Art Grind Podcast

In this episode of the Art Grind Podcast host Dina Brodsky and Marshall Jones interviews Leo Mancini-Hresko. Leo shares his journey as a passionate juvenile graffiti artist to becoming a serious artist after serendipitously discovering the Florence Academy on his trip to Italy. Leo's scholarly enthusiasm for the traditional painting practices will inspire you. Only here, on the Art Grind Podcast.

Leo's website: Link
Leo's IG: https: Link

Dina's IG course: Link  

Support the show

On this episode of the Art Grind Podcast host Dina Brodsky and Marshall Jones team up with Tony Curanaj and Edward Minoff from the Suggested Donation podcast to create one podcast to rule them all. This is a meta conversation about what it takes to run an art podcast and the reasons the hosts keep doing it despite the many challenges that comes with it. Only here. Only on the Art Grind and Suggested Donation podcast.

Suggested Donation: Link
Tony Curanaj's website: Link
Edward Minoff's website: Link

Please support April Coppini's kid here: Link

Support the show

On this episode of the Art Grind Podcast, host Dina Brodsky and Marshall Jones interviews Daniela Astone who’s continuously searching for new meanings through her art which results in beautiful perceptive paintings. She is one of the few guests Marshall agreed with on everything and who articulated his thoughts better than he ever could on the beauty of art education, the limitations and how art comes from the inside. Only here. Only on the Art Grind Podcast.

Daniela website: Link
Daniela's IG: Link

Support the show

On this episode of the Art Grind Podcast, host Dina Brodsky and Marshall Jones interviews Mae Read who just recently decided to become a painter and leave her safe but unsatisfying tech career. She shares her rocky journey and questions her role as an active participant in life or as a lucky passenger enjoying what fate has in store for her. Only here. Only on the Art Grind Podcast.

Mae’s website: Link
Mae’s IG: Link 

Support the show

On this episode of the Art Grind, hosts Dina Brodsky and Marshall Jones speak with Alexandra Grant about the divine in art making and the profane necessities of the art world. Alexandra describes the importance of community and the ability to listen instead of only looking at art. Only here. Only on the Art Grind Podcast.

Alexandra's website: Link
Alexandra's IG: Link

Support the show

In this episode host Marshall Jones and Dina Brodsky interviews Walter Martin, a multi-award-winning songwriter and multi-instrumental musician. Discover Walter’s origin story, the journey of his career and the synchronous moments when the two worlds of music and art collide.  Only here. Only on the Art Grind Podcast.

Walter's website: Link
Walter's IG: Link
Featured music by Walter Martin titled Easter from his new album The Bear with permission from the artist.

Check out our host's Marshall Jones new video course here: Link
You can also discover amazing live art classes at Academyeverywhere.com

Support the show

The Art Grind Podacst is proud to welcome Christian Fagerlund.  On this episode, hosts Dina Brodsky and Marshall Jones delve into this artist's childhood development, the subject of "Freedom In Art", motivation and inspiration, and the importance of composition and design in painting. Only here.  Only on the Art Grind Podcast.

Christian's Website: Link
Christian's IG: Link

Support the show

In this episode of the Art Grind host Sofia Kayafas and Marshall Jones speak with Australian artist Peter Bonner and how his birth country has influenced his abstract expressionist art. Peter clarifies what makes a painting abstract and dives into the history of that art movement. Tune in and dive deeper into the world of abstraction. Only here. Only on the Art Grind Podcast.

*This episode was recorded in 2021

Peter’s website: Link
Peter’s IG: Link

Check out the episode’s website to see the paintings mentioned in the podcast: Link

Support the show

On this episode hosts Dina Brodsky and Marshall Jones get to interview a legendary artist Audrey Flack who's work exists in art history books. She is an internationally acclaimed painter, sculptor and a pioneer of photorealsim. Discover Audrey's exciting origin story into the art world and her rise to fame as one of the few female artists who rebelled against the art trends and societal norms of the 1960s. Only here. Only on the Art Grind Podcast.

Audrey's Website: Link
Audrey's IG: Link

Dina Brodsky's Sketchbook Habit course: Link
Use code: artgrindpodcast to receive $50 off the recorded class. This limited time offer is valid till January 8th, 2023.

Support the show

Host Dina Brodsky, Marshall Jones and producer Tun Myaing answers the most popular listener questions about how to make it as an artist.  The hosts each answered it in their own distinct ways.  Enjoy and have a Happy New Year!

Dina's IG: Link
Marshall's IG: Link
Tun's IG: Link

Support the show

On this episode hosts Marshall Jones and Dina Brodsky had the opportunity to speak with Daniel Maidman, painter and writer, about his dedication to the craft, the influence of Instagram and what it takes to stay in the creative arts while surviving the world.  Only here.  Only on the Art Grind Podcast.

Daniel's Website: Link
Daniel's IG: Link

Level up your skills in art with Academyeverywhere.com  which offers live online, self-paced online and in person classes and workshops.

Support the show

On this episode of the Art Grind podcast, hosts Marshall Jones and Dina Brodsky have the opportunity to speak at length with artist, curator and writer Stephen Ellcock.  Tune in for their discussion about art in the modern era, the pitfalls of technology and what comes next for this accomplished artist. Only here, on the Art Grind.

Stephen's website: Link
Stephen's IG: Link

Editing by Eric Monroe

Support the show

On this episode of the Art Grind Podcast hosts Dina Brodsky and Marshall Jones meet with Graydon Parrish to discuss painting technique, experimentation, color and paint manufacturing as well as the pitfalls of social media in the art world, Parrish's favorite living artists and his role with Grackle Studio custom hand-mixed paint.  Only here.  Only on the Art Grind Podcast.

Graydon's website: Link
Graydon's IG: Link

Edited by Eric Monroe

Support the show

On this episode of the Art Grind Podcast, hosts Marshall Jones and Dina Brodsky hold court with legendary New York gallery owner Betty Cuningham who discusses her relationship with great artists from the latter half of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st as well as her development as an art enthusiast and ultimately one of the most highly respected curators in New York City. It's only here.  Only on the Art Grind Podcast.

Betty Cuningham gallery website: Link
Betting Cuningham gallery IG: Link

Edited by Eric Monroe

Support the show

The Art Grind continues as hosts Dina Brodsky and Marshall Jones welcome gallery owner, curator and art collector Louis Meisel.  In this episode, Meisel delves into the gallery business in New York City and his experience as the owner of one of the oldest and most successful galleries still in existence as well as anecdotes about 20th century painters and his unique outlook about the art world of today. Only here. Only on the Art Grind Podcast.

Louis Meisel gallery website: Link
Louis Meisel gallery IG: Link

Edited by Eric Monroe

Support the show

On this episode of the Art Grind, hosts Dina Brodsky and Marshall Jones are pleased to have Alphonso Dunn as their guest.  Tune in to hear about Alphonso's development as an artist through his younger years, his move to the United States, his time at the New York Academy of Art and the development of his technique, as well as the amazing story of the"Inktober" controversy which he discusses at length.  It's only here.  Only on the Art Grind Podcast.

Alphonso's website: Link
Alphonso's IG: Link

Edited by Eric Monroe

Support the show

On this episode of the Art Grind Podcast, Dina Brodsky and Marshall Jones are joined by fascinating artist Raoof Haghighi.  Based in England, Haghighi traces his roots from Iran, his upbringing and development as a self-taught painter and his life's journey through love, loss and the inspiration that fuels his art.  Listen here, only on the Art Grind Podcast.

Raoof's website: Link
Raoof's IG: Link

Edited by Eric Monroe

Support the show

Join New York based legend Burton Silverman as hosts Dina Brodsky and Marshall Jones take a journey through the artist's long and storied past, his approach to creating and his experience through the lens of a respected instructor, painter and illustrator.  Only here, only on the Art Grind Podcast.

