A conversation with the artist Shepard Fairey. He is an artist, activist, street art pioneer and founder of the OBEY clothing line, but may be best known for his 2008 HOPE poster that served as the grassroots campaign imagery for Barack Obama’s first presidential election. Urban streets have long been the home of Fairey’s counter-culture images. The word “OBEY” paired with a stylized depiction of Andre the Giant has been an iconic calling card for the artist whose work is now invited to be paint...
Nov 01, 2022•46 min
A discussion with the team that has collaborated to bring the “Life in Our Minds” generative NFT project to life. The project extends the work artist collective Random International has done around flocking simulations through a collaboration with digital artist and art director Danil Krivoruchko. The project features NFTs which evolve dynamically based on a number of data points, including those taken from the owner’s crypto wallet. The individual flocks then combine to create a giant “Mother F...
Oct 25, 2022•40 min
A conversation with artist Emma Webster. Webster uses virtual reality, collage and 3D modeling software to create invented landscapes that she then paints in oil. These unique, large-scale landscapes provoke wonder and spark curiosity. In August, Webster’s work was the subject of the inaugural show at Perrotin’s newest exhibit space in Seoul, South Korea. https://www.emmawebster.com/ https://www.perrotin.com/artists/emma__webster/1194#news https://www.instagram.com/emma_webstah/...
Oct 18, 2022•46 min
A conversation with Monument Lab Director and Co-Founder Paul Farber. Monument Lab is an organization of artists and curators that have spent more than a decade working to research, document and aid in conversations about the tens of thousands of monuments across our nation. The organization wants to ensure that inherited monuments accurately reflect the past and that future monuments (in whatever shape they take) are in conversation with the communities in which they reside. https://monumentlab...
Oct 11, 2022•43 min
A discussion with the iconic artist Shirin Neshat. Neshat has spent more than three decades making films, videos and photography that challenge viewers to consider topics of humanity, oppression, gender roles and faith within the complex social and political framework of Iran. In the conversation, we discuss her origins in Iran, her life in exile, how her work has evolved and her perspectives on the recent uprising in her homeland following the death of Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the re...
Oct 04, 2022•44 min
A conversation with artist Anj Smith. Smith makes finely crafted and highly detailed paintings that beg the viewer to stop, look closely and contemplate what they find. She often finds inspiration in literature and poetry and her works ask questions about an unseen world that might be just beyond our perception. I spoke to Anj on the eve of her latest show “Where the Mountain Hare has Lain” which opened on September 15 at The Perimeter artist space in London. https://www.hauserwirth.com/artists/...
Sep 27, 2022•44 min
A conversation with artist John Gerrard. The Irish-born artist has spent more than twenty years using the latest in technology to create virtual worlds. Unlike video art, Gerrard’s work is generated from a custom computer program while viewing and no two viewing experiences are ever the same. The content of his work typically asks the viewer to deeply consider the attributes and consequences of the environment they are viewing. https://www.pacegallery.com/artists/john-gerrard/ https://www.instag...
Sep 20, 2022•55 min
A discussion with artist Tavares Strachan. The Bahamian-born Strachan creates ambitious projects that intersect technology, politics and untold history. His work takes on many forms, but always challenges the viewer to question the validity of predetermined limits and narratives about accomplishments from the past. Working at the nexus of art and technology has led to his art being launched into orbit, as well as board seats at both the Rhode Island School of Design and the Massachusetts Institu...
Sep 13, 2022•45 min
A conversation with artist, author and television arts commentator Matthew Collings. Matthew has been a fixture in the British arts media for more than thirty years while maintaining an active art practice. He creates sublime, large-scale abstract paintings as part of his partnership with his wife Emma Biggs. And over the course of the last three years, Matthew has produced thousands of popular drawings of unseen art history and imagined collaborations. In the conversation, we discuss his journe...
Sep 06, 2022•1 hr
A discussion with artist Edgar Arceneuax. Edgar works in the fields of drawing, sculpture, installation, performance, and video; often exploring connections between historical events and present-day truths, as well as the roles of family, memory and race. His work is thoughtful, personal and powerful and can be found in the collections of institutions like MoMA, the Whitney, the Hammer and LACMA. https://www.instagram.com/edgar_three/ http://studioedgararceneaux.com/...
