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This podcast episode was originally recorded in Los Angeles, CA @ NOH/WAVE's event entitled MIND/WAVE on March 18th, 2017 with guest speakers Joshua Hagler, Jarell Perry, Maja Ruznic, and Yoshino.
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Unit London is an arts space and gallery founded in 2013 by Joe Kennedy and Jonny Burt. Unit London was born from a desire to break down the barriers of elitism and to include people in the contemporary art world - whether they are enthusiasts, first-timers, new collectors, or seasoned collectors and institutions - they strongly believe that everybody should be able to enjoy the world's most amazing art.
Topics Discussed In This Episode:
- The next generation of galleries
- Pop-up gallery experiences
- Making art more accessible
- Unit London was started with the approach of identifying 3 problems in the art world and a need to change these problems: art being exclusive and elitist, certain deserving artists not being celebrated, artists not having social recognition and relevancy.
- Defining your "why" and your "story"
- The importance of starting a business that connects with their audience on an emotional level
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Justin Hopkins interviews Martin Wittfooth and Sergio Barrale.
Topics Discussed In This Episode:
- Being in control of yourself even if you're not in control of outside forces
- Sergio's car exploding while driving cross country
- Plant medicines
- Letting go of materialistic possessions
- The importance of family
- Not letting bad situations dictate your happiness
- Psychedelic experiences
- Martin leaving NYC to live in Woodstock
- Reflections on Martin's dog Luna
- Lessening one's own ego
- Being lost in a big city
- How Sergio and Martin met each other
- UFC
- Martin explains his work
- Terence McKenna
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About Elly: Originally from Ottawa, Elly Smallwood graduated from OCAD University in 2011 and now works as an artist in Toronto. Her paintings are intensely personal, a visual exploration of her mind and body, and those of the people around her.
Topics Discussed In This Episode:
- Female sexuality in art
- The ephemeral feelings involved while painting
- Ron Mueck's sculptures
- The business of art
- Pricing artwork
- Nymphomaniacs
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Adam Lee is an Australian artist working from his country studio at the foothills of the Macedon Ranges just outside of Melbourne, Australia. His practice focuses on a re-interpretation of painting and drawing traditions and references a wide range of sources, incorporating biblical narratives, natural history, historical and colonial documentary photography, contemporary music and film, and varying literary sources. Employing new evaluations of landscape painting and old world portraiture Lee investigates humanity’s interface with the environment of the natural world and its relationship to ideas of a timeless zone of the divine.
Topics discussed in this episode:
- Accepting the unexpected
- Allowing the process of creating artwork guide you
- Embracing inspiration
- Describes his newest body of work, "Lament Asunder"
- Anselm Kiefer
- Chris Ofili
- Creative problem solving within paintings
- Understanding writers block
- The business side of the gallery system
- Ben Abraham
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Daniele Bolelli is an Italian-born writer, martial artist, university professor, and podcaster. He is the author of several books including On the Warrior's Path. He's also known for his podcasts History On Fire and The Drunken Taoist.
- How martial arts and physical activity can change your life
- Developing mental toughness
- The ability and willingness to challenge yourself
- Making small improvements to your life
- Joe Rogan
- The reasons why he started his podcasts The Drunk Taoist and History On Fire
- Existing as yourself
- Living an unedited existence
- Tackling fear
- Understanding work from a conscious perspective
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Anthony Lister was born in Brisbane, Australia in 1979. He graduated from the Queensland College of Art in Brisbane in 2001 and traveled to New York soon after where he mentored under the auspices Max Gimblett, one of New Zealand's most influential living artists. Lister began painting on the streets at the age of 17; a location which has become a key part of his practice as a space where he can take pleasure in his 'hobby' of producing art rather than the 'craft' of studio work. He has since exhibited his work extensively within Australia and internationally both in the gallery and on the streets. He is considered to be one of Australia’s most renowned contemporary artists.