Burton's website: Link

Edited by Eric Monroe

Support the show

The Art Grind hosts Marshall Jones and Sophia Kayafas explores Colin Chillag's path as an artist. Colin is known for mixing high and low brow cultures with hyperrealism and abstraction in his artwork. Find the story here on the Art Grind podcast.

*This interview was recorded in the summer of 2021

Colin's website: Link
Colin's IG: Link

Support the show

On the most recent episode of the Art Grind Podcast hosts Marshall Jones and Dina Brodsky welcome Andrew Cadima.  Andrew is a composer who only recently began painting with no formal training and has proven to be a formidable artist, garnering attention and praise in just a short time.  Find the story here on the Art Grind.

Andrew's website: Link
Andrew's IG: Link

Edited by Eric Monroe

Support the show

On the latest episode of the ArtGrind, hosts Dina Brodsky and Marshall Jones spend an afternoon with Julyan Davis, painter and author.  Join Dina and Marshall as they discuss the importance of staying true to one's work, pricing and selling paintings, growing art scenes in burgeoning American cities and the question of whether art should be agony or joy.

Hear it only on the ArtGrind.

Julyan's webstie: Link
Julyan's IG: Link

Edited by Eric Monroe

Support the show

Special guest Tony Curanaj joins hosts Dina Brodsky and Marshall Jones for this insightful episode where the Art Grind dives into the purpose of art and a discussion about the different places art can take us, how it challenges us and the necessity of skill required to be a true artist in any time period.

Tony's website: Link
Tony's IG: Link
Tony's Podcast: Link

Edited by Eric Monroe

Support the show

On this episode of the Art Grind Podcast hosts Dina Brodsky and Marshall Jones welcome April Coppini to discuss the realities of being a painter while raising children as a single mother and the persistent dedication required to be an artist in today's world.

April's website: Link
April's IG: Link

Edited by Eric Monroe

Support the show

The Art Grind presents an in-depth discussion with British artist Justin Mortimer.  Hosts Dina Brodsky, Marshall Jones and Tun Myaing explore the process of presenting illusion and the effects of applying different methods in order to create space in abstract painting.  Join the Art Grind as we talk to Justin about his becoming a painter beginning at a young age and how he has worked to maintain that youthful approach to painting.

Justin's website: Link
Justin's IG: Link

Edited by Eric Monroe

Support the show

The Art Grind proudly presents a two-part discussion with artist and gallery owner Douglas Kacena.   Hosts Dina Brodsky and Marshall Jones take us through Kacena's beginnings, his development and education, and his journey into the art industry as a forward-thinking curator.

Doug's website: Link
Doug's gallery: Link

This interview was recorded last winter 2021 and edited by Eric Monroe.

Support the Art Grind by purchasing the new video course by producer Tun Myaing: Link

Support the show

The ARTGRIND continues as Justin Hopkins joins hosts Marshall Jones and Dina Brodsky.  In this episode, Hopkins discusses the importance of intent in one's art, regardless of medium, while delving into the different facets of his career which spans across painting, illustration, design, architecture, music and ultimately film production.

Justin's website: Link
Artist Decoded: Link

Support the Art Grind by purchasing the new video course by producer Tun Myaing: Link

This episode was edited by Eric Monroe

Support the show

J.P. Roy joins hosts Marshall Jones and Dina Brodsky in this exclusive interview. In this episode the Art Grind delves into Roy's beginnings in Los Angeles, his development as an artist and a person, and his insights on the meaning of art both practically and philosophically. Tune in to hear Roy's perspective on the role of art in our lives and the vocabulary we use to explain ourselves through the art narrative in today's world.

JP on Artsy: Link
JP's IG: Link

*Check out the website to see the images mentioned in the interview about JP’s process.

Artist Catalyst: NFT Bootcamp

Books:
The Conspiracy Against the Human Race by Thomas Ligotti

Blindsight by Peter Watts
JP didn’t mention this book but this is a great pairing to the non fiction book on the topic of human consciousness being our demise.

Area X: The Southern Reach Trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer

Support the show

The Art Grind Podcast presents a special two part discussion with artist Noah Buchanan.  Join us as we meet with Noah and cover a wide range of technique and application specifics, style and form and the background of this accomplished painter.  This episode is a wealth of information and insight. Hear it here, only on the Art Grind!

Noah's website: Link
Noah's IG: Link

Support the Art Grind by purchasing the new video course by producer Tun Myaing: Link

This episode was edited by Eric Monroe

Support the show

Join Marshall Jones and Dina Brodsky as they host artist Katie Whipple to
discuss her career, her beginnings in Indiana and the development of her unique
style of flower painting.  Only on the ART GRIND.

Katie's website: Link
Katie's IG: Link

Support the Art Grind by purchasing the new video course by producer Tun Myaing: Link

This episode is edited by Eric Monroe

Support the show

Join hosts Marshal Jones and Dina Brodsky as they delve into the origins of Israel Herschberg, his philosophy on painting, his early sources of inspiration and his purist approach to creating true art.

There was a lively argument between Dina and Israel and we're curious to find out who our audience agrees with. Give us a call at 929-267-4830, email or DM us and let us know what you think.

Israel's website: Link

Support the Art Grind by purchasing the new video course by producer Tun Myaing: Link

Support the show

Join hosts Marshall Jones and Dina Brodsky as they investigate the origins and methods of artist Lorraine Loots.  ArtGrind explores Loots' painting of miniatures, her working road trip "America for Ants" as well as her ongoing, 20 year long, 1000 painting project "The Lovers' Eyes".

Lorraine's website: Link
Lorraine's IG: Link

Support the Art Grind by purchasing the new video course by producer Tun Myaing: Link

Support the show

An interview with Nicolás Uribe, where he describes his journey through the art world, and the non-traditional path he’s taking in his career.

Nicolás' website: Link
Nicolás' IG: Link
Nicolás'  YouTube: Link

Support the show

In this episode Marshall and Sophia interviews the author of The Secret Lives of Colour, Kassia St. Clair who’s insightful and delightful to listen to. Kassia is a writer and cultural historian who creates compelling narrative about topics and subject matter we casually overlook. Prepare yourself for an exploration into the wild world of color and how it effects not only our preconceived notions but our feelings as well.

Kassia's website: kassiastclair.com

Kassia's books:
The Secret Lives of Colour: Link
The Golden Thread: How Fabric Changed History: Link
New book - The Race to the Future: Peking to Paris by Automobile in 1907: Link

Support the show

An interview with artist and entrepreneur Bryan Mark Taylor, in which he talks about his painting practice, the importance of persistence, and the inspiration behind his latest project, VisionXLive, one of the art world’s largest and most diverse virtual conferences.

Bryan's website: Bryanmarktaylor.com
Bryan's IG: @bryanmarktaylor

Vision X Live: Visionxlive.com
Global Art Conference July 16-18, 2021
Live! with 1,700+ artists

Strada Easel: Stradaeasel.com

Support the show

This week Marshall and Sophia speak to Anna Park about her imagery, her process, the pressures of being a young artist with early success, and how the pandemic has affected her. With Everything 2D  in the art world being seen through the lens of painting, it's hard to make a drawing that stands on its own. You show'em Anna! She's an incredibly prolific, focused, artist with nothing but time to draw- Add in the forced isolation of the pandemic and could it be a dream come true? Or could it be a one way ticket to madness!  Tune in and join us as we help Anna Park find her sanity with a great conversation about life and process!
*This interview was recorded February 21, 2021

Anna's website: https://www.annaparkart.com/
Anna's IG: https://www.instagram.com/annaparkart/

Anna has a drawing in a group show called "The Interior" at  Venus Over Manhattan
July 1 - 31, 2021
Address: 120 East 65th street, New York, NY, 10065

Announcement:
Tun Myaing (Producer of Art Grind Podcast) and past guest Rafael Hoekstra, PhD are teaming up to create a personalized program to create amazing courses for artists. If you ever wanted to create an amazing online course but don't know where to start, Tun and Rafael will help you create it from ideation to creation in 4 simple steps!