Aug 30, 2022•1 hr 1 min
A conversation with artist Ilana Savdie. Ilana makes brightly-colored, large-scale paintings and drawings that are obviously abstract while concealing figurative forms that explore topics of identity, power-dynamics and the imperfection of the human body as a vessel. In the discussion, Ilana shares insights on her creative process, the influence of her childhood in Baranquilla, Colombia, her unique use of materials and her current show at White Cube in London. https://www.instagram.com/ilana_sav...
Aug 23, 2022•43 min
A conversation with art world icon Simon de Pury. Simon is an art dealer, curator, artist, photographer and even a DJ, but he is most notably an auctioneer. After rising to the top of the Sotheby’s organization, he left to strike out on his own. That led to an eventual merger of his auction house with Phillips to form Phillips de Pury. These days, Simon runs the eponymous de PURY organization which provides access to artists and their work through conventional sales, auctions and charity events....
Aug 16, 2022•37 min
A conversation with Ann Temkin, the Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Our conversation focuses on MoMA’s current exhibit “Matisse: The Red Studio” which revolves around the iconic painting of the same name that has been an integral part of MoMA’s collection since 1949. Ann spent more than four years researching, writing about and compiling the exhibit which features the Matisse artworks seen on the walls and tabletops of...
Aug 09, 2022•45 min
A conversation with Ali Gass who is the Krieger Family Director of the new Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco. In our conversation, Ali discusses how the ICASF got off the ground, the programming vision for the institution, the benefits of being a non-collecting museum and the hurdles that lie ahead.
Aug 02, 2022•47 min
As a midweek bonus for listeners, we have a recording of Craig's panel discussion from NFT.NYC 2022 titled "The Bridge Between Traditional Art and NFT Art". The discussion was moderated by art advisor Nina Kong-Surtees and in addition to Craig, the panelists included artist Mary Lai and Known Origin Co-Founder David Moore. As a heads up, there is a three minute period about fifteen minutes in where the audio gets a little distorted, but hang in there because it goes back to normal.
Jul 28, 2022•25 min
A conversation with documentary film producer Debi Wisch about her latest project “The Art of Making It”. Debi (who also produced 2018’s “The Price of Everything”) discusses analyzing the art world again from the perspective of the emerging artist. She is a long-time advocate for the arts who serves on the advisory boards of the Cantor Art Museum at Stanford University and Hunter College’s Arts Advisory, while also serving on the board of the Film at Lincoln Center film society.
Jul 27, 2022•41 min
Another hour in conversation with artist Sarah Morris. Sarah was first on the program for Episode 51. In that conversation, we spent the hour trying to get inside the head of the noted painter and filmmaker. In contrast, this episode's conversation is more story time. Sarah shares a number of stories from the span of her career, including her entry into the New York art scene in the late 80s, her time in London during the reign of the YBAs, trying to shoot a sleep-deprived Kate Moss for Vogue an...
Jul 19, 2022•1 hr 8 min
The third in a series featuring conversations that took place recently at and around the world’s largest NFT conference - NFT.NYC. This episode features a discussion with art market economist, serial entrepreneur and bestselling author Magnus Resch. At the age of 20, Magnus co-ran an art gallery in Switzerland to finance his university career. He later created a number of ventures that leveraged technologies to solve inefficiencies in the art world. Magnus holds a Ph.D. in economics and lectures...
Jul 13, 2022•38 min
A discussion with the unique and unparalleled Kenny Schachter. Kenny has been curating contemporary art exhibits in museums and galleries and teaching art history and economics at some of the top art schools for nearly 30 years. He is an obsessive collector with a home busting at the seams with renowned works and more in storage on multiple continents. Schachter has a “no nonsense” writing style that makes him a popular contributor at Artnet News. And above all else Kenny is an artist. He has be...
