The Carlton Arms Hotel is described as an art hotel. There are a few other hotels in New York that make this claim for one reason or another, but the Carlton Arms is better described as a piece of living art, and as such is unique. This hotel started out as a single-room-occupancy hotel. During […]

I want to evoke a world of metamorphosis. In my recent photographs, I use ginseng as an agent of transformation and crystal as a manifestation of the passage of time. In addition to its medicinal properties, ginseng root has an uncanny resemblance to the human body.  This is the result of the interaction of energy […]

I often think about what is beyond our visible world. I am sensitive to unseen things, like someone’s feelings and energy, a particular atmosphere in nature, or memories that come back to me over and over again. I am interested in speaking to that level of consciousness. Through my art, I try to connect to […]

The Swiss-born artist Mai-Thu Perret has recently become known for her multi-disciplinary practice encompassing sculpture, painting, video, and installation art. Drawing on the revolutionary potential of modernism, she has created a complex oeuvre that combines radical feminist politics with literary utopian texts and homemade crafts. Perret has exhibited in shows such as Apocalypse Ballet at […]

Does anybody care about nationality or nationalist art in New York City, where we rub elbows with every corner of the world on a daily basis? Yet this is an issue that Piotr Uklanski addresses—that of his Polish identity, in his exhibition Bialo-Czerwona (White-Red). Well-known as a conceptual artist on the international circuit, he nevertheless […]

Fabrizio Del Rincón sees photography as a delightful vehicle for translating inner visions to outer reality. The artistic process is fueled by an incessant curiosity and a passion for intuitive experimentation, which manifest in a myriad of light, texture, and color. The artist describes this process as magical, being nourishing yet all-encompassing. He believes his […]

For this exhibition, I chose 16 photographers and video artists from Israel who personally reflect upon their country: the community in which they live, the numerous cultural and religious differences among Israel’s population, and the current political situation. Some artists are critical, while others give expression to their hopes and dreams. Some of the works […]

Making art confronts me with more questions than answers. I am much too entangled and I lack analytical distance. I know too much. But I also know too little. If my work is any good, I don’t understand it myself. At least not right away. The work I make tends to overrun, and sometimes even […]

Catherine Y. Hsieh: Your solo exhibition Just Did It took place at James Cohan Gallery in New York City from February to March. In a piece titled It, you displayed a patch of dirt under a microscope. What did that dirt represent? Xu Zhen: It represented “hui” (dust,) what’s always below our feet, what we’re […]

I took my first photograph at the age of 13, at a time when cameras weren’t as accessible as they are now. My father lent me his old Kodak Retinet for a school field trip. It didn’t have a light meter, so each picture I took was a work of labor and conscious calculation. Then […]