Go to Artist Catalyst to sign up a free 15 min consultation: http://artistcatalyst.com/cc/
Join us July 18th at Vision X Live to see how to market your video course: Link

Support the show

In this episode, Marshall and Dina interview Miriam Escofet in the middle of the second London lockdown. She shares her memories of a childhood in a family of artists, the journey that took her to painting, and dives in-depth into the experiences that turned her into the artist she is at present.

Miriam’s website: https://miriamescofet.com/
Miriam’s IG:  @miriam.escofet.artist

Call to action: Save a baby by submitting an artwork of a bird.

Here’s how you can participate:  
1. Create your own bird artwork in any medium and post it on IG⁠⠀
2. Tag #BirdsForSofiaNFT in the caption to include an image of your art in the NFT
3. Include these instructions so that more artists can join the movement! #novartis
*Check the episode website for more information

Support the show

This week Marshall and Sophia speak with writer and art critic Ken Johnson about a life full of looking at art. We covered a ton of interesting topics including the humor in art, the brain as the epic anticipator, consciousness, psychedelics, and of course writing art criticism for the New York Times. Stay tuned to the end for a little mini art critique reaction to some funny paintings we showed Ken.

Ken's IG: Link
Ken's Tumblr: Link
Ken's Ball & Cone paperback: Link

Ken's interview as an art critic: Link
Recent New York Times articles by Ken: Link

* NOTE: Since the images are not showing up on Apple Podcast , I've added them to the Episode Web Page: Link  Go there to check out the images mentioned near the end.

Support the show

In this episode, we sit down with the incredible portrait painter Sean Cheetham to talk about his time in the art work, the beginnings of his creative career, as well as knife making, calligraphy, and some of his other interests

Sean's website: Link
Sean's IG: Link

Support the show

This week, Sophia and Dina speak to Chicago based artist, educator, and musician Tim Lowly. He works in egg tempera and acrylic paint. We spoke to him about growing up in South Korea,  his daughter Temma, his artistic ideologies, spirituality, and even got some great art career advice. Let's reflect on something meaningful with Tim Lowly!

​Tim's Art: Link  

​Tim's Music: Link

​Tim's Current Exhibition with Hofheimer: Link

​Tim's Gallery: Link

Support the show

In this episode producer Tun Myaing and host Dina Brodsky interview Rafael Hoekstra about what NFT art is all about. Rafael holds a PHD in nanotechnology, and was an early convert to the world of cryptocurrency. He's hitchhiked around the world, writing poems and singing songs to strangers on many continents.

Rafael created a meta NFT of this episode. If you're interested you can bid for it here 
He also made a helpful guide to NFT art for artists you can download here

We did not get a chance to cover where your images go when you mint your digital art into a NFT in detail but my friend sent me an article after the interview which you might find insightful, if not alarming. You can find the article here

SHOW NOTES:
00:40 - How Dina met Rafael
01:17 - Romcom
01:40 - Udaipur
06:50 - Rafael’s plunge into crypto currencies
08:50 - Digital currencies - WTF are they?
10:40 - What does all of this have to do with Art?
11:40 - Who created Ethereum
13:50 - CryptoKitties
14:24 - CryptoPunks (*Producer Tun mentioned that they were brothers but that's incorrect.)
17:50 - What is NFT art?
19:20 - NFT art and copyright laws. Are there any?
21:00 - Beeple and his $69 million NFT art sale
22:20 - Tulip Mania bubble
25:00 - American Gods - Technical Boy
26:20 - Beeple’s Everydays: the First 5000 Days
32:00 - Can you capture a memory as a Virtual Reality?
33:20 - How to Make and Sell an NFT
36:20 - Metakovan - who’s behind Beeple’s $69 million NFT art?
40:00 - What is DiFi
41:10 - What is Yield Farming
44:30 - How much does it cost to Mint a NFT?
45:30 - Market places for NFT art
48:10 - Bitcoin’s Impact on the Environment
49:20 - Gas costs
52:20 - Rafael will guide you through the process

Support the show

 In this episode Alyssa Monks talks about the twin acts of creation and destruction, maintaining her curiosity, and what keeps her studio practice vital and alive.

Alyssa’s work is represented by Forum Gallery in New York City. She lives and paints in Brooklyn. Her latest solo exhibition “Breaking Point” was in October of 2018 at Forum Gallery. Her next solo show is slated for Fall of 2021.

Alyssa Monk's Website
Alyssa Monk's Instagram

Support the show

In this episode, Zoey Frank discusses  her atelier training, and the ground it laid for a studio practice of incessant searching and experimentation as she evolves as an artist. She’ll talk about the day to day experience of her life as an artist, her painting workshop, and her recent foray into quilting.

Zoey Frank's Website
Zoey Frank's Instagram

Support the show

Marshall and Sophia interview a 26 year old Michigan based artist who has built a thriving career for herself using Instagram. She is a talented painter who paints beautiful, dream-like imagery. Her symbols are potent and alive and they take us to the edge of safety and fear. We talk about her journey with instagram, building up a body of work, her creative process and materials, as well as realizing that you don't always need to have the perfect answers when it comes to your work.

Rae's IG: rae_klein
Rae's website:   https://www.raeklein.com

Current Exhibitions
@guts_gallery When Shit Hits The Fan Again 2/4/21
@archenemyarts This Is How It Is Now 2/5/21

Support the show

In this episode, Colleen Barry talks about the forces that shaped her as an artist. She talks about her artistic journey - from taking classes at the Art Students League at thirteen, to an intense mentorship in her twenties, to making a living as a professional artist and drawing director at the Grand Central Atelier at present. She’ll discuss acquiring skills in order to experiment them, the relationship between art and motherhood, and the feeling of being along for the ride in her own career.

Colleen's website - https://www.colleenbarryart.com/
Colleen's IG - https://www.instagram.com/colleenbarryart/

Support the show

In this episode, Marshall and Dina talk to Sam Adoquei about his incredible journey from his childhood in Ghana, to the beginnings of his art career in Italy and then to New York, where he is known as an artist, educator, and mentor to artists and musicians.  Sam reveals some of the philosophy  behind his painting practice, and tells the story of the unique experiences that shaped him as an artist

Sam’s Website - http://www.samadoquei.com/

Sam's class - http://www.samadoquei.com/teaching-programs/

Sam’s books - http://www.samadoquei.com/books/

Support the show

In this week's episode, hosts Marshall Jones and Sophia Kayafas plunge into a lively and inspiring conversation with artist Hilary Harkness via zoom. Hilary brings a playful and candid energy to the conversation. Her work allows curiosity, intuition, and pleasure to be the driving forces in the studio so that anything can happen in the process. Join us as we step into her world of intensely analytical curiosity full of possibilities, great storytelling, and thought provoking imagery.

P.P.O.W: https://www.ppowgallery.com/artist/hilary-harkness/work
Hilary's website: https://www.hilaryharkness.com/

Support the show

Hosts Dina Brodsky and Marshall Jones interview the  amazing artist, teacher and mother Shana Levenson. Shana left a scripted life and took a leap of faith to become a full time artist. Find out how she overcame her challenges and created a sustainable art career for herself. This interview was recorded in September 2018.

