, art theory, mathematics, translations from ancient Greek, drawings, photographs, lectures, conversations and music performances. Born in 1944 in New York City, he is the author of fourteen books of poetry. He holds a Ph.D. in literature from the University of Connecticut at Storrs.

JULIE MEHRETU with Allie Biswas
Art
Mehretu was born in Addis Ababa in 1970 to an Ethiopian father and an American mother. She grew up in East Lansing, Michigan, and now lives in New York. The following conversation took place over the course of a day in London, in October of last year, when an exhibition of Mehretu’s paintings was on display at White Cube.
PUBLISHER&ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Dear Friends and Readers,
by Phong BuiWhat have we learned from the horrendous political situation in our society, where noise is a weapon to slay our focus and deceive our reason? What have we learned from technological “progress,” and its consuming production and exploitation?

Downturn New York
by Daniel S. PalmerNew York City is a place of perpetual change, but perhaps this has its limits. I’ve only lived here for about twelve years, but the past two or three have felt particularly different and especially precarious for the arts and for artist communities. Accordingly, this feels like the perfect moment and venue to bring together a group of New Yorkers to reflect on the changes that have happened to this city in recent years, and to discuss how they have impacted the creative sector.
- Loose Spaces by Wilson Sherwin
- Internet Bulldozing: Gentrification and The Rise of Cyberharassment, BRUJAS Calls for Coalition, Again! by Arianna Gil, approved by BRUJAS
- Finding Up by Akwetey Orraca-Tetteh
- No Condition Is Permanent by Lisa Cooley
- In Search of a Darkroom by Remy Amezcua
- Endangered Species: An Artist’s Loft by John Newman
- The Lover’s War by Siyona Ravi
- Ella Kruglyanskaya: Fenix by Alex A. Jones
- Raha Raissnia: Galvanization by Benjamin Clifford
- Imagined Communities: Photographs by Mila Teshaieva by Vivian Li
- Enrique Martínez Celaya: The Boy: Witness and Marker 2003 – 2018 by Lilly Wei
- The Lure of the Dark: Contemporary Painters Conjure the Night by Alex Jen
- Erik Parker: New Soul by Robert C. Morgan
- Gordon Parks: The New Tide, Early Work 1940-1950 by Nico Wheadon
- Berthe Morisot: Woman Impressionist by A.V. Ryan
- Gaylen Gerber by Lori Waxman
- Viktor Timofeev: God Room by Ruthie Natanzon
- Viktor Timofeev: God Room by Alex A. Jones
- Richard Artschwager: Primary Sources and Self-Portraits and the American Southwest by Robert C. Morgan
- Jeanne Silverthorne: From Darkness by William Corwin
- Archie Rand: Misfits by Ann McCoy
- Torey Thornton: Sustenance Traversing Foundational Urgencies (STFU [some])(Re-Faux Outing) by Vijay Masharani
- God Made My Face: A Collective Portrait of James Baldwin by Amber Jamilla Musser
- Kathy Acker: Get Rid of Meaning by McKenzie Wark
- Venceremos: Resisting the Rise of the Far-right in Brazil by Tatiane Santa Rosa
- Pierre Huyghe: UUmwelt by Will Fenstermaker
- Forest Law by Lisa E. Bloom, Iris Morrell, and Ariel Hoage
- Francesco Clemente: Works 1978-2018 by Alan Gilbert
- Bruce Nauman: Disappearing Acts by Swagato Chakravorty
