Jul 6, 2023

Why we’re fascinated: Because Bui, born in Vietnam and educated at Philadelphia’s University of the Arts and the New York Studio School, is a bulwark of the New York art world and beyond. Bui founded the acclaimed “Brooklyn Rail,” a monthly print magazine distributed for free across the city that has spawned sister projects like “The Miami Rail” and the publishing press Rail Editions. Bui himself has curated some 60 exhibitions. In 2008, he began a portrait series depicting colleagues and collaborators with pencil softness and startling clarity. A selection of those appeared at the latest Frieze art fair in Los Angeles with Craig Starr Gallery. Whenever this enigmatic polyglot walks through the door you can bet people in the room are angling to get a minute of his time.

— Vittoria Benzine