Shana's website: https://www.shanalevenson.com/
Shana's IG: https://www.instagram.com/slevenson/

Use code Artefexpod for an exclusive 15% discount on your first order.
Artefex website: https://www.artefex.biz/

Support the show

This episode was one of the last in-person interviews recorded before the pandemic hit. Hosts Marshall Jones and Sophia Kayafas enjoy a rich dialogue with Sarah Schmerler who is a journalist, art critic for the New York Times and art educator for 26 years. Schmerler is a gifted story teller whose creative insights offered us an intimate slice of conversation that was not only entertaining but also educational. Have a pen and paper ready for an interview packed full of ideas on teaching and understanding the art process from an educator’s perspective. 

Show Notes

00.00            Intro

1:00               I’m a Spice

1:30              Teaching as Unveiling

​10:00            Writing a Thesis- The Work, The Process the Practice​​

12:00            Teaching -The Sacred Partnership

25:25            What makes a Great Painting?

26:00            "The Crucifixion and Last Judgment diptych," Jan van Eyck 

35:00            Dad Ruined Star Wars

37:00            The Story Worth Telling

40:00            It’s in the Attempt

47:00            The Maker, The Audience, The Review

55:00            Why is Context Important?  

1:03:00        The Process- Writing about Art

1:05:00        Parameters, Working with Restraint

1:09:00        Alchemy, We Write into Meaning!

1:10:00        Break, Donation Requests! - add link to Website 

1:11:00        Family of Teachers

1:15:00        Professor Schmerler 

1:21:00        The Art of Teaching 

1:25:00        Drawing Major at Pratt

1:29:00        What not to do

1:35:00       Reading is invisible, Writing is Invisible

1:37:00       Pictorial Marker-  The Word and its Meaning

1:48:00       Drawing of Ben 

1:53:00       Peopletechture           

1:57:00       Perception, Understanding, Discernment 

1:58:00       Measuring the Impact of the Painting

2:00:00       Wrapping Up,  A  Good Deep Question Requires Time

2:10:00      Just go along with it! The Critic’s All-Star Game

2:11:00      “It’s Good Kitch," Thomas Kinkade

2:13:00      “An Ad for Excedrin," Max Ginsburg

2:15:00      “Queezy Neoclassicism," Odd Nerdrum

2:17:00      “Two Pears Talking," Euan Uglow

2:19:00      “I am not sure how pleasurable/violating this is," Helen Beard 

2:21:00     “Anger and Contention," Clyfford Still

2:23:00     “Is She a Chair too? ," Philip Pearlstein

2:27:00     “Tweeny Tombescence," Lisa Yuskavage

2:30:00     Summary & Signing off

Sarah Schmerler's website
https://theschmerler.tumblr.com/</

Support the show

Hosts Dina Brodsky and Marshall Jones interview the founders of Natural Pigments, George O’Hanlon and Tatiana Zaytseva. This fascinating two-hour-long talk demystifies not only how paint works, but also painting’s best practices from two people who spend their lives researching and producing it, so grab your sketchbooks and get ready to take notes as you listen.

Summary:
In this episode of Art Grind, hosts Dina Brodsky and Marshall Jones interview the founders of Natural Pigments, George O’Hanlon and Tatiana Zaytseva, based in Northern California. Anyone who paints, or, at the very least, has labored over the supply lists for painting classes, should tune in to this must-listen episode in which O’Hanlon and Zaytseva speak about the research, history, and production behind their company’s paint. Pigments, art conservation, issues with mediums and glazing, losing and recreating ancient paints, watercolor, and more pack this fascinating, hyper-educational episode, explaining not only how paint is made, but why it feels, acts, and ages the way it does.

Learn more about Natural Pigments by visiting their website: https://www.naturalpigments.com/
Or by following Natural Pigments on Instagram: @natural.pigments

Natural Pigments’ next Painting Best Practices course in January 2021:
https://paintingbestpractices.com/courses/webinar-painting-best-practices-live/

Learn more about Painting Best Practices by visiting their website: https://paintingbestpractices.com/

Or by following Painting Best Practices on Instagram: @paintingbestpractices

Check out the Art Grind Podcast website for behind the scenes photos and art work by Natural Pigments' featured artists.

Give us a call on our Art Grind Podcast hotline and tell us what's on your mind!
929-267-4830

Support the show

We can all make an impact on the art world, but imagine living long enough to see that impact for yourself.  We were lucky enough to speak with 96 year old realist painting legend, Philip Pearlstein.  Pearlstein has been part of a significant moment in history, when America took the art world by storm in the 50s and 60s with Abstract Expressionism leading the way.

We contemporary artists are now so overly saturated with rapidly evolving and competing mass information, that it is hard to see what even matters these days, let alone think ourselves to be part of an “ art movement”.  First, the photograph, Disney, then Google, high speed internet, and now instagram have changed the way we make it, the way we view it and even the way we think about art.  We have become obsessed with what it means”  says Philip.”  But, painting, is a visual experience."  Join us, as Marshall and Sophia are re-contextualized in real time with Philip Pearlstein’s magnificent meanderings through the past.

Show Notes:

0:40 Intro

2:28: The beginning 

6:20: Drawing lessons in the army

9:44: Infantry causality replacements for the Battle of Monte Cassino  

16:30: Mercedes Matter’s Sunday drawing class  

19:50: Andy Warhol and 15 mins of fame

24:20: Will Burtin’s influence

34:20: Buck Minster Fuller drawings  

38:55: Teaching at Pratt Institute

42:50: Willem de Kooning’s secret career

46:40: Mondrian’s forces of the rectangles

1:01:00: The Alliance of Figurative Art   

1:19:15: Martha Mayer Erlebacher      

1:23:40: How do you know when a painting is finished?

1:28:27: Duplicating vision

1:31:42: The history of the art of the human race

1:34:18: What makes a great painting?

1:37:56: Advice for this generation of figurative painters

1:41:46: Advice on starting a new body of paintings

1:46:40: End credits

Philip Pearlstein’s website

Give us a call on our Art Grind Podcast hotline and tell us what's on your mind!
 929-267-4830

Support the show

In this episode of Art Grind, hosts Dina Brodsky, Marshall Jones, and producer Tun Myaing interview writer and entrepreneur Patrick McGinnis in New York City. Best known for coining the term “FOMO” (Fear Of Missing Out), McGinnis seems like an unusual guest: what could someone from the world of finance speak about on an art podcast? As an art collector, writer, and brother of a musician, it turns out that McGinnis has a lot to talk about. McGinnis not only shares pragmatic advice useful for any creative, but is a bold storyteller who respects art and culture. From travelling in South America to renegade drawing exhibitions to Harvard Business School, this episode proves, and McGinnis would insist, that there’s no room for FOMO in a creative life.

Show Notes 

0:33: Podcast introduction with post-quarantine update

10:39: What Patrick learned during Covid-19, inspired by Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

15:00: Podcast begins

15:53: How Patrick coined “FOMO” 

19:42: Patrick’s background

33:42: How Patrick almost got killed in Colombia 

55:30: Re-creating yourself to create your own system

1:01:00: Artist versus brand

1:10:10: The Drawing Room 

1:17:57: “Go sit in Washington Square Park”

1:21:30: The challenge of time

1:24:42: “FOBO:” Fear of a Better Option 

1:32:40: How Patrick views creative industries

1:35:22: Freelancing versus owning your art and Art Thinking by Amy Whitaker 

1:39:06: Mike McGinnis 

1:40:40: Indistractible: How to Control Your Attention & Choose Your Life by Nir Eyal

1:41:25: Nas Daily

1:51:30: Art’s role in Patrick’s life

1:57:02: End credits

Learn more about Patrick McGinnis by visiting his website: https://patrickmcginnis.com/

Follow Patrick on Instagram: @patrickjmcginnis
Follow Patrick on Twitter: @pjmcginnis

Listen to Patrick’s podcast, FOMO Sapiens, here: https://fomosapiens.com/ 

Support the show

In this episode of Art Grind, hosts Dina Brodsky, Marshall Jones and producer Tun Myaing reunite for the first time since March, and talk about art and life in quarantine.