Topics Discussed:
- The process of creating his artwork
- Exploring the idea of "adventure painting"
- A curious exploration of the dualities of life
- Skateboarding abstracting itself into artwork
- Creative and mental breakthroughs
- Tactility of art changing or being lost with the advent of technologies
- His virtual reality app
- Decorating the apocalypse
- Seeing artwork in the flesh
- His love for the work of Egon Schiele
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Artist Decoded host, Yoshino, is interviewed by Cory Allen.
This interview was originally on Cory's podcast The Astral Hustle.
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HONNE is a UK based soul musical duo formed by co-songwriter/multi-instrumentalist James Hatcher and frontman Andy Clutterbuck.
HONNE's name is derived from the Japanese words, honne and tatemae, which describe the contrast between a person's true feelings and desires (honne) and the behavior and opinions one displays in public (tatemae).
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Brian Shevlin is the owner and founder of The Con Artist Collective which is an artist community, creative co-working space and gallery founded in early 2010. The collective is located in The Lower East Side in New York City. They are an active community of creatives, curating group shows & social events, encouraging collaboration & inspiring imagination.
Interviewer for this episode is photographer and podcaster, Michael Donovan.
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Ben Quilty was born in Sydney, Australia in 1973. He has an Honorary Doctorate from Western Sydney University, a Bachelor of Visual Arts from Sydney College of the Arts, a Bachelor of Visual Communication from the School of Design at the University of Western Sydney and certificate level studies in Aboriginal History and Culture from Monash University. Widely known for his thick, gestural oil paintings Quilty has explored a range of themes throughout his career. From the dangerous coming of age rituals of young Australian men, to the complex social history of our country, he is constantly critiquing notions of identity, patriotism and belonging.
He won the 2002 Brett Whitely Traveling Art Scholarship, the 2007 National Self Portrait Prize, the 2009 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize, the 2011 Archibald Prize and most recently the Prudential Eye Award for Contemporary Art in Singapore.
His work is represented in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of South Australia, The Art Gallery of New South Wales, QAGOMA and the Museum of Contemporary Art along with numerous regional and private collections.
Topics Discussed In This Episode:
- Making work about who you are
- Writer's block being a fallacy. How there's no shortage of things to talk about in your artwork.
- Curating your artistic vision
- His trip to Lebanon and following the Syrian border to view refugee camps
- Using writing as a creative medium while traveling
- His love and interest in human rights
- Myuran Sukumaran's story and Ben's involvement with teaching him how to paint while Myuran was imprisoned in Indonesia for drug trafficking. Myuran was later executed by firing squad for the charges.
- The debauchery of young masculinity
- Western cultures lacking rites of passage ceremonies
- The economic rationalization of education
- Contemporary trends in the art market
- Dissection of the survival and / or death of painting
- David Hockney's iPad art
- Spending time with his children
- Australian Frontier Wars
- Larrikinism
- Vincent Namatjira
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Born December 21st, 1990; Matthew Ryan Herget is an emerging self-taught artist from Miami, FL.
After attending University for two years, Herget opted to leave formal education to pursue his personal calling in life; to live as a contemporary explorer.
Herget's work is what he calls, a "constant collaboration" between himself at all points in his life. The evolution of his work mimics the evolution of his own self - a student of life, the mind, nature, and spirituality; Herget continues to explore anew without losing the childlike confidence that propelled him to the person he is today. Earlier paintings consist of juxtapositions of visual metaphors that tend to represent overcoming personal fears and limitations. These juxtapositions mix serious tones with playful imagery: an ode to finding who he is while at the same time never forgetting where he was.
Newer paintings jump in and out of the boundaries of form and abstraction. Occasionally paintings are figurative while others take the shape of full on abstraction: a reflection of where Matthew is currently in his personal journey. Matthew's process in the studio is that of high-energy and adventure. Paintings usually begin with no set concept and evolve into a dialogue of mark-making and feeling between the painter and painting. Dozens of paintings are often worked on at the same time and rotated throughout the studio. His painting style relies heavily on instinct, risk, and uncertainty. Things that are learned today may be dropped tomorrow in an effort to consistently keep oneself open to change and discovery. Herget's main focus is making the process the reward, and to allowing that process and inner voice to mold and evolve what comes of the process, as it pleases.
