Many years ago I was alone in a house lost in thought looking down at a hay field in the Catskill mountains. I could see McCumber Farm, the distant Armstrong fields, and the steep silhouette of Dry Brook Ridge. An autumn breeze came in from the treetops, and as if in a dream—a man I knew appeared—slowly dragging a large wooden rowboat with a rope behind him through the tall grass. I recognized the old boat—now quite rotten—from my childhood. I watched transfixed as the bow cut through the dry grass, leaving a wake of flattened grass as it floated through the waving field. 

At that moment I loved that boat and loved the circling turkey buzzards. I loved the dry naples yellow of the grass. I loved that man and the hum of a distant chainsaw. I even loved my own loneliness. I hurried to help old John Asher drag that boat on its way to the burn pile at the bottom of the field.

–Chris Martin

March 12–April 26, 2025
Opening: March 12, 6–8 p.m.

Location:
Anton Kern Gallery
16 East 55th Street, New York
view map

Admission:
The exhibition is free and open to the public

Hours:
Tuesday–Saturday, 10–6

• Wednesday, March 12th: Opening reception and cooking performance by Rirkirt Tiravanija, Tomas Vu, and co.
• Saturday, April 5th: "Baldanders", a performance by Andrew Woolbright
• Tuesday, April 15th: Chris Martin and Raymond Foye in conversation
• Saturday, April 26th: Closing reception and poetry reading, "The Kind of Poetry I Want", Charles Bernstein

Since May 2022, Rail Curatorial Projects has undertaken an ongoing series of group exhibitions entitled “Singing in Unison: Artists Need to Create on the Same Scale That Society Has the Capacity to Destroy” as a collective effort to mobilize the art of joining and social intimacy against self-isolation and social distancing, In these exhibitions, we perceive each artist as the player of a particular instrument, having a unique and distinct sound of their own, producing a significant contribution to the total sound of the symphony.

The series has featured works made by both trained and self-taught artists, by young artists—including children from the legendary Studio in a School—and more established ones. Additionally, there are contributions from artists working during and after incarceration, as well as those who are living with various mental health conditions. Although the culture at large has frequently aimed to assimilate us all into having a similar sound, Rail Curatorial Projects is committed to celebrating each artist’s particular vibrancy, while at the same time providing a context in which they can be in dialogue with one another.

To date, ten iterations of varying sizes have been presented in this series of exhibitions, featuring a total of over 200 artists across seven venues: Art Cake, Below Grand, The Scully Tomasko Foundation, Ricco/Maresca Gallery, TOTAH, Miguel Abreu Gallery, Industry City, SLAG&RX, and Ruttkowski;68. Each version featured Lauren Bon and Metabolic Studio’s neon work Artists Need to Create on the Same Scale That Society Has the Capacity to Destroy; cooking performances by Rirkrit Tiravanija, Tomas Vu, and their graduate students from Columbia University; space activations, including performances from dancers, poets, and musicians; and each has been dedicated to and included a portrait of one of our recently deceased mentors and friends. The early exhibitions in the series all included several artists, and we have now also begun to feature two artists in conversation: when presented in this more intimate context, the similarities and differences in the artists’ practices highlight alluring and compelling aspects of their thinking and art-making processes.

Founded in October 2000 and currently published 10 times annually, the Brooklyn Rail provides an independent forum for arts, culture, and politics throughout New York City and far beyond. The journal features criticism of music, dance, film, and theater; and original fiction and poetry, covers contemporary visual art in particular depth. In order to democratize our art coverage, our Critics Page functions with a rotating editorship, which such luminaries as Robert Storr, Elizabeth Baker, Barbara Rose, Irving Sandler, and Dore Ashton have helmed.

The Rail further fulfills its mission by curating art exhibitions, panel discussions, reading series and film screenings that reflect the complexity and inventiveness of the city’s artistic and cultural landscape.

To learn more, visit brooklynrail.org
Follow us on Instagram instagram.com/brooklynrail