Video journalist Alexandra Eaton of The New York Times joins us to share an unforgettable story that begins with a painting created in 1837 New Orleans. It depicts a well-to-do family’s three children and a Black enslaved child named Bélizaire. Decades later, Bélizaire was removed from the portrait. Experts have restored the work to its original state, revealing the enslaved youth who had been painted out of history. It goes on display this fall at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Sep 08, 2023•29 min•Season 8Ep. 1
In the new biopic, Dalíland , acclaimed director Mary Harron give us a glimpse into the Salvador Dalí’s later years in 70s New York City via the immense talents of Academy Award-winner, Sir Ben Kingsley. From her look at attempted assassin Valerie Solanas in I Shot Andy Warhol to the murderous broker Patrick Bateman in American Psycho , Harron has always been attracted to infamous, challenging, and to put it lightly, difficult people. The film is now on demand now wherever you watch movies. On o...
Jul 21, 2023•26 min•Season 7Ep. 19
For our Season 7 finale, we travel to the Honolulu Museum of Art (HoMA) to chat with an architect and a neurologist about the intersections of art, science, and nature.
May 26, 2023•38 min•Season 7Ep. 18
With more and more of our lives now being lived online -- and with more and more of our stuff existing only in the cloud -- how best should we preserve art...and culture...and everything else worth saving? On this go-round of Museum Confidential, we speak with Richard Rinehart, the Director of the Samek Art Gallery at Bucknell University. He's also the co-author of an interesting new book titled "Re-Collection: Art, New Media, and Social Memory."
May 13, 2023•29 min•Season 7Ep. 17
On this edition of MC, we've got mad props for all the archivists and librarians in the house. The stewardship that these professionals bring to MuseumLand is as multifaceted as it is vital: caretaking, cataloging, researching, locating, documenting, preserving, updating, etc. Our guest is Saige Blanchard, the Library and Collection Information Specialist at Philbrook. She also tells us about a new rare book exhibit that just opened.
Apr 28, 2023•28 min•Season 7Ep. 16
Founded by artist Theaster Gates, the Rebuild Foundation has been transforming buildings and neighborhoods on the South Side of Chicago since 2009 with art projects, community gathering spaces, small businesses, and more. Their latest venture is a vinyl shop called Miyagi Records. On this episode we do a little crate digging with the project leaders, Nigel Ridgeway and Marco Jacobo.
Apr 19, 2023•26 min•Season 7Ep. 15
This episode offers a career-spanning chat with Oscar-winning cinematographer, Sir Roger Deakins , and his wife/longtime collaborator, James Deakins . Known for his collaborations with Coen brothers ( Fargo ), Sam Mendes ( 1917 ), and Denis Villeneuve ( Blade Runner 2049 ), Deakins began his life in film as a still photographer. He published his first-ever book of photographs, "Byways," in late 2021. Many of those photos (alongside unseen works) are now on view in Tulsa at the recently-opened ph...
Mar 24, 2023•29 min•Season 7Ep. 14
Museums rarely allow their most beloved works to travel. But Omaha’s Joslyn Art Museum is under renovation. An opportunity arose. Now through May 28, Philbrook presents 500 years of European treasures from that acclaimed collection. Featuring paintings by the likes of Rembrandt, Monet, El Greco, Titian, and Renoir, there’s no shortage of star power. Philbrook Curator Susan Green tells us all about it.
Mar 10, 2023•29 min•Season 7Ep. 13
London's Royal Academy of Arts will soon open a special exhibition titled, SOULS GROWN DEEP LIKE RIVERS: BLACK ARTISTS FROM THE AMERICAN SOUTH. Created in partnership with the Souls Grown Deep Foundation in Atlanta, the exhibit will showcase 60+ works by notable Black artists over the last century. We speak with the curator of this show, Raina Lampkins-Fielder.
Feb 24, 2023•29 min•Season 7Ep. 12
What is the “art market?” A decade ago, Michael Findlay published “The Value of Art” to explore this very question. But the world has changed in many ways since the book’s initial release. A global pandemic, MeToo, Black Lives Matter, crypto currency, and other factors have impacted how people and institutions are buying/selling art. Michael has just released a new, updated edition. Much to discuss.