Jul 05, 2022•1 hr 3 min
The first in a series of discussions that took place recently at and around the world’s largest NFT conference - NFT.NYC. A conversation with artist, author and collector Anne Spalter. Anne’s artwork combines traditional mark-making, digital tools and a collection of symbols to produce work that is highly collected. Her large-scale public art installations are in high demand, with one living in New York City’s busiest commuter hub for almost a year. Nearly three decades ago, Anne created the fir...
Jun 28, 2022•31 min
A discussion with art critic Ben Davis about his new book "Art in the After-Culture: Capitalist Crisis and Cultural Strategy". In the book, Davis (whose day job is National Art Critic for Artnet News) presents a number of essays that comment on the future of culture, politics, and capitalism through the lens of the art world. What does the future look like?
Jun 21, 2022•45 min
A discussion with artist Sarah Morris. Morris’s films and paintings try to capture the way in which we conceptualize the physical space of locations, while trying to reconcile our imaginations and the reality of navigation. Her works are in the collections of nearly every major contemporary museum and this coming year will see major retrospectives in both Germany and Japan.
Jun 14, 2022•1 hr 5 min
A discussion with artist Lauren Quin. Quin is an abstract painter that builds paintings known for their vibrant colors and layer upon layer of mark making. In the conversation, we discuss her multistage process, her pursuit of intense colors, her love of Los Angeles and the meaning behind the name of her new show at Blum & Poe.
Jun 07, 2022•48 min
A discussion with beloved New York Magazine art critic Jerry Saltz. Formerly the senior art critic for The Village Voice, Jerry won the Pulitzer Prize for criticism in 2018 for an article titled “My Life as a Failed Artist” in which he revealed childhood trauma, his life as an aspiring artist in the 70s and the circuitous path that led him to long-haul truck driving before eventually finding his place writing about art. Much of our conversation centers around advice from his 2020 New York Times ...
May 31, 2022•1 hr 2 min
A discussion with artist Christiane Lyons. In her ongoing series “Some Women”, she explores, by distorting the female body, the cycle of women’s objectification throughout art history and culture while at the same time, attempting to break this cycle by imbuing the figures with subjectivity. One of her paintings from this series is included in the “Women Painting Women” exhibition currently on display at The Modern in Fort Worth.
May 24, 2022•53 min
A discussion with photographer Bonnie Schiffman. Bonnie spent decades specializing in portraits of actors, directors, musicians and comedians for some of the nation’s most popular publications, particularly Rolling Stone magazine. In the episode, she discusses her improvised shooting style, her ability to capture an honest image, her favorite celebrities and her expansion into NFTs.
May 17, 2022•51 min
A discussion with Miranda Metcalf, founder and host of “Hello, Print Friend”, a podcast with over 130 episodes dedicated to the celebration and amplification of printmaking and its culture. In our conversation Miranda provides a historical context for printmaking, its advances, the culture around the medium and advice for the aspiring collector.
May 10, 2022•46 min
A discussion with Andrea Karnes, Chief Curator at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. The museum will be debuting a new group exhibit later this month titled “Women Painting Women”. The show brings together more than forty female painters, including giants like Alice Neel and Faith Ringgold, mid-career artists like Jenny Saville and Amy Sherald, as well as up-and-coming female artists we should be taking note of. The portraits all fall into roughly four categories: The Body, Nature Personified,...
May 03, 2022•33 min
A discussion with author Ann Marks regarding her new book “Vivian Maier Developed”. Vivian Maier became an overnight sensation when over 140,000 professional quality photographs by Maier were found in abandoned storage units throughout Chicago. Documentaries from Netflix and the BBC followed with the common theme of trying to assemble a portrait of the very private and very quirky nanny who happened to be a photographic savant. Marks’ new book digs deep to answer those lingering questions about ...
Apr 26, 2022•41 min
A discussion with artist Barry X Ball. His work utilizes the latest advances in 3D imaging, stone cutting and robotic milling to create breathtaking sculptures that are in conversation with art history. The hand-finished sculptures are known for their use of unique varieties of stone from around the world, as well as their meticulous craftsmanship. The results are captivating. https://www.barryxball.com/
Apr 19, 2022•1 hr 8 min
