art grind podcast

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

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

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 

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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. 

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/

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

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. 

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. 

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.

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

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