“Each piece is a journey in-and-of itself. I’m constantly trying to take it somewhere that I haven’t been before. The way I paint is kind of a metaphor for who I am, and why I’m here. It’s not about taking it to a point where you can see something; it’s about bringing it to a place where you can feel something. We all have a space suit on; whether it sits in the closet or goes to the moon is a choice we get to make. It’s a constant mission of finding ourselves. I think that pursuit is nurtured by consistently pushing ourselves further than we did yesterday. That’s how we change, grow, and evolve. That’s what these paintings are about. It’s pretty simple, but means a lot to me."
Matthew Ryan Herget currently works out of Los Angeles, CA.
Show Notes:
- 0:00:00 - Introduction
- 0:00:47 - Live in Art Basel
- 0:06:08 - Trusting In More Abstract Work
- 0:10:17 - Psychedelics in Dog Parks
- 0:15:31 - Psychedelics Opening Mental Portals
- 0:18:21 - Plants, Shamans, and Community
- 0:21:06 - Different Mental Access Points Through Psychedelics
- 0:24:37 - Tie-Dye Shirt Trip
- 0:25:37 - Artistic Process With Psychedelics
- 0:27:17 - Social Conditioning and Growing Up
- 0:32:28 - Dropping Out of College and Manifesting Art Career
- 0:39:10 - Generational Curses, Eckhart Tolle, and Letting Go
- 0:47:16 - Manifestation of God
- 0:48:11 - Time at Artist For Peace and Justice
- 0:58:33 - Traveling and Experiencing Life
- 1:02:57 - Advice to Artists
- 1:05:27 - Wrap Up
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Born during his parents' flight from Cambodia in the wake of the Khmer Rogue genocide, Andrew Hem grew up poised in the balance between two cultures - the rural animistic society of his Khmer ancestors, and the dynamic urban arts of the tough Los Angeles neighborhood where his family eventually came to rest. Fascinated by graffiti at an early age, he honed his skills with graphics and composition on the walls of the city before following a passion for figure drawing to a degree in illustration from Art Center College of Design. Working in gouache, oil and acrylic, he weaves atmospheric, richly textured narratives in a vivid palette of twilight blues enlivened by swaths of deep red and splashes of golden light. His haunting impressions of culture and landscape evoke the life of the spirit through the visionary manifestation of memories and dreams.
Over the six years since his graduation from Art Center with a B.F.A. in Illustration, Andrew Hem has exhibited in venues worldwide, from Jonathan LeVine Gallery in New York and the Portsmouth Museum of Art in New Hampshire to solo and group exhibitions in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, Portland, Nashville, Miami, Toronto, Zurich and Leece, Italy. He has lectured at Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, and Ringling College of Art and Design in Florida. His personal work has been featured in Beyond Illustration, the Society of Illustrators annual, Communication Arts, Spectrum, American Illustration, 3x3, Swallow and Hi-Fructose, among others, and his illustration clients have included The Atlantic, New Scientist, the Los Angeles Times, the Fort Worth Opera, Adidas and Lucky Brand Jeans. He lives and works in Los Angeles.
Show Notes:
- 00:00 - Introduction
- 03:18 - Art Center Stories
- 08:10 - Getting Into Art, Graffiti, and 90s Gangsters
- 14:48 - Fleeing Genocide as a Baby
- 16:04 - Cambodia Hand in Hand with Donut Shop
- 17:52 - Mom on Instagram and Acting
- 21:55 - Geek in the Day, Tagger by Night
- 24:03 - Getting Arrested and Quitting Tagging Cold Turkey
- 26:08 - Santa Monica College
- 27:01 - Color, Figure Painting, Street Art, and Landscapes
- 28:45 - Artists Influences
- 30:54 - Journey From Art Center to the White House
- 33:41 - Traveling Doing Murals
- 43:45 - What's Coming Up Next
- 46:27 - Wrap Up
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Paul Jung is a New York based artist, born in Taiwan, grew up in Australia, and educated in Italy. Jung received his BFA in graphic design in Milan, Italy, from the Istituto Europeo di Design in 2009, and his MFA from School of Visual Arts for Fashion Photography in 2013. Currently he works on an ongoing collaboration with fashion designer Melitta Baumeister. Jung has currently two published photographic books, and explores hyperreal environment in photography and film.