Feb 10, 2023•29 min•Season 7Ep. 11
A work by Mississippi Choctaw/Cherokee artist Jeffrey Gibson is instantly recognizable. This is even more impressive given the variety of his output. He paints, sculpts, repurposes, re-contextualizes, creates performances, and more. On this episode we chat with Gibson about his past, his work, and a current exhibition at the Aspen Art Museum called, “The Spirits are Laughing.”
Jan 27, 2023•33 min•Season 7Ep. 10
A century ago, the Detroit Institute of Arts became the first U.S. museum to purchase a painting by Vincent van Gogh. Now they’re hosting America’s largest Van Gogh exhibition in a generation. On this episode we chat with DIA curator Jill Shaw about this massive undertaking.
Jan 13, 2023•29 min•Season 7Ep. 9
MC is closing down 2022 with a one-hour special -- a breezy, somewhat geeky, opinionated, and taped-live-in-the-studio conversation between host Jeff Martin and producer Scott Gregory. The discussion topic is outstanding LP covers as rendered by known and/or notable artists. Kind of a long title, of course, but you get the idea -- and it's a pretty fun listen. With a few tangents, yes, but with lots of tasty music clips as well. Kick back, relax, and turn it up.
Dec 30, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Season 7Ep. 8
Acclaimed artist Sharon Sprung had to wait years before she could tell the world that she was commissioned to paint Michelle Obama’s official White House portrait. On this episode we chat with Sprung from her Brooklyn studio about painting, patience, and what’s it’s like to have a First Lady drop by.
Dec 16, 2022•30 min•Season 7Ep. 7
On this episode we get a few kicks with British artist Dave White who pioneered the sneaker art movement 20 years ago. His portraits of popular shoes led to collaborations with Nike, Jordan, and countless other brands. But Dave is no mere “sneakerhead.” His recent work is more concerned with the ground we stand on than the things we stand in .
Dec 02, 2022•28 min•Season 7Ep. 6
Well before Joan Didion’s death in December 2021, acclaimed writer and New Yorker magazine contributor Hilton Als was hard at work on a show for LA’s Hammer Museum. But how can one exhibition grapple with Didion’s big, uniquely American life? This episode explores that and much more. “Joan Didion: What She Means” runs through February 19, 2023.
Nov 11, 2022•26 min•Season 7Ep. 5
With climate change and more frequent weather events, what does the future hold for coastal museums? On this special episode we speak with Courtney McNeil, Director and Chief Curator at the Baker Museum in Naples, Florida. This conversation was recorded in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Ian.
Oct 28, 2022•25 min•Season 7Ep. 4
For the past few decades, American artist/sexual anthropologist Betony Vernon has been living in Europe, designing erotic jewelry, writing books, and generally following her creative muse. We caught up with Betony while she was back in the states for the inaugural FORMAT festival in northwest Arkansas.
Oct 14, 2022•29 min•Season 7Ep. 3
The one and only Cheech Marin (Cheech & Chong) stops by to discuss his recently opened museum, The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art and Culture. Nicknamed “The Cheech,” the 61,420-square-foot, two-story center resides in what used to be the downtown public library in Riverside, California and houses nearly 500 paintings, drawings, and sculptures. That's a lot, man. Far out.
Sep 23, 2022•25 min•Season 7Ep. 2
On our Season 7 premiere, we visit the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles for the opening of a groundbreaking new exhibition, REGENERATION: BLACK CINEMA 1898–1971. Enjoy a fascinating chat with exhibition’s co-curators, Doris Berger, Vice President of Curatorial Affairs at the Academy Museum, and Rhea Combs, Director of Curatorial Affairs at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery.
Sep 09, 2022•35 min•Season 7Ep. 1
We’re cooking up something tasty on this special summer episode and taking a bite out of the Whataburger Museum of Art. Is it really a museum? What’s the submission process? Is it curated? Is this pure marketing or something genuine? We explore this and much more with Whataburger Marketing Director Brooks Boenig alongside participating artists Mayra Zamora and Kristin Moore.