It Calls Me by Hazmat Modine, courtesy of Wade Schuman

Give us a call on our Art Grind Podcast hotline and tell us what's on your mind!
929-267-4830

Support the show

In this episode of Art Grind, hosts Dina Brodsky, Marshall Jones, and Tun Myaing road trip to interview artists Alex Kanevsky and Hollis Heichemer in New Hampshire. With the faint sound of crickets setting the stage, Alex and Hollis speak about their different paths to becoming artists and how thought, experience, memory, and painting converge—usually as the same thing. Though Alex paints more representationally and views painting more as investigation, whereas Hollis paints more abstractly and views painting more as insight, they share their “curate[d] life” in agreement that “painting never ends.” Tune in not just for Art Grind’s first episode interviewing two artists simultaneously, but also for an episode which proves as frank as it is profound.

Show Notes:

1:15  A word from our sponsor: New York Academy of Art -  Peter Drake (Provost) & John Volk (Director of Continuing Studies) 

13:14: Show begins

16:20 : Hollis’ background

19:00: Alex’s background

35:20: How Alex & Hollis function as an artist couple

38:05: What motivates Hollis to paint

45:30: What motivates Alex to paint

52:30: Alex on artist statements

1:02:30: A typical day in the studio

1:09:00: How Hollis’ paintings become her own

1:10:50: How the outside world influences Alex & Hollis

1:16:05-1:16:15: Break

1:16:20: Alex on deconstruction in his work

1:24:50: Hollis on what makes a good painting

1:26:50: Hollis on J.M.W. Turner & Mark Rothko

1:31:10: Alex on models as studio company

1:35:45: Alex’s satisfaction with his work

1:36:34: Hollis’ satisfaction with her work

1:39:55: Hollis’ advice to young artists

1:43:10: Alex on William Carlos Williams

1:45:55: Alex & Hollis on the Charles DeMuth Museum

1:49:00: Dina on The Waking by Theodore Roethke

1:55:12: End credits


Learn more about Alex Kanevsky by visiting his Website or by following him on Instagram

Learn more about Hollis Heichemer by visiting her Website or by following her on Instagram


Alex Kanevsky’s Recent/Upcoming Exhibitions:

Scrambling for Grace,
The Dolby Chadwick Gallery
October 1st-31st, 2020

Hollis Heichemer’s Recent/Upcoming Exhibitions:

Happenstance, 
Hollis Taggart
 April 4th-May 4th, 2019

Lonely Man by Hazmat Modine, courtesy Wade Schuman

Give us a call on our Art Grind Podcast hotline and tell us what's on your mind!
929-267-4830

Support the show

What’s the difference between an artist, an engineer, an architect, and a contractor? For Nicolas Holiber, there isn’t one! Nicolas is a compelling sculptor and painter whose practice blurs the lines between the two using mediums such as acrylic paste, tar, oil paint, plaster, reclaimed wood, hardware, and even beeswax. He not only plays with the technicality of surface, but the idea of surface itself. His love for materiality and experimentation focuses on merging his tactile interests with content and narrative packed full of thought provoking ephemerality. Listen in, and let Nic's tranquil composure give you an idea of who “The Bird Guy” really is.

"Art is the only thing that makes me feel unstable; but it’s also the only thing that really makes me feel like I have a purpose; that gives me that sense of life.” -Nicolas Holiber

Show Notes:
1:30 - Artist to look out for: Matthew Monahan, Mark Rothko, Marisol Escobar, David Altmejd, Thomas Houseago, Huma Bhabha
16:23 - Painting is an artifice
20:55 - Nicolas’ work
24:30 - Birds on Broadway
29:27 - Difference between an artist, an architect and a contractor.
40:27 - Hooded Merganser
43:45 - Quality
51:49 - Double crested Cormorant
53:30 - New York City Audubon
58:50 - Alice Waters interview

1:04:06 - BREAK

1:05 - Nico Handmade Stretchers - Use the promo code GRIND to receive 10% off the entire order

1:06 - Buzzsprout Start your own podcast with Buzzsprout and get a $20 Amazon gift card after you sign up for a paid plan. Use this link

1:10:00 - Painting from a sculptor’s point of view
1:24:45 - Failing to win
1:28:29 - Henry Darger
1:32:50 - Paralegal to artist
1:51:44 - Huma Bhabha 
1:53:03 - Thomas Houseago
1:54:03 - Glitter and Doom exhibition

Bonus Questions
1:55:43 - Is Ultramarineblue cool or warm?
1:57:27 - What makes a great painting?
2:04:45 - Messages from our listeners

Nicola's Current/Upcoming shows:
“Keep for Old Memoirs” at Young Space. Curated by Kate Mothes (founder Young Space) and Celine Mo (VICTORI+MO Gallery).
21 May - 7 June, 2020

“Drawn Together” at Unit London. 4 June - 12 July, 2020

Support the show

In this Episode of Art Grind, Marshall, Sophia, and Dina join forces to interview an exceptional watercolorist, Frederick Brosen. Fredrick grew up in 1960’s New York, and found his home and identity in the city through its spaces, architecture, and culture. We talk about the ever changing art world, technique, and the studio as a sanctuary where an artist can maintain their integrity and authenticity. We also talk about the idea of mastery. Whatever your medium, style, or interest; mastery seems to be something that is earned through hard work, and always demands respect if not affection. Join us and stay inspired!

Show notes:

6:45 - Street kid
9:55 - Rijks Museum trip
14:50 - Smart Realist
17:07 - Smoking with Jimmy Hendrix
18:00 - Matisse’s model
22:02 - G.I. Bill
24:29 - Great Masters of watercolor
25:50 - BREAK
29:42 - Vermeer’s View of Delft 
32:27 - Great Art now - Antonio Lopez 
33:00 - Great Art now - Israel Hershberg
35:00 - Great Art now - Zoey Frank
43:55 - EFB School of painting
52:35 - Walton Ford Show
56:14 - Fredrick's opening at Hirschl & Adler  
1:00:30 - Draftsmanship 

Support the show

In this episode, Marshall and Sophia speak with Seattle based painter Aleah Chapin. Aleah’s ability to paint so candidly about the natural and intimate relationships she witnesses in her life is profoundly multidimensional. She is an incredible technical flesh whiz with a contemporary edge that gives her portraits and figures of women a sense of vivid presence and beauty. Aleah was extremely generous and open with us about her life, process, technique, and her experiences in the art world. Listen in as we speak with her about a creative journey toward letting go and trusting her own intuition.

Born in 1986, Aleah Chapin grew up on an island north of Seattle, Washington. She received her BFA from Cornish College of the Arts in 2009 and her MFA from the New York Academy of Art in 2012. Aleah has attended residencies at the Leipzig International Art Programme in Germany and the MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire. Recent exhibitions have included the 2016 Invitational Exhibition of Visual Arts, American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York; The Ingram Collection: Bodies, Woking, UK and a solo show, Within Wilds at Flowers Gallery, London. She has been a recipient of the Willard L. Metcalf Award in Art from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Posey Foundation Scholarship, the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant, a Postgraduate Fellowship from the New York Academy of Art, and won the BP Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery in London in 2012.

