The January aeqai is full of reviews, as well as a few new regular columns and some essays. A lot of institutions and most commercial galleries hold their December or fall shows through the first few weeks of January, as the remains of the holidays (bills, in most cases) wend their way through our calendars. Dr. Saad Ghosn, known to many of your for his inclusive exhibitions about peace and justice, and others under the title SOS, begins a regular monthly columnin this issue, in which he selects one regional artist and one poet (their work may have nothing specific in common) whose work Ghosn believes exemplify an attempt to make our society/culture a better place in which to live.We are pleased to welcome Saad and privileged that he has come to aeqai. Keith Banner also continues to expand his horizons, presenting his first television review: aeqai will include more general cultural criticism in coming months, with more penetrating analyses by Banner, and some by me , and others as they come forth.

We are pleased to offer Brett Baker’s quarterly “Letter from New York”; this month, Baker chooses to lookonly at one exhibition, a figurative show, consistent with a broad return to figurative work in the art world. Baker’s own blog, The Painter’s Table, has received international attention, and he opened a painting show of his own in New York in January, too. Kevin Ott, who joined aeqai a couple of months ago, offersa compelling essay arguing for an increase in the number of print galleries at Cincinnati Art Museum when it creates new gallery spaces. And we have slightly increased the poetry section, including two new poems by Jim Cummins, an internationally acclaimed poet who teaches poetry at UC’s English Department and will be utilizing the characters in these two poems for aeqai in the future.

Aeqai has two guest columns this month: Christopher Hoeting, one of the region’s most innovative curators, reviews the Kevin Cole exhibition at The Weston Art Gallery downtown, and Tamara Lenz Muente offers an overview of the exhibition which she curated at The Taft Museum of Arton the 80th anniversary of the museum’s founding, with fascinating photographs of the Taft family in the thirties.

Jonathan Kamholtz reviews the one-woman self-portrait exhibition at Iris Book Cafe, curated byone of the best photography curators alive, William Messer. Stephen Slaughter reviews a two person drawing show at semantics, a gallery celebrating its twentieth anniversary this year: aeqai congratulates semantics, and thanks all its members and artists for so many excellent and stimulating shows over these many years. Karen Chambers offers a very astute analysis of the work in the current show at Thundersky, Inc., in Northside, while Shawn Daniell offers her always keen insights into the Pulp Art show at Carnegie Arts Center in Covington; all the artists work with paper. Jane Durrell has captured much of the essence of Frank Satogata’s new paintings and prints at a rare solo show of his work at Xavier University.

Artist Marlene Steele has gone to Lexington to review the twenty-fifth anniversary show at the Lexington Art League; this juried figurative show is one of the most important in America. Maxwell Redder has returned with a double review of Cedric Cox’s two most recent painting shows, at the now defunct (alas) PAC Gallery, and at the Harvest Gallery in Over-the-Rhine. Dustin Pike also continues his brilliant analysis of the field of design through the numbers one through zero: this month, he analyzes the number eight.

I offer one book review as the new year slowly brings us a fresh novel or two, and David Schloss continues his list of best films of 2012 by expanding into other areas of film.

In February, we shall welcome Laura Hobson to aeqai, who will continue the series of profiles of arts leaders we started some time back; her first profile is of Ruth Dickey, Director of The Clifton Cultural Center. Sheldon Tapley will return with a review of the Gaela Irwin painting show in Lexington, and will be offering essays on the nature of drawing, and the nature of painting over the next few months. Tapley is Chair of the Art Dept. at Centre College, and a superb painter and draughtsman himself.

I hope that you enjoy the new aeqai, and help us continue its growth.