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Eddie Bravo is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt under Jean Jacques Machado. Bravo made his mark in competitive Jiu Jitsu by submitting Royler Gracie at ADCC Championship (2003), after which he launched his 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu program which became widely publicized and gathered a huge following in the grappling and MMA circuits. Eddie's views on grappling, heavily reliant on positions such as "the rubber guard", "the twister" and "the lock down", caught the eye of several MMA fighers who sought Bravo to learn the system, fighters such as Alan Belcher, Matt Horwich, and Vinny Magalhaes.
Hosted by: Yoshino X Hannah Vandermolen
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Olivia Bee (born in Portland, Oregon, 1994) is photographer based in Brooklyn, NY, and Los Angeles, CA. After the recognition received for her photographs on social media. Converse commissioned Bee, at the age of fifteen, to shoot her first ad. She has since gone on to shoot campaigns for brands such as Hermes, Levi's, and editorial features for publications such as Vogue, New York, the New York Times, and Le Monde. Her photography has been featured in three solo shows at Agnes B. New York, Apeture, New York, and Bernal Espacio, Madrid. She is intrigued by the beauty of everyday life and how the beauty of memories (real or imagined) touches us.
Topics Discussed In This Episode:
- Passion
- Combining talent, drive, and passion
- Her thoughts on failing and the importance of it
- Being intentional while at the same time leaving room for spontaneous occurrences to happen
- Her narrative character studies
- Her love for Neil Young's vulnerability and honesty
- Pouring your heart and soul into your process
- Exploring fear and going down the rabbit hole
- Recognizing all things that make you human
- Listening to your instincts
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Duke Johnson is a graduate of NYC and the American Film Institute. Anomalisa, which Duke directed alongside Charlie Kaufman, is his first feature film and was nominated for an Academy Award in the Animated Feature Film category. Duke's previous credits include the Adult Swim shows Moral Orel, Mary Shelley's Frankenhole and Beforel Orel. He directed the Emmy Award winning episode of NBC's Community: Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas.
Topics Discussed In This Episode:
- Spirituality
- How he met collaborative partner Dino Stamatopoulos
- Collaborating with Charlie Kaufman
- A film being a metaphor
- Approaching film from a visual standpoint
- Necessity being the mother of creativity
- The gap between your taste level and your ability
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Saman Kesh is an Iranian-American filmmaker based in Los Angeles, California, United States. He is known for his narrative music video work for notable artists such as Basement Jaxx, Calvin Harris, Kygo, Placebo, !!! (chk chk chk), Vitalic, Apparat and Porter Robinson.
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Tunde Adebimpe is a musician, actor, director, and visual artist best known as the lead singer of the critically acclaimed band TV On The Radio.
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With a body of work spanning fashion photograph, art, and film, Byron Spencer's origins in these fields began through experimentations in documenting the styles and eccentricities of the world around him. This led to his own fashion columns at the Sun Herald and Grazia Magazine.
Transitioning into fashion photography, his highly visual and playful work has lent imagery to publications such as Vogue Italia, Dazed and Confused, i-D Magazine and many more.
Byron's advertisement campaigns include ASOS, Top Shop, Pierre Cardin, etc.
His work now expands itself into the realm of film and music, again experimenting and following an intuition that pushes his techniques and inspirations to create original and vibrant content.