Show notes:

2:15 - BP Portrait award
2:45 - What Happens at the Edge
6:15 - We Held the Mountains on Our Shoulders
11:30 - The (Un)fair Art Show
17:22 - The Overstory
38:07 - And it Caught Fire
40:07 - A Painted Life
43:03 - Scale
58:11 - BREAK
59:00 - Baba Yaga
1:33:00 - Remains
1:39:00 - Natropath
1:42:00 - Gus Storm
1:45:35 - Our Shouts Were Drowned In The Stars

Support the show

You paint an eye. Is this the eye that everybody sees? Or is this the eye that only you see, and to you it means eye. All painters hope to become visual listeners with intuitive clarity.  Benisadr has a special ability to listen to his paintings in a way that not many people can. Synesthesia is a neurological ability to process data in the form of several senses at once. When Ali made the decision to make work based on sounds he heard in color, he found a sort of freedom in meshing overwhelming sensations of rhythm, energy, time, and tones into a meditative experience that felt more real than anything else he’d ever done.  Join in on this conversation as Marshall, Sophia, and Ali Benisadr talk about what it means to listen to an image and trust your inner knowledge as process no matter where it takes you.

Show notes:

07:23 - Gustave Courbet painting - The Painter's Studio
17:50 - Garden of Earthly Delights
24:50 - Rumi
39:01 - 8 years war
44:54 - Barry McGee 
55:13 - Synesthesia
56:59 - Kandinsky's book
1:01:08 -The last judgement
1:01:50 - Bosch & Banisadr

Support the show

Humanist, Feminist, Hedonist, Painter!  Anastasiya Tarasenko asks the hard brazen questions. Her thickly painted oil on copper paintings are unique and provocative. She employs a personalized and undeniable symbolic imagery that shares a simultaneously dark and humorous, specific yet universal, reduced yet refined commentary on existence. 

Her fascinating vacillation between the macro and micro world views allows her to both appreciate and reconcile the ultimate dichotomy- That to exist- Is to live in contradiction with ones self. 

Listen to this candid conversation as Marshall and Sophia and Anastasiya delve into all of the juicy stuff- sex, religion, morality, capitalism, and of course art!

Check out her solo show in Boston right now until the end of February 29, 2020 at Steven Zevitas Gallery

Anastasiya Tarasenko website: Atarasenko.com


Show Notes:
Intro: 01:20
Jenny Saville: 16:16
Dicks in paintings: 25:50
Karl Marx: 39:40
Break: 44:27
Objectum Sexuality Documentary: 46:49
Bret Easton Ellis - White :  54:06
Everyday Feminism: 56:21
Is this created by a woman?: 1:08:52
Ben's notes: 1:08:52
What makes a good painting?: 1:18:18
Copper surface: 1:19:54
Problems never really end: 1:31:16

Support the show

Bonus episode of interviews from gallery openings in Chelsea.

Shout out to Fredrik Björeman the developer of Podcast Chapters who's helping me bring you images with each chapter on the podcast so you can see the artwork that's discussed in the episode with links.

Episode notes:
Noho M55 Gallery "Made in Japan 2020" Curated by Arisa Itami Feb 4-15, 2020
Balla Kouyaté
Davidson Gallery "Under a Concrete Sky" by Purvis Young. Feb 6 - Mar 21 2020
Laurence Miller Gallery "Body Of Evidence" Feb 6 - Mar 21 2020
Onishi Gallery "Kaede Five Winds" Feb 4 - 11 2020
David Krut Projects "SEED" by Judi Harvest - Feb 6 - Mar 20, 2020
Judi Harvest
First Street Gallery "Semantic Net" by Kyung Tae Kim Feb 6 -Feb 22, 2020
Fergus McCaffrey Gallery "Mercer Street" Feb 6 - Apr 25, 2020
Shigeko Kubota "Duchampiana: Bicycle Wheel One, Two, and Three, 1983"
The Phenomenal Rug (not actual title) by Marcia Hafif
Greene Naftali Gallery "The Fairy Godmother" by Mathieu Malouf "Feb 6 - Mar 7, 2020
Mark Miller Gallery "Tell Them Stories" curated by Marshall Jones and Tun Myaing 

Support the show

This is a new edition to the regular program: I finally got a chance to go out by myself to the openings in Chelsea and interview random gallery attendees. Galleries visited: Sikkema Jenkins & Co and Lehmann Maupin.

*Go here for the images that we mention in the podcast.

Support the show

The powerful Mario Robinson talks about his background and how he pursued his dream of becoming an artist after leaving the military. He speaks on how life presents obstacles that inform your work–everything from the death of a loved one or a divorce, to the color of your skin, and harnessing that hardship and adversity to create something beautiful. Mario is a beautiful person painting beautiful people and an incredible storyteller.

Support the show

This week, hosts Sophia and Marshall speak with a charismatic whirlwind of a painter- Kyle Staver. What does it mean to listen to a painting?  How do you know when a painting is full?  What does it really mean when you get to make up all of the rules? When is a composition really working? Kyle embodies the courage it takes to answer those questions with fluid clarity and swirling animated energy as she takes us through her process. She is a storyteller with her fingers on the pulse of the art spirit and she’s funny as hell. -This episode will have you working in your studio with a lightness in your heart you forgot was there.

Support the show

On this episode of the Art Grind, our hosts Marshall and Sophia talk with Reisha Perlmutter. Reisha talks about beauty as a point of connection, and how her bond with nature from an early age has affected her work later in life. The group also discusses the personal value of being an artist and how pursuing a career as an artist can radically change your view of your surroundings. 

Support the show

We wrap up this amazing year with Tim Okamura. He talks about an outsider experience growing up with a mishmash of cultures in Canada before moving to New York twenty years ago. Tim inspired us with his brave dedication to stay true to himself as he cuts his own path through the trees.

Support the show

On this episode of The Art Grind Podcast our hosts Josh, Marshall, and Sophia speak with illustrator Gabriela Handal. Gabriela explains the psychological battlegrounds that an artist enters into when approaching a self-portrait and the clarity and power that comes with taking imagery from the mind and bringing it into the world in the form of a tangible object. 

Support the show

On this episode of The Art Grind our hosts Marshall and Sophia sit with painter Bernardo Siciliano in his studio in Dumbo. They talk about his work, how he went from studying art history to becoming a self-taught painter, and how he ended up in New York after growing up in Rome. Bernardo also breaks down his view of art history and how coming to terms with paintings from the past affects his work in the present.

Support the show

On this episode of the Art Grind, our hosts Marshall, Dina, Josh, and Tun speak with a leading figure in the contemporary revival of classical realism Jacob Collins. Jacob breaks down his early inspirations and his struggles early on with the kind of work he makes in an art world full of postmodernists. He also speaks on the value of art and the role that it has played in politics for centuries. 

Support the show

Our hosts Marshall, Dina, and Tun go back to art history class in this conversation with the wealth of knowledge that is Peter Trippi. Peter is the Editor-in-Cheif of the Fine Art Connoisseur magazine and he speaks on his time spent as director of the Dahesh Museum of Art, how artists are chosen to be featured in the magazine, and what form he believes the art market will take in the future.

At the time of recording, Peter talks about the Figurative Art Convention and Expo from 2018, but if it's something that piqued your interest, they are having another one this year in Williamsburg Virginia. You can find all of the dates and details about it on their website here: https://figurativeartconvention.com/

Support the show

Our hosts Marshall, Dina, and Tun speak with artist Miles Yoshida about his sculptures and incredibly intricate drawings in this interview. Miles talks about growing up in Long Beach and what brought him to the city as well as financial security, or rather, the lack of financial security in pursuing a career in art-making. Miles also breaks down his technique when approaching a drawing and the importance of alternating lines from thick to thin. 

Recorded at the Art Student's League of New York in September 2018
Edited by Lucas Fauble

Support the show

Esteban Ocampo speaks on capturing the point of view from his mind's eye and putting it to canvas on this week's episode of The Art Grind. Relying more so on imagination and memory rather than only reference, our host's Marshall and Sophia pick Esteban's brain about his work sparking joy in its viewers, his process in the studio, and his culture shock from growing up in Colombia and moving to New York.

