"Fine" Art Podcast

Cal Rice

This week's guest is Cal Rice, a surrealist painter and sculptor who uses autobiographical feelings and memories to construct his work. He works mostly in painting, but we also talk about his sculptural works. We cover a lot of ground, from how Cal started drawing to his current work as a response to the current state of the world. Cal is currently in Boston and you can find his work at https://www.calmcrice.com/

As mentioned many times during the intro/outro: this interview was live streamed to Twitch this week and there happened to be no "bridge to outside of the art world" but there was a Twitch Chat asking questions! If you'd like to see the podcast interviews live tune into Twitch.tv/fineartpodcast and be sure to follow our Instagram @fineartpod for information on upcoming interviews! 

 

Thanks for listening! Remember to subscribe for more episodes!

William Van Beckum

This week's guest is William Van Beckum, a photographic artist exploring the human relationship with natural landscapes, especially over social media. We talk about how Will got started and the camps he ran that inspired his art practice. We also talk about his current work at the Davis Museum which is still closed due to quarantine. Will's work has been shown at The Sparks Gallery, Dryden Gallery, Monmouth Museum, AREA Gallery, Contact Gallery..to name a few. 

 

Find Will's work (the works we talk about on this podcast) at williamvanbeckum.com

 

You can also follow him @williamvanbeckum on Instagram.

 

Thanks for listening! Never miss an episode, subscribe now! 

Justin Favela

This week's guest is Justin Favela. He's a multidisciplinary artist that creates large installation, sculptures and paintings using the medium of "piñata". For example, a recent work called "Libertad" at the Navy Yard in Philadelphia features an real 1984 Thunderbird decorated with weather-proof fabric to look like a piñata. (We talk about it on the episode!) Another recent work is Puente Nuevo! which is on display at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, is a large (corridor sized) installation of piñata paintings. He's been commissioned by the Denver Art Museum and the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. He's also the recipient of the 2018 Alan Turing LGTBIQ Award for International Artist. He also runs two podcasts! (linked below)

This is a really fun episode. Special thanks to Eric Schwartz for being the "Bridge to Outside of the Art World". Every week I ask a friend who is not a fine artist to join in the conversation and talk about some art! 

 

Music intro/outro by @_Groovebox_

 

Links: 

Justin's Website

@favyfav

Justin's Podcast "Latinos Who Lunch"

Justin's Podcast "Art People Podcast"

Danielle Abrams

This week's guest is performance artist and educator Danielle Abrams. Danielle often embodies a cast of characters in her work that represent cross-sections of races, ethnicities, genders, and cultures. This web (or quilt, or weave as eloquently stated in the episode introduction...) of personifications embody the complexity of her own identity. Danielle is the Professor of the Practice in performance art at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. She has performed across the country including the Detroit Institute of the Arts, ICA Boston, Jewish Museum, Bronx Museum of the Arts, University of Michigan Museum of Art, Queens Museum, University of Michigan Museum of Art. Along with her collaborator Mary Ellen Strom, Danielle was recently received a residency at the Boston Center for the Arts. 

Every week this podcast includes a guest who is not a fine artist. This week's "Bridge to Outside of the Fine Art World" is Eric Schwartz. He is a Chicago based comedian, board member of The Playground Theater, and host of Dumb Comic Creators Podcast. 

Some links: 

http://www.danielleabrams.com/

Danielle's upcoming performance at the USC Live Artists Live III: Despair/Repair

https://calendar.usc.edu/event/live_artists_live_iii_despairrepair#.X48GTUJKhR4

Danielle's performance of Great: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8a5FqD8cvM&feature=youtu.be

The SMFA Art Sale: 

https://smfa.tufts.edu/artsale 

The Lemon Ice King of Corona:

https://www.facebook.com/TheLemonIceKingOfCorona/

 

Thanks for listening! Remember to hit subscribe! 

 

 

 

Krystle Brown

This week's guest is Boston artist Krystle Brown! She makes work that explores the psychological effects of economic class, ritual, and being at odds with one's environment. She is a multidisciplinary artist utilizing video, painting, audio, performance, sculpture and photography. She has an upcoming solo show at Kingston Gallery in Boston in March called 15,000 Days. Her work was recently featured in the group show Wide Open at the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition and will be part of a show at the CICA Museum later this month in South Korea. She has recently done residencies at 77 Art Residency in Rutland, VT and the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, VT. 

 

Krystle was such a fun guest, we talked about her cake-making skills, ratchet straps, Las Vegas, climate change, and a lot more. Krystle talks about the origins of her work and how she is drawn to "ruins" in our modern landscape.