Aug 19, 2022•26 min•Season 6Ep. 19
From a fire at the Smithsonian in 1865 to the Covid-19 pandemic, museums have faced challenge after challenge, and have survived. That didn't happen by accident. On our final MC episode for Season 6 -- and our 100th overall! -- we survey the general state of museums today with Samuel Redman, author of "The Museum: A Short History of Crisis and Resilience."
May 27, 2022•29 min•Season 6Ep. 18
How can a small museum in the middle of the country have an impact on par with bigger institutions? How can we fight above our weight class in the arena of ideas? On this special episode we team up with MuseumNext to explore the value of tone and crafting a unique institutional voice. Your intrepid host (Jeff) finally gets his turn in the hot seat. Things get interesting.
May 13, 2022•19 min•Season 6Ep. 17
Shirley Woodson was born in 1936. She grew up and still lives in Detroit. It’s her city, her muse. At 86 the artist recently opened her first ever solo exhibition at her hometown museum, The Detroit Institute of Arts. “Shirley Woodson: Shield of the Nile Reflections” features 11 of the artist’s big, vibrant canvases depicting black bathers in rivers. On this episode we chat with the busy-as-ever artist and Valerie Mercer, the exhibition’s curator and head of the DIA’s Center for African American...
Apr 29, 2022•28 min•Season 6Ep. 16
What role can artists and creatives play in wartime? On this episode we chat with acclaimed author Lesley M.M. Blume about her recent Town & Country article, “The Art of War: How the Surrealists Helped Upend Camouflage and Redefine Modern Battle.” In a globe-spanning investigation filled with big art world names like Gorky and Dalí, the story proves once and for all that truth is stranger than fiction. Read the article at https://www.townandcountrymag.com/...
Apr 15, 2022•28 min•Season 6Ep. 15
As Women’s History Month comes to a close, we explore Gustave Courbet’s perennially provocative 1866 work, “L’Origine du Monde (The Origin of the World)” with artist/writer Lilianne Milgrom, author of “L'Origine: The Secret Life of the World's Most Erotic Masterpiece.” Milgrom was the first artist authorized by the Musée d’Orsay to re-create Courbet’s scandalous masterpiece.
Mar 25, 2022•29 min•Season 6Ep. 14
Troy Montes-Michie was born in El Paso. Border towns are a natural mash-up of cultures, traditions, languages, food, fashion, and nearly everything else. It’s no surprise that Montes-Michie turned his focus to collage, creating instantly recognizable works using magazine clippings, pornography, images of the Black male body, and plenty of zoot suits. In “Rock of Eye,” the artist’s first solo museum exhibition, these collages can be seen alongside, drawings, sculptures, and installations. On view...
Mar 11, 2022•26 min•Season 6Ep. 13
Mike Winkelmann has been creating digital art for over two decades. He’s 40 years old, lives in South Carolina, and has a computer science degree from Purdue. But this isn’t a show about Mike Winkelmann. This is a show about Beeple, the name by which Winkelmann is best known, the name that took the art world by storm in 2021 when an NFT of his nearly 15-year project, EVERYDAYS, sold for a record $69.3 million. Still not sure what NFTs are? We’ll get to that.
Feb 25, 2022•28 min•Season 6Ep. 12
In the years before World War 2, a group of artists gathered in New Mexico to “carry painting beyond the appearance of the physical world, through new concepts of space, color, light, and design, to imaginative realms that are idealistic and spiritual.” They called themselves the TRANSCENDENTAL PAINTING GROUP. On this episode we chat with Philbrook Curator Susan Green about the special exhibition, ANOTHER WORLD, the first comprehensive traveling exhibition to explore work by the group. On view a...
Feb 11, 2022•29 min•Season 6Ep. 11
Oklahoma artist Harold Stevenson (1929-2018) created big paintings and lived an even bigger life in New York, Paris, Key West, and the Hamptons, becoming best friends with Andy Warhol along the way. For much of the past decade, Dian Jordan (The University of Texas Permian Basin) has been researching Stevenson’s singular life, gathering an archive, and laying the groundwork for a definitive biography.
Jan 28, 2022•26 min•Season 6Ep. 10
