Image Culture

On the show today I’m talking with writer, curator and critic Jarrett Earnest, whose 2018 book What it Means to Write About Art assembles his conversations with thirty of the most influential American art writers. Jarrett’s interviews with figures ranging from Rosalind Krauss to Dave Hickey, Roberta Smith to Kellie Jones, and Jerry Saltz to Hal Foster trace a path through art criticism from the 1960’s up to the present moment. His subjects remind us of the diversity of thought that has defined modern art criticism. It’s truly a rare thing to find a book that offers such a plethora of ideas about how we think about and relate to art.

You can find more of Jarrett’s work at www.jarrettearnest.com and on Instagram @jarrettearnest

My guest today is the painter Israel Lund. Israel is interested in images, the way they are reproduced, transmitted and passed through digital and analog systems. His early experiences as a teenager making zines and posters for local punk shows introduced him to a visual culture that thrived on the copy, and motivated him to introduce CMYK screen printing techniques into the realm of painting. The aesthetic of his work falls somewhere between abstraction and a glitchy computer screen. Through it all, there is a constant examination of how the information of an image is determined by the system it’s put through, be it a Tumblr page, a photocopier, or one of Israel’s screens.

I’d like to thank Israel, as well as Olivia Smith at Magenta Plains and David Lewis. I’d also like to send a special thank you to Alex Bacon who wrote an excellent piece on Israel’s work in The Brooklyn Rail that I referenced frequently in preparation for this show.

You can find that article HERE:

Remember you can see my portrait of Israel in his studio at williamjesslaird.com/imageculture as well as on Instagram @william.jess.laird and @image.culture

Our show is produced by Sarah Levine. Our music is by Jack & Eliza.

Thank you so much for listening.

Check out Israel’s Tumblr page at https://israellund.tumblr.com

My guest is Adam Charlap Hyman, principle at the architecture and design firm Charlap Hyman & Herrero, which he cofounded in 2014. Adam’s work is grounded in a deeply considered approach to all aspects of the built environment, creating spaces imbued with a rich sense of history and narrative. His work ranges from residential interiors to art galleries, furniture, opera sets, and a new collection of abaca rugs, wallpapers, and fabrics in collaboration with Schumacher and Patterson Flynn Martin.

Recently Adam designed an exhibition at Friedman Benda Gallery entitled Blow Up in which he and curator Felix Burrichter transformed the gallery into a life-sized dollhouse, creating architectural elements through scaled up prints of Adam’s watercolor illustrations. The imagined spaces were then furnished with the work of a dreamlike roster of contemporary artists and designers.

At the center of Adam’s work is the idea of Gesamtkunstwerk, the total work of art. He has a unique way of understanding interiors that goes far beyond the decorative. Instead, his spaces feel as if they are part of an ever-expanding narrative, often funny, full of twists, and always fascinating.

I’d like to thank Adam Charlap Hyman as well as Andre Herrero, Alex Charlap Hyman, Juliet Breza, Felix Burrichter, and Friedman Benda. Remember, you can see my portrait of Adam on Instagram @william.jess.laird and @image.culture as well as at our website williamjesslaird.com/imageculture This show is produced by Sarah Levine and our music is by Jack and Eliza. Thanks for listening.

Find Charlap Hyman & Herrero at www.ch-herrero.com and on Instagram at @ch_herrero

On the show today is the photographer Michael Halsband, whose work I first saw in Surf Book, a collaborative project with legendary surfer Joel Tudor examining surf culture through the people who built it. From there I began exploring his extensive body of portraits of artists and musicians from Klaus Nomi & Bernice Abbott to David Byrne & James Brown. After studying photography at SVA, Michael got the chance to photograph Keith Richards for the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine, after which he joined the Stones on their 1981 Tattoo You tour. Upon returning to New York, Michael made what was to become his most famous photograph, one that I imagine many of you have seen. The 1985 portrait of Andy Warhol and Jean Michel Basquiat wearing boxing shorts and gloves, arms crossed, looking straight into camera against a clean white background. Originally created as a promotional poster for a collaborative show between the two artists, it became the iconic image of one of art’s great partnerships.

I got to sit down with have tea with Michael in the same studio where that photograph was made. You can also see my portrait of Michael in the studio at www.williamjesslaird.com/imageculture as well as on Instagram @william.jess.laird and @image.culture

This show is produced by Sarah Levine, our music is by Jack and Eliza. If you like the show help us grow by leaving us a rating and sharing it with a friend. Thanks for listening.

You can see much of Michael’s work at his website michaelhalsband.com

Few have had such an impact on contemporary art as American photographer Catherine Opie. Her decades of work have helped redefine our conception of American identity, landscape, and culture. In this episode of Image Culture, William Jess Laird talks with the artist about her recent work photographing the sites of Confederate monuments throughout the United States and its relationship to Catherine's early photographs.

In collaboration with Lehmann Maupin, Opie kept a travel log of her recent journey that can be seen at https://www.lehmannmaupin.com/viewing-room/catherine-opie

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