The worlds created by Juan Muñoz and Susan Rothenberg are inhabited by horses and ballerinas, gamblers and dwarves, all ciphers of the human condition. These figures, with their inherent traces of expressionist symbolism, are embodied in traditional materials. Rothenberg is a painter whose allegiance to the medium has never shaken, while Muñoz’s objects and installations evoke classical sculpture in their loving use of bronze, wood, iron, terracotta. Concerned with expression and its failures, both Rothenberg and Muñoz treat their work as a stage of sorts. Also in this issue, a special INSERT featuring Robert Smithson’s enigmatic slide-show "Hotel Palenque," never before published in its entirety.