June 2010
5 posts
An Interview with marina Abramovic
Here are some highlights from an interview between Marina Abramovic and the Wall Street Journal regarding her recent MoMA show, “The Artist is Present”
On how long she sat in a chair during the exhibition…
“To be exactly precise it was 736 hours and 30 minutes.”
On what she disliked the most about her experience…
“First of all, this was extremely...
"Maria Abramovic Made Me Cry" (A Blog You MUST... →
Who is Maria Abramovic?
A little about the Yugoslavian Performance Artist…
Marina Abramovic was born in 1946 in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Since the early 1970s, when she attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Belgrade, the artist has pioneered the use of performance as a visual art form. Since delving into the world of performance art, Abramovic has explored the physical and mental limits of her being. She has withstood...
Did You See "The Artist is Present?" Read about it... →
May 2010
4 posts
Alice Neel's Legacy of Realism
Alice Neel, renowned for her unique style and known as a pioneering figure for women artists of the 20th century, started out as a Social Realist and definantly painted figurative work during the height of Abstract Expressionism. Now the subject of a major retrospective at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Neel focused on the least fashionable of realist genres - portraiture, which had long since...
Check out Current and Past Neel Exhibitions →
Alice Neel : The Facts
Who is Alice Neel?
Alice Neel is considered one of the great American painters of the 20th century (she was also a pioneer among women artists)
What and how did she paint?
Neel painted people, landscapes and still lifes. She was never in step with avant-garde movements - painting in her own unique style (influenced by the spirit of northern European and Scandanavian expressionism and the...
April 2010
4 posts
Photographer René Burri →
Read About Che Guevara →
Photographer René Burri Discusses Photographing...
Photographer René Burri recalled his 1960s trip to Cuba during which he met and photographed Che Guervara as “Look Magazine” journalist Laura Bergquist interviewed the famed revolutionary. The Americans okay-ed the trip, during which Burri and Bergquist went to Che’s office at Havana’s Hotel Riviera.
As Bergquist and Che, at the time the number-two man in Cuba, started a...
March 2010
5 posts
“…When I go to New York I like to stand in the street and see what happens....”
– Shaquille O’Neil
Other stuff going on at the Flag Art Foundation →
Check out the Shaquille O'Neal Curated "Size DOES... →
Shaquille O'Neal as Curator!?
Yes, you read correctly. The Cleveland Cavaliers center (who has published two memoirs, cut six records, acted in seven movies, starred in a reality show, served as a reserve police officer and studied for a doctorate in human resource development) can now add curator to his lengthy resume.
Shaquille O’Neal is curating “Size DOES Matter,” which opened last month at the Flag Art...
February 2010
6 posts
“I just tried to write honestly, and I tried to make this little world fun to...”
– Bill Watterson on why “Calvin and Hobbes” not only captured readers’ attention, but also touched their hearts
“I vote for ‘Calvin and Hobbes, Eighth Wonder of the World.’”
– “Calvin and Hobbes” creator, Bill Watterson, on how he wants people to celebrate and remember “that 6-year-old and his tiger”
Click to read some classic "Calvin and Hobbes"... →
An Interview with Bill Watterson
Bill Watterson, the creator of the beloved comic strip “Calvin and Hobbes” recently sat down with a Cleveland-based journalist to reflect upon and discuss his famed comic strip.
Some highlights:
Watterson ended the “Calvin and Hobbes” comic strip fifteen years ago, and when asked why he thinks his animated sensation went beyond just capturing readers’...
January 2010
5 posts
“I used to know Madison Avenue advertisers … I didn’t like ’em. Bunch of...”
– From Tim Murphy’s NY Magazine Interview
"110 Minutes With James Rosenquist"
New York Magazine journalist Tim Murphy recently interviewed artist James Rosenquist, inquiring about the artist’s memoir Painting Below Zero: Notes on a Life in Art. Rosenquist talks to Murphy about his upbringing in North Dakota during the Great Depression, memorable places and events that occurred in NYC, and his thoughts on the New York City of today (among other things).
Rosenquist...
The World of James Rosenquist: Take a look at his... →
December 2009
8 posts
Read about Dougherty's "Rotten" Comic Book →
“My first memory is drawing He-Man with my mom, who is a painter. Beyond that,...”
– Dan Dougherty, Cartoonist, (said during a recent interview about himself and his work)
If you're in Miami this week, you're probably busy... →
“I didn’t want to be ‘the Argentinian artist who makes maps’ … Maps are...”