Edited by Lucas Fauble

Support the show

In the latest Art Grind interview, our hosts speak with Wade Schuman about his obsessions as a child with animals, music, literature, all forms of art, and how the radical shift of the internet age has changed the value of these previous obsessions. He also speaks on his experience of starting his band Hazmat Modine and the harmonies between painting and composing music. 

Support the show

On this episode of the Art Grind our hosts Marshall, Dina, and Josh speak with Artist Advisor Marina Granger. Ever since visiting the MoMA piqued her interest at a young age, Marina has been fascinated with the inner-workings of the art world. After studying art history and working for many different galleries in the city, Marina has found her niche with The Artist Advisory. Whether you're an artist fresh out of school or an already established artist that needs help in redefining a sense of direction, this is a conversation you won't want to miss. 

Support the show

In this two-part whiskey-fueled interview with gallerist and creative renaissance man Jonathan Levine, our hosts Marshall, Dina, and Josh talk about how Jonathan spent his more formative years in the New Jersey punk scene and how he went on to grow a business out of that DIY aesthetic. In the second half of the conversation, the group gets into a heated discussion about the relationship between artist and gallerist. 

Support the show

Hosts Marshall, Sophia, and Josh end up taking more notes than posing questions as they interview artist, activist, and animist Ben Morea. He speaks on art as an avenue for social change in New York with Black Mask in the 60's, how humanity has lost the idea of art as an essential survival tactic used to reconcile with the universe, and how the objectification and commercialization of art has divorced it from the essence of what it is meant to be.

Support the show

Alonsa Guevara shares the fascinating story of her arrival in this country, her artistic education, and her survival as a young artist in New York.

Alonsa is a Brooklyn based artist. She was born in Rancagua, Chile. Her paintings blur the lines between fantasy and reality while celebrating the connection between humankind and nature. A big part of her inspiration derives from her childhood spent living in the Ecuadorian rainforest with her family, growing up surrounded by tropical landscapes and a diverse wildlife.

*This interview was recorded in 10/8/2017

Support the show

Guno Park opens up about his childhood, his inspiration and the experiences that led him to pursue life as an artist.

Support the show

Liz Garvey, founder and director of Garvey Simon gallery talks to us about a childhood passion for origami that led to a successful career in the art world specializing in works of paper. She gives some invaluable advice to emerging artists, and reveals some details about the gallery submission process.

Support the show

In this episode of Art Grind, Heidi Elbers reveals her secrets to staying productive and inspired in her art practice while balancing it with a full time job.  This episode was recorded on October 2017.

Support the show

In this episode we go deep with Edward Minoff, a painter who has devoted years to creating magnificent seascapes.  We discuss his fascinating journey from making graffiti art in the Bronx, to working in animation, to becoming an academic painter. We delve into his process of understanding the anatomy of the wave based on observation and imagination. 

Support the show

In this episode of Art Grind we sit down with Kurt Kauper, one of the most important contemporary artists of this generation, to discuss his upbringing, his studio practice, and what keeps him up at night” 

Support the show

In this episode of Art Grind, we talk to Lauren Redding - artist, writer, and one of the founders of H&R Studio. We discuss silverpoint, luck, and surviving as young artists in the 21st century

Support the show

Wright Harvey, entrepreneur and founder of Sugarlift Gallery talks about truth, technology, and good gallery ethics. 

Support the show

In this episode of Art Grind, the brilliant Hannah Faith Yata opens up about her upbringing as a Jehovah’s witness, the inspiration behind her vibrant, surreal paintings, and the reason hundreds of chipmunks congregate in her backyard. We also have a new temporary host for this episode: Sophia Kayafas who is a brilliant painter and musician. This episode is put together by our new editor Lucas Fauble

Support the show

Our guest on this episode is Steve Shaheen, a well-known sculptor and stone carver. As painters, we had a lot of questions about the logistics involved in this particular strain of contemporary art-making: what happens when, during a process that is based on removal rather than addition or application, one makes a mistake? How does a sculptor store his works, which typically take up more 3-dimensional space than those of a painter? And how does carving massive blocks of marble that, if left unattended, could persist as they are for centuries to come, affect one's sense of permanence and legacy? Steve gracefully answers all of our novice questions about technique and logistics, weaving in humorous and instructive anecdotes about the hidden deformities of Michelangelo's sculptures and Rodin's incompetence with his own tools. We also get to hear the remarkable story of his leap of faith into a life as an artist at a vocational program in Italy as well as his efforts to erect a 9/11 memorial in his New Jersey hometown. Interview recorded, edited and written by Michael Gusev.

Support the show

This installment of the Art Grind podcast features a painter who has been a longtime personal role model for several of the podcast's hosts. Even as he is a creator of absolutely monolithic paintings, Vincent Desiderio, a veteran lecturer at the New York Academy of Art and elsewhere, also manages to be an incredible speaker on the subject of art; laying out an ideological landscape that encapsulates why artists (including Desiderio himself) do what they do and how they do it. Both as a painter and an art theorist, Desiderio seems to inhabit a sort of isthmus, a place which he himself describes to be a liminal boundary which, once you push past it, "you experience something that is absolutely unforeseeable...and that is a total engagement with the process of painting.” In this episode of Art Grind, Vincent Desiderio maneuvers flawlessly between mini-lectures on semiotics in painting, the advance of postmodernity and the elusive avant garde, and the constant reassessment and summoning of drive involved in making one's life as a painter. In recounting his own ongoing battle with this last topic, Vincent enchants us with stories from his own art career, encounters with art critics and other villains, as well as personal crises including the day that a crucial moment of his career coincided with a medical emergency. Resounding through much of these stories and lectures is the concept of 'terror' and of 'opting to thrive' in the face of it -- an undercurrent which is reminiscent of Antonin Artaud's famous claim that "No one has ever written, painted, sculpted, modeled, built, or invented except literally to get out of hell.” Written by Michael Gusev. Interview recorded and edited by Michael Gusev. 

Support the show

We sit down with gallery director Frank Bernarducci, and discuss his new gallery, the state of the art world, and partying with Andy Warhol. Frank has been a groundbreaking curator and art dealer in NYC since the mid-1980s. In this episode, he tells us how his curatorial career began, what draws him to a work of art, and the do’s and don’t for emerging artists applying to his gallery.

Support the show

In the past, the taxidermic animals, bones, and other natural materials employed in much of Joseph Grazi's art work have put him at odds with various animal rights activists, casting him in the role of a sort of curmudgeon of this corner of the art world. Verily, the artist would claim, his often controversial selection of materials might draw out negative reactions in some; however, it is precisely this moral panic that Joseph Grazi seems to want to beget in his audience -- demanding the answers to questions such as: What is it that we value about human and animal life? Why the uproar about poaching, but not about human trafficking in the same parts of the world? How do we place the living, the dead, and the animal, in our collectively constructed mental landscape? This installment of Art Grind has Joseph expounding on his upbringing in South Brooklyn, his intellectual clashes with animal rights essentialists, and the precise location of the absolute best pizza in all of New York (and therefore the world).