 

This episode also includes comedian and writer Eric Sablan as the "Bridge to Outside the Art World". Every episode I invite a friend who is not a fine artist to join in the conversation. 

 

You can find Krystle's artwork at https://krystlebrownart.com 

She is on Instagram as well @krystlebrown_art

 

If you liked this podcast please remember to HIT SUBSCRIBE! Thank you for listening!

 

Anastasiya Tarasenko

This week's guest is Brooklyn based painter Anastasiya Tarasenko. Anastasiya's work is satirical and biting and follows the "tiny-people doing things" aesthetic you can find in Bosch, Bruegel, Indian Miniature Paintings and American Folk Art. She is a New York Art Academy alum, has gone on residencies in London, France, Mexico and Germany, appears in New American Paintings Northeast Issue #146 and has an upcoming solo show at Monya Rowe Gallery in New York City. We talk about her path to becoming a fine artist, her current work, her love of video games and Star Trek, and the way the COVID-19 lockdown impacted her studio practice. 

 

It's a really fun episode! You can view her work on her website atarasenko.com or find her on Instagram at @atarasenko.

 

Music by @_Groovebox_

 

Make sure to subscribe to this podcast! Thanks for listening!

Evan Blackwell

Abstract painter Evan Blackwell joined "Fine" Art Podcast in the virtual studio! She is an Atlanta, GA based artist that enjoys pushing back against the colonialized view of abstract art and engaging in the rich and diverse history going back to the dawn of human civilization. Evan's paintings also explore the way we retain memory in our bodies and minds. This episode is so fun! Evan talks about how she began in aqueous media and how a car crash changed the course of her work. She also talks about how the quarantine has changed her work and the ideas behind her current paintings. We also talk about some of her many influences. 

 

Be sure to subscribe! More episodes are on the way soon! 

 

Evan's paintings and prints are available on her website https://evanblackwellart.com 

 

Quilters of Gee's Bend https://www.soulsgrowndeep.org/gees-bend-quiltmakers

 

Evan's Instagram: @evanblackwell_art

 

 

 

Chantal Zakari

Fine artist and designer Chantal Zakari is the guest on this week's episode of "Fine" Art Podcast!

 

Chantal Zakari is a professor at The School of the Museum of Fine Arts (SMFA) at Tufts University. She operates a socially engaged practice that explores the complexities of the topics and subjects she pursues. She follows social phenomena and positions herself in relationship to a public or a sub-culture. She is a skilled designer and often publishes her projects as artists books in addition to installation work and other media. Her work is in the permanent collections at Yale University, The Getty Research Institute library, The Brooklyn Museum of Art, The Addison Gallery of American Art, and the Institute of Network Cultures in Amsterdam. She has also had solo exhibitions in Boston, Baltimore, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Ankara, Turkey. 

 

This was such a fun interview! Chantal talks about growing up in Turkey and her Turkish-Levantine heritage. She also talks about her adventurous move to Chicago for art school. She was kind enough to talk about some of her previous art works, including some that she made with her long-time collaborator and husband Mike Mandel. Finally, we wrap up by talking about her membership in the artist-run Kingston Gallery and her upcoming show later this year. Also there's a bird in this episode!

 

Her upcoming show at Kingston Gallery in SOWA opening on November 5th, 2020. http://www.kingstongallery.com/exhibitions/2020/november-chantal-zakari-work-in-progress.php

 

Her artists books can be found (and bought!) on her website https://thecorner.net.

 

Brooke Stewart

Fine artist and painter Brooke Stewart is the guest this week on "Fine" Art Podcast! 

Brooke is a painter and printer, with an MFA from The School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University. She is currently a lecturer Northeastern University. Her work addresses female identity, gender roles and sports. She has recently shown work in the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Contemporary Print in Austin TX,  The St. Louis Artist Guild in Missouri, and at the North American Print Biannual at the Jewett Art Center at Wellesley College. She is published in edition #41 and #42 of New American Paintings. She was selected by the Art Department at Wellesley College for the 2020-2021 Alice C. Cole ’42 Merit Grant in Studio Art. 

In this episode we talk about how Brooke got started in the arts, her college basketball career, her masters program and her influences. We also discuss her upcoming show at the Distillery Gallery in Boston and her new work that will be in that show. Plus, we talk about her love of floors!

Follow along with the paintings being discussed on her website https://brookestewartart.com  They are right on her homepage. We tried to keep it podcast-friendly but it might help if you want to see the paintings she's talking about. 

Find her on Instagram! @brooke_stewart_art