- Dana Schutz: Imagine Me and You by Alfred Mac Adam
- Nancy Holt by Ann McCoy
- James Siena: Painting by Tom McGlynn
- Epic Abstraction: Pollock to Herrera by Benjamin Clifford
- Maya Lin: A River Is a Drawing by Taney Roniger
- Max Kozloff: The Atmospherics of Interruption: Paintings 1966-2018 by Hovey Brock
- David Rabinowitch: Périgord Construction of Vision Drawings by Marcia E. Vetrocq
- EJ Hauser: Barn Spirits by Louis Block
- Rochelle Feinstein: Image of an Image by David Carrier
- Maria Antelman: Disassembler by Ann C. Collins
- Robert Janitz: Uptown Campus / College Robert Janitz by David Rhodes
- Caroline Larsen: Kaleidoscopic & Mathew Zefeldt: Customizable Realities by Nina Wolpow
- Lyle Ashton Harris: Flash of the Spirit by Jan Avgikos
- Max Neumann: Specter by Will Fenstermaker
- Under Erasure by William Corwin
Editor's Message
- Downturn New York by Daniel S. Palmer
Publisher's Message
- Dear Friends and Readers, by Phong Bui
Art
ArtSeen
- Ella Kruglyanskaya: Fenix by Alex A. Jones
- Raha Raissnia: Galvanization by Benjamin Clifford
- Imagined Communities: Photographs by Mila Teshaieva by Vivian Li
- Enrique Martínez Celaya: The Boy: Witness and Marker 2003 – 2018 by Lilly Wei
- The Lure of the Dark: Contemporary Painters Conjure the Night by Alex Jen
- Erik Parker: New Soul by Robert C. Morgan
- Gordon Parks: The New Tide, Early Work 1940-1950 by Nico Wheadon
- Berthe Morisot: Woman Impressionist by A.V. Ryan
- Gaylen Gerber by Lori Waxman
- Viktor Timofeev: God Room by Ruthie Natanzon
- Viktor Timofeev: God Room by Alex A. Jones
- Richard Artschwager: Primary Sources and Self-Portraits and the American Southwest by Robert C. Morgan
- Jeanne Silverthorne: From Darkness by William Corwin
- Archie Rand: Misfits by Ann McCoy
- Torey Thornton: Sustenance Traversing Foundational Urgencies (STFU [some])(Re-Faux Outing) by Vijay Masharani
- God Made My Face: A Collective Portrait of James Baldwin by Amber Jamilla Musser
- Kathy Acker: Get Rid of Meaning by McKenzie Wark
- Venceremos: Resisting the Rise of the Far-right in Brazil by Tatiane Santa Rosa
- Pierre Huyghe: UUmwelt by Will Fenstermaker
- Forest Law by Lisa E. Bloom, Iris Morrell, and Ariel Hoage
- Francesco Clemente: Works 1978-2018 by Alan Gilbert
- Bruce Nauman: Disappearing Acts by Swagato Chakravorty
- Dana Schutz: Imagine Me and You by Alfred Mac Adam
- Nancy Holt by Ann McCoy
- James Siena: Painting by Tom McGlynn
- Epic Abstraction: Pollock to Herrera by Benjamin Clifford
- Maya Lin: A River Is a Drawing by Taney Roniger
- Max Kozloff: The Atmospherics of Interruption: Paintings 1966-2018 by Hovey Brock
- David Rabinowitch: Périgord Construction of Vision Drawings by Marcia E. Vetrocq
- EJ Hauser: Barn Spirits by Louis Block
- Rochelle Feinstein: Image of an Image by David Carrier
- Maria Antelman: Disassembler by Ann C. Collins
- Robert Janitz: Uptown Campus / College Robert Janitz by David Rhodes
- Caroline Larsen: Kaleidoscopic & Mathew Zefeldt: Customizable Realities by Nina Wolpow
- Lyle Ashton Harris: Flash of the Spirit by Jan Avgikos
- Max Neumann: Specter by Will Fenstermaker
- Under Erasure by William Corwin
1 by 1
- Barbara Takenaga and Patricio Guzmán: telescopes and other visions by Joan Waltemath
Critics Page
- Loose Spaces by Wilson Sherwin