Support the show

Having cut her teeth at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, Hawaii-based artist Alessandra Maria has continued to produce ornate works of pencil and gold leaf on paper stained with coffee or walnut ink. The works evoke a sense of timelessness - at once medieval and modern, blending a Byzantine iconography with an urge to create her own new icons. We got a chance to talk to Alessandra about her beginnings as an artist in New York, her new life in Maui, and the drive behind her work -- challenging traditional representations of the feminine, learning from sacred traditions, and always studying up on theory. Drawing from various lines of inspiration as the spatiality of snow, Islamic geometry, and walking ten miles to look at a Klimt, Alessandra takes us through her journey as an artist and a person, starting with her religious roots in Seattle, through being a broke Brooklyn art student, up to her search for a small scrap of purpose in bringing her mental iconography to life. Audio edited by Michael Gusev 

Support the show

What do you get when you cross images of sexual bondage with lush, botanical illustration and mythical/fairytale references of transformation? Give up? Well, artist Fay Ku has some answers for you, but first let’s take a look at where she’s coming from. Born in Taiwan, Ku came to the States at the young age of three. Ku studied Literature and the Visual Arts at Bennington College (1996) and earned an MS Art History and an MFA Studio Art from Pratt Institute (2006). Ku’s cleverly re-mastered and remixed fractured fairy tales have been the subject of twenty-one solo shows from Hong Kong to Hawaii and included in numerous group shows, most recently at Wave Hill’s Glyndor Gallery in Riverdale, The Bronx (Outcasts: Women in the Wilderness, 2017) alongside the works of Nancy Spero and at the cutting edge Lodge Gallery on Manhattan’s Lower East Side (Latent Content Analysis, 2017). But back to the bondage, it’s not what you think, or what we think you think, or what we think you think the artist thinks, Ku has her own reasons for what she does. Curious? Then you’ll have to tune in because we’re not telling, Ku is, and about so much more. All shall be revealed, or some of it, or some of all of it, or all of some of it. You get the picture. 

Support the show

The life of an artist is complex. You develop a skill, hone it and perfect it yet that is not the whole story. As John Wellington points out in our recent conversation, there are numerous artworks of the Madonnna and Child, endless versions on the same theme yet amongst all of these Bernini’s stands out. Is it simply skill? Or is it somehow a devotional fidelity to one’s own poetic vision? How does that same devotion translate when taken out of the context of religion? Is the ideation of beauty sullied by the representation of one’s own personal ideals? Verging on the obsessive (a necessary trait if one is to produce a body of work) Wellington’s totemic imaginary worlds have been the subject of solo and group exhibitions from New York City to Paris, France. They have been shown at the Centre Georges Pompidou and most recently at the now defunct but memorably dynamic Lodge Gallery on the Lower East Side of Manhattan (Temple Tomb Fortress Ruin, 2017). We explore his youth, growing up in NYC in the late 60’s and early 70’s 

Support the show

Dina Brodsky is conquering the art world bird by bird. A veteran cyclist, Brodsky has traveled the world on two wheels, keeping copious notes of her observations and experiences in her many notebooks, illustrated with her minute and carefully drafted pen and ink drawings and watercolor. These notations become food for fodder for her prolifically produced miniature landscape paintings and inform some of her larger pieces as well. Brodsky’s most recent exhibition The Secret Life of Trees at the Bernarducci Meisel Gallery (2016) brought together drawings of tree images sent to her from far and wide, each with their own story to tell. Brodsky talks to us about her own particular point of view on the art scene and recounts hilarious tales of her early artist vagabonding years. The list of characters could well populate a Fellini movie. Small in stature her will to forge on and champion the art she believes in is huge and her stories of failing forward are inspirational for any artist struggling in the daily art grind.

Support the show

And in this corner, we have the heavyweight fighter of paint slinging… Marc Dennis. Dennis is a champion in the realm of hyperrealistic painting, duking it out every day in the studio apply a rigorous work ethic that produces mind bending detail and realism that goes beyond representation into the superreal. His floral still life paintings are a vivid homage to the Dutch still life painters of the 17th century and speak to the abundance of our era. His appropriation of master painter’s works are both reverential and yet totally accessible to the common man through a jocular sense of humor. It’s pastiche and parody all rolled into one. Marc expounds on the powers of observation and his rough and tumble journey that led him to become the meticulous and highly successful artist he is today. 

Support the show

James Adelman brings us an enlightening revelation of his process, life, the universe and everything. Have a listen to Adelman as he unpacks his journey into meditation and gives us a view into his nocturnal perambulations. James is a graduate of the New York Academy of Art (2014) and also attended the Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2010. His paintings and drawings have been shown at the Lodge Gallery on the Lower East Side and Flowers Gallery in the Chelsea district (both located in Manhattan), as well as the Abend Gallery in Denver, Colorado. Adelman has participated in a number of artist residencies, including the Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild (funded by the Pollack-Krasner Foundation) and shares his views on the benefits of getting away from it all. You can travel with Adelman, virtually, just tune in, turn us on and get into the inner workings of this artist’s mind. * (This was our first interview and it was recorded on September 19th 2017.)

Support the show

You’ve heard of the cat in the hat? Well, this man has no less tricks up his sleeve, not to mention hats, both figurative and actual. Well, maybe just one actual hat that he wears but Peter Drake is one artist that is definitely not standing still. In fact, he’s got so much going on that we were prompted to ask him if he had clones. With over 26 solo shows, including his most recent with Linda Warren Projects in Chicago Re-picture (November 11th, 2017 – January 13th, 2018), curatorial projects such as Piss and Vinegar: Two Generations of Provocateurs, Beautiful Beast, a contemporary representational sculpture exhibition, The Big Picture, and Now and Then: Drawings from the 19th Century to the Present, in partnership with the Dahesh Museum of Art, a public art commission sponsored by the MTA (Waiting for Toydot, 2015)—oh and did we mention that he is Dean of Academic Affairs for the New York Academy of Art? Drake discusses his relationship with his gallery, Linda Warren Projects, his friendships, and the thinking behind his uncanny, dystopian representations of popular culture of 70’s and the suburban myth. Listen to the end to hear the secret of his success. (This interview was recorded on 11/19/2017) Peter has a show with Bernarducci Gallery opening on March 1st so be sure to go check it out after listening to this interview. NEW PRECISIONISM PART 2 GROUP EXHIBITION Bernarducci Gallery *New Ground Flr Location 525 W. 25 March 1 - 31, 2018 Opens March 1 (6-8) http://www.bernarduccigallery.com 

Support the show

Long Island’s favorite daughter, Jennifer Gennari, has 74.7 k followers on Instagram. The numbers don’t lie. Gennari is a talented painter of lions and tigers and bears, oh my (ok, well not bears—yet.). Her beautifully empathetic portrayals of animals, furry and feathered, has indeed garnered her much popularity, but there is more to this book than what is on the (Instagram) cover. With a background in illustration from her studies at the Ringling College of Art and Design, Gennari combines this knowledge with classical painting skills learned at the Florence Academy of Art and a love of complex mythical symbolism to create iconic portrayals of women and men in powerfully imaginary narratives that inspire and intrigue. Gennari was named 21 under 31 Artists to Watch in 2013 by Southwest Art magazine, has shown at the RJD Gallery at their previous location in Sag Harbor and received a Certificate of Excellence from the Portrait Society of America in 2015. Gennari shares with us her creative rituals, spooky stories and the art heroes that have inspired her. *This was recorded on November 14th, 2017. 

Support the show

The art world is a complex animal. One of the many arms of the beast, includes the galleries in which artwork is seen, run by a unique blend of personalities who must balance business with creating an inspirational vision that, hopefully, serves both the artists and the artwork. Jason Voegele, artist and curator, has consistently been a passionate advocate for artists, art making and the artistic process. From his early days growing up in South East Asia to his role as founding member of Republic Worldwide and his current role as a part of a curatorial team that runs the Lodge Gallery* on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Voegele explains his philosophical and curatorial ethos as well as his own personal worldview. Voegele regaled us with tales of his auspicious birth, his time as a gymnast and musician as well as his own artistic endeavors. A sort of Renaissance man of the art world, Voegele is a delightful storyteller who left us hungry for more. To be continued! - Music: Low Tide by Silent Partner * Following our conversation, the Lodge Gallery announced it's closing, but where one door closes another one opens and we are excited to hear more from Jason soon about his future projects and manifestations as a curatorial entrepreneur extraordinaire.

Support the show