– The artist talks about his first major US survey in over a decade (on view through January 17th at the Miami Art Museum).
Read more by clicking here.
November 2009
1 post
6 tags
Frank Gehry
Famed architect Frank Gehry, notorious for his ostentatious style, has created elaborate - and sometimes overwhelming - edifices all over the world (with many in NYC). The architect sits down with NY Magazine columnist Justin Davidson to discuss everything from notable disappointments throughout his career to the building of the Guggenheim’s ornate Bilbao...
October 2009
1 post
September 2009
3 posts
Georgia O'Keeffe
It seems like there is just so much talk of Georgia O’Keeffe these days… her spirit is just in the air. There was the Lifetime Original movie last week and the O‘Keeffe retrospective at the Whitney, so I felt like doing a little bit of my own research on the incredible woman. While doing so, I came across a really great little video with her - can you believe she was 92 years...
5 tags
Merce Cunningham
Although he wasn’t a “fine artist” in the sense that we typically use the term, and although he passed away nearly two months ago, I feel like I should dedicated some space on this blog to this incredible figure. I have so much respect for the man, the dancer, the choreographer - Merce Cunningham, so today I will post several interviews with the legend:
Listen to...
5 tags
Jerry Saltz
Okay, okay, so Jerry Saltz isn’t exactly an artist (unless you count his way with words a tittilating artform), but he is an extremely important figure in art criticism today. Mr. Saltz has been gathering even more attention these days with his Facebook profile, but I thought I’d post a 2008 interview between Saltz and Irving Sandler of the Brooklyn Rail.
(Portrait of Jerry...
August 2009
4 posts
6 tags
Kalup Linzy
Kalup Linzy seems to be one of the most honest and sincere artists working today. His performance/video work draws on his personal history to produce gender-bending soap operative narratives. In 2008, Nick Stillman interviewed Linzy for a BOMB Magazine article - excerpt below:
Nick Stillman This is a lamely conventional first question, but biographical details are pretty interesting in your...
5 tags
Matthew Barney
Matthew Barney - the sculptor, the filmmaker, the conceptual artist - is as much of an enigma as he is visionary. Barney is notorious for his dislike of talking about his work. So it goes without saying that interviews are not his favorite thing, either. I have pieced together a random sampling of excerpts from articles and videos, and I must say, he articulates himself quite well.
Brandon...
6 tags
Carrie Mae Weems
I was just looking at BOMB’s website, aptly named BOMBSITE and came across an interview between two photographers - Carrie Mae Weems and Dawoud Bey, in which they discuss Weems’ work. In case you’re not familiar with BOMB, it’s a magazine that was started in 1981, covers art, literature, music, film, theatre, etc. and is dedicated to the conversation that occurs between...
Lisa Yuskavage
Below is an excerpt of an interview between Jayson Whitehead and the painter Lisa Yuskavage I found on Gladfly Online. Among other things, they discuss the “male gaze”, her softly-hued nude paintings, feminism, and audience…
JW: You’ve said in other interviews that you paint from the “male gaze,” “painting paintings that take the point of view of a...
July 2009
5 posts
5 tags
Robert Smithson
The great artist Robert Smithson, who died in 1973, was most known for his land art, including the Spiral Jetty. His writings have become an important part of his oeuvre, particularly in describing sites versus non-sites. I found a series of long interviews between Smithson and Paul Cummings from 1972 - an excerpt is below:
CUMMINGS: I’m curious also, about your interest in religion and...
5 tags
Live Forever - Elizabeth Peyton
This past year Elizabeth Peyton had a large survey of her work at the New Museum in New York. Her beautiful portraits were stunning in such a large number, and I just came across an audio interview with Peyton with a curator from the museum . Among other things, they talk about the accessibility of the work - “Human beings know what human beings are and are infinitely fascinated in...
4 tags
Shepard Fairey
The street artist Shepard Fairey was made very famous almost overnight when his image of Obama became the “Hope” picture that everyone associates with the historic campaign. Currently locked in a battle with the Associated Press, who claims they should receive money because their image influenced the poster, Fairey has become known for questioning authority.
However, many have...
Kara Walker at Art:21
The PBS series entilted Art:21 (Art in the 21st Century) has been a long-time favorite of mine. Each episode features one of the great artists of our time, and follows them to their studio, installations, or exhibitions, all the while interviewing and questioning them. The Art:21 website features snippets of these interviews and videos - or you can order full seasons from PBS or get them from...