- Internet Bulldozing: Gentrification and The Rise of Cyberharassment, BRUJAS Calls for Coalition, Again! by Arianna Gil, approved by BRUJAS
- Finding Up by Akwetey Orraca-Tetteh
- No Condition Is Permanent by Lisa Cooley
- In Search of a Darkroom by Remy Amezcua
- Endangered Species: An Artist’s Loft by John Newman
- The Lover’s War by Siyona Ravi
Books
- Aimee Parkison and Carol Guess’s Girl Zoo by Melanie Odelle
- Sophie Mackintosh's The Water Cure by Yvonne C. Garrett
- How to Be Human: Some Beheadings by Aditi Machado by Julie Carr
- Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's At the End of the Century by Rachel Aydt
- JAMES CHARLESWORTH with Kathleen Rooney
- A Life Not Fit to Form: The Restoration of Unnamable Joy by Chris Campanioni
- JOSIP NOVAKOVICH with Joseph Salvatore
- Ross Barkan’s Demolition Night by Joseph Peschel
- JEFF JACKSON with Nicholas Rys
- R.O. Kwon’s The Incendiaries by Deena ElGenaidi
- DAVID PEAK with Joseph Scapellato
Music
- The Known and the Unknown: Winter Jazzfest marathon, January 11-12, 2019 by George Grella
- Andy Statman: Practical Mystic by Scott Gutterman
- Outtakes by Steve Dalachinsky
- Akio Suzuki and Aki Onda: ke i te ki by Daniel Wilson
- February Listings by George Grella and Brad Cohan
Dance
- BOBBI JENE SMITH with Sima Belmar
- Miguel Gutierrez’s This Bridge Called My Ass by George Kan
- Dear Chaos by Erica Getto
- Make 'Em Laugh by Madison Mainwaring
Film
- True to Form: International Documentary Festival Amsterdam 2018 by Leo Goldsmith
- Routine Pleasures: Termite Art and the Paintings of Manny Farber by Sean Nam
- Double Vision: On Ryūsuke Hamaguchi’s Asako I & II by Kazu Watanabe
- Love Screams: Valentine’s Day Massacre at Anthology Film Archives by Hillary Weston
Theater
Fiction
- Two Excerpts from a Novel in Progress by Pamela Ryder
- Gone Runt by Erica Kent
- LSD Halloween by Erica Kent
- Melody Plays a Tune by Erica Kent
- Excerpt of Carne de Dios by Homero Aridjis, translated from the Spanish by Chloe Garcia Roberts
- Highlights from the Life of Raymond Roussel #11: The Punchline by T. Motley
- inSerial: part five The Mysteries of Paris By Eugène Sue, translated from the French by Robert Bononno
- Day Trip to Durmitor by Asja Bakić, translated by Jennifer Zoble
- Golthar, Terror of the Deep by Nathan Place
Poetry
- Little Dog at the End of the Rainbow by Sharon Mesmer
- NUDE GDUDE (SCRATCH AND SNIFF) (MY RIDES) by Farnoosh Fathi
- A User’s Guide to the Miracle by Dave Morse
- three by Tenaya Nasser-Frederick
- four by Ana Božičević
- three by Jeffrey Grunthaner
- three by Merritt Waldon
Art Books
- Remedios Varo's Letters, Dreams & Other Writings by Zack Hatfield
- Tavia Nyong’o's Afro-Fabulations: The Queer Drama of Black Life by Peter Murphy
- Stéphane Mallarmé's The Book and Un Coup de dés jamais n’abolira le Hasard by Mary Ann Caws
- Judson Dance Theater: The Work is Never Done by Nicole Meily
Field Notes
- The Class Struggle in France by Charles Reeve and Jean-Luc Sahagian, translated by Janet Koenig
- In Search of the Promised Land: Hope and Despair in the Migrant Caravan by David Schmidt
- Bolsonarism and “Frontier Capitalism” by Daniel Cunha
- Roots and Continuities of the Crisis: ADAM TOOZE with Pavlos Roufos