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Tim Bettinson makes fearless music. The guiding creative force behind Vancouver Sleep Clinic, one of the great under-the-radar success stories of the last couple of years, he boldly blurs the lines between styles and genres, mixing elements of rowdy indie rock, sophisticated folk, bumping R&B, sweeping film soundtracks, and anything else at hand. More crucially, his full-length debut, evocatively titled Revival, never shies from messy emotions or big moments, be embraces them as the essence of affecting, deeply emotional, highly sophisticated music. This is music that reaches out unabashedly to the entire world. This is music that dares.
Bettinson currently resides in Brisbane, Australia.
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Jean-Paul Mallozzi was born and raised in Queens NYC, and received a scholarship to attend the Rhode Island School Of Design (RISD). Mallozzi was born and raised in Queens, New York, and received a scholarship to attend the Rhode Island School Of Design (RISD). He graduated with B.F.A and has since been highly collected with international exhibitions in galleries, museums and major collections the world over.
Jean-Paul Mallozzi's work explores the broad spectrum of the human condition. Ranging from youthful to mature content, the work encompasses and reveals the idea that while emotions are amorphous, each one emits a color that echoes complex emotional states that all of us can relate to--no matter what language we happen to speak.
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Sean Dunne made his feature-film-directing debut with OXYANA, a portrait of a small coal-mining town caught in the grips of the Oxycontin epidemic. OXYANA premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in 2013 where Dunne won the award for Best New Documentary Director as well as a received a Special Jury Mention for Best Documentary.
Dunne has also directed several short documentaries including: THE ARCHIVE (nominated for an Emmy in 2011), MAN IN VAN, THE BOWLER, STRAY DAWG, BLACK BIKE WEEK, TRUMP RALLY and AMERICAN JUGGALO (named documentary of the year for 2011 by the website, Short of the Week). In 2015, Sean Dunne released the micro-feature FLORIDA MAN as well as a feature about online sex workers titled CAM GIRLZ.
Hailed as the “master of fringe Americana” for his ability to honestly capture half-mythical corners of the country, Dunne’s approach to documentary is to give his subjects the ease and opportunity to find their own voice and his viewers the freedom to form their own conclusions.
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SHARI FRILOT, SENIOR PROGRAMMER, SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL & CHIEF CURATOR, NEW FRONTIER “Stories work in deep, sensuous, biochemical ways and define how we see ourselves, how we see the world, and how we imagine our future. I love storytellers who push me beyond what I know and encourage me to see differently.”
Shari joined the programming team in 1998 and currently focuses on American and World Cinema dramatic features, as well as films that experiment and push the boundaries of conventional storytelling. She is also the curator and driving creative force behind New Frontier at Sundance, a program highlighting work that expands cinema culture through the convergence of film, art and new media technology.
As Co-Director of Programming for Outfest from 1998-2001, she founded the Platinum section, which introduced cinematic installation and performance to the festival. From 1993-1996, Frilot served as Festival Director of MIX: The New York Experimental Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. During that time, she also co-founded the first gay Latin American film festivals, MIX BRASIL and MIX MÉXICO. Shari is a filmmaker and recipient of multiple grants from institutions including the Ford Foundation and the Rockefeller Media Arts Foundation. She is a graduate of Harvard/Radcliffe & the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program.
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Blake Paul Neubert is a Colorado artist that focuses on figurative painting. He references themes from his experiences working in the criminal justice field with substance abuse and mental illness. He is the Co-Founder of Death of a Coworker.
Topics discussed in this episode:
- Growing up in Wyoming
- Childhood
- How painting gave him a tool to fit in with the other kids
- Pushing through failures
- How working in the criminal justice / judicial field influences the way he views the world
- His new body of work coming from a deeply personal and dark place
- Leaving behind a legacy
- Not getting distracted by our own ego and self-image
- The emotional rollercoaster of trying to have a career in the arts
- The harsh realities of being an artist
- Uninformed perspectives on how much quality paintings are worth
- How we're living in a world run by technology, which has its pros and cons. We have accessibility to everything, however because of this it has a ripple effect that devalues things that once held a stronger value.
- How Death of a Coworker came to be
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