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At the time of this interview with Ruby Neri, it was November 2024. Her solo show at David Kordansky in Los Angeles had just opened, a solo show was set to open at Massimodecarlo in London in January 2025, and her first solo institutional show, Deep Dive at the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, was in the final stages of preparation. For Neri, who was quite relaxed in her Frogtown studio during my afternoon visit, it was the end of one chapter and the beginning of another. A career milestone with a sense of something fresh on the horizon—a chapter’s end, rather than the end of the novel.

Describing Anastasia Bay as someone who sketches figures is akin to calling Giuseppe Verdi a songwriter. She paints big, and with authority, in gestures that are seen, felt and remembered. Among her many interests is opera, which has been crowned the “queen of the arts”—so I’m going to continue in grandiose fashion and coronate this French artist into a most royal court of creatives. In a desire to revive and invigorate the rich magnificence of ancient Greek drama, opera summoned emotion and motive by combining narrative, music, design and dance. Anastasia’s dynamic figures draw from ancient myths as they transcend time, exuding power and passion. Her training in the sport of boxing informs an intimate knowledge of anatomy, movement and…

Morteza Khakshoor is the definition of an artist’s artist. An ideal conversationalist, his practice is guided by the divine sensation a creator forever chases: where everything feels inexplicably right. He quotes Picasso in casual conversation; his admiration for history’s most mentioned artist is pure and true. However, the Cubism comparison often applied to Khakshoor’s work is a sliver of interpretation, and we’re going much deeper.

When entering the downtown Los Angeles studio of artist Gabriela Ruiz, I was struck by a painting of an eye. Not just any eye, but a puffy, surreal orb that turned out to be inspired by a horrific ocular infection, which resulted in an obsession for looking at eyes and how constrained and odd they could be. It’s her gift, thinking beyond, designing an opening and pushing the idea into strange places. She brings these concepts to life through zany Postmodern painting, sculpture, video, installation and performance.

Shyama Golden is a surrealist storyteller, weaving together a multiplex of references to envision her own lyrical journey of endless rebirth. Los Angeles, Golden’s home, is a primary character in her work, as she merges her internal and external landscapes, mining the mystical to conjure reflections. Allegories abound in her richly detailed paintings. Our story begins with the artist falling down a gopher hole…

As soon as I first read about the practice of London-based Christian Quin Newell, I knew I wanted to interview him. His show there this past summer at Public Gallery was a collection of—and I directly quote—“Cosmological paintings opening up portals to an internal realm informed by Buddhist philosophy, mysticism, meditation, and the dream.” See what I’m talking about?

Kyndacee Harris is busy painting, otherwise I’d ask her to run for office. She had me at first glance—a painting of her own elementary school drill team—and again when I looked her up and found this quote: “To see more of my work, send me money to buy a computer.”

It begins with a space. The original, creaking floors of GRIMM’s Tribeca space brings out something special in the viewing of Anthony Cudahy’s paintings, a show I wanted to see before speaking with the artist on the brink of another show, his museum show, Spinneret, opening at the Green Family Art Foundation this fall. Cudahy paints emotion and something quite moody, and when you circle the gallery, the timeworn floorboards enhance the intimacy of the works on view, evoking an intimate sigh as you find yourself quietly trying not to disturb the characters, not quite sure if you should be privy to what is happening in the scenes around you.

Art residencies are like idyllic adult summer camps, and although the Fine Arts Work Center has a fulsome summer program, their fellowships take place when a knit cap and down vest are appreciated. That hardly discourages the writers and visual artists who attend, as expressed by poet John Murillo; “One thing is to have a good idea for a poem or image that is resonant or impactful, but that’s not enough. You need something else to push against or to interrogate. Something about a place like this is that if you sit quietly enough, those things will kind of insist upon themselves.” I marveled at the magic FAWC, founded in the 1960s to nurture the small community of Provincetown and…