Pep Talks for Artists

Latest Episodes:

Ep 33: The Post-Exhibition Blues w/ Jennifer Coates Sep 05, 2022

Show notes

It's just like old times having Jennifer Coates back to co-host the podcast! This week we're talking about the miasmic malaise that descends upon each of us after a show closes (and also the "narcissistic fugue state" that descends upon us during the run of the show). We all begin as studio goblins cranking on a deadline, feeding on coffee and starbursts, and then all of a sudden...the show comes...and we are thrust into the bright lights and small talk of an opening. It's a big switch, and it's bound to unnerve the best of us. Jennifer and I reveal which unearthly creatures we each think represent us as avatars when we are in studio-cranking-goblin-mode (Spoiler alert: Amy is an Olm and Jennifer is an Extremophile Bacterium). And we also hash out strategies to stay as balanced as possible during the rollercoaster ride of studio-to-show-to-deinstall-day.

Excerpted readings for this episode:

When Art Puts on a Party Hat: A Guide to Gallery Openings William Grimes, NYT 1995

Coping with the Post Exhibition Blues Sylvia White, Artadvice.com 2007

7 Practical Ways to Battle Post-Event Blues Esther Snippe, Skillcamp/Speakerhub 2018

Artists mentioned: Louise Bourgeois, Fairfield Porter, Andrew Wyeth

John McLaughlins Corner:
Shout out to gone-but-not-forgotten "Bye Bye!" signature signoff legend, John McLaughlin of the McLaughlin Group
Shout out to Prog Rock guitarist John McLaughlin also!

Jennifer's much beloved old Horoscope column at Two Coats of Paint as Crystal "Kitty" Shimski
Jennifer Coates' website: http://www.jenniferlcoates.com/
Amy's website: https://www.amytalluto.com/
Pep Talks on IG: @peptalksforartists

Donate to the Peps: Buy Me a Coffee or https://anchor.fm/peptalksforartistspod/support.

All music tracks and SFX are licensed from Soundstripe.

Bonus: The Longevity of an Art Practice w/ Sarah Grass of The Pack Art School Aug 25, 2022

Show notes

Sarah Grass, Artist and Founder of The Pack Art School stopped by Peps this week to talk about her new upcoming class "The Artist Rebirth Cycle" and also, how artists can foster a long healthy relationship with their art over the long haul. She shared a lot of fascinating ideas about the psychology of making art as well as some techniques for drilling down to our true creative selves...inspired by the writings of Psychologists and Philosophers past & present. ALSO! Check out Sarah's homemade LISTICLE for "How To Succeed in a Long-term Relationship with Your Work"- it's so good! Her program, The Pack, is an alternative art program that meets online, all levels welcome, to help artists: get supportive feedback and encouragement, get back to working after a break, or make a change. Sarah's got you. Here are some links to learn more:

Registration is open for:

Artist's Rebirth Cycle (Sept 20, 2022 - June 20, 2023)
Intuitive Art Readings
Group Sessions
FREE Pep Talk Listeners 20 min Intuitive Art Reading- Register before SEPT 8, 2022: Email sarah@tothepack.com

More info about The Pack: https://thepack.art/ and on IG @thepack.art

Text Version of Sarah's Listicle: "How To Succeed in a Long-term Relationship with Your Work": https://thepack.art/journal

Check out Sarah Grass' work at Spring Break Art Show in NYC, Sept 8-12, or online at her website and IG @ssarahgrass

Artists mentioned: Carmen Herrera, Louise Bourgeois, Lois Dodd, Faith Ringgold, Howardena Pindell, Cezanne, Luchita Hurtado, Catherine Haggarty, the Surrealists and automatic drawing

Writers mentioned: Donald Winnicott (English pediatrician and psychoanalyst) "Playing in Reality," Glennon Doyle (American author and activist), Beatrice Beebe (clinical psychologist), Laozi "Tao Te Ching," Richard C. Schwartz (Systemic family therapist and academic) "Internal Family Systems Model," Carl Jung (Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst), Marion Woodman (Canadian mythopoetic author, poet, analytical psychologist), James Clear (Author) "Atomic Habits," Theodor W. Adorno (German philosopher)

Follow Pep Talks on IG: @peptalksforartists

Donate to the Peps: Buy Me a Coffee or https://anchor.fm/peptalksforartistspod/support.

Amy's website: https://www.amytalluto.com/

All music tracks and SFX are licensed from Soundstripe.

Bonus: How to Host a Studio Visit w/ Catherine Haggarty of NYC Crit Club Aug 14, 2022

Show notes

This week, Painter and NYC Crit Club director, Catherine Haggarty, joined me to talk about that old enigma wrapped in a riddle: How to Host a Studio Visit. She gave tons of helpful tips for managing in-person visits, zoom visits AND how to guard against the emotional fallout that can come after a bad one. It's a gold mine!

Also, Catherine gave a teaser for the upcoming courses on offer at NYC Crit Club this Fall. Some great instructors are on tap, along with some brand new exciting classes like "The MFA: Expectations and Preparation" and a Virtual Residency with Mira Schor, to name just two.

Psst: Since recording this, I am also excited to announce I'll be joining Sharmistha Ray's class on writing to talk all things Podcasting!

NYC CRIT CLUB info:

Enrollment period: Aug 14 and closes Sept 18, 2022
Register Here: https://www.nyccritclub.com/
Class Dates: The Fall 2022 Semester runs for 6-8 weeks Sept 26 - Nov 18 (classes are either online or in-person, and online classes are scheduled to be convenient for all timezones (including international)
More info: Web https://www.nyccritclub.com/2022-fall-courses & IG: @nyccritclub

Fall 2022 Faculty: Paolo Arao, Yevgeniya Baras, Chris Bogia, Hilary Doyle, Catherine Haggarty, Jarrett Key, Gracelee Lawrence, Jared Linge, Brigitte Mulholland, Natalia Nakazawa, Avery Z. Nelson, Rose Nestler, Alex Paik, Sharmistha Ray, Jahi Sabater, Mira Schor, Zahar Vaks, Anna Valdez

Catherine's website: https://www.catherinehaggarty.com/ and IG: @catherine_haggarty

Catherine's upcoming exhibitions:
Untitled Art Fair, Miami Beach with Geary Contemporary: https://geary.nyc/
Lorin Gallery, L.A.: https://www.loringallery.com/

Shoutouts: Andrew Prayzner, Hilary Doyle, Rose Nestler, Dominique Fung, White Rock Center for the Sculptural Arts run by Courtney Puckett and Colin O'Con, "On Art and Mindfulness" by Enrique Martinez Celaya

Follow Pep Talks on IG: @peptalksforartists

Donate to the Peps: Buy Me a Coffee or https://anchor.fm/peptalksforartistspod/support.

Amy's website: https://www.amytalluto.com/

All music tracks and SFX are licensed from Soundstripe.

Ep 32: Book Talks: Ways of Seeing by John Berger w/ Mandolyn Wilson Rosen Jul 27, 2022

Show notes

Mandy is back to help me dissect this beloved classic book "Ways of Seeing" 1972 (and BBC TV show) by John Berger. Welcome back, Mandy! And, as always on Book Talks, much art-nerdery was indulged. Come along with us as we consider Berger's thoughts on Art: aka How it was changed by the age of reproduction, How the Nude functions as a tool for the Male Gaze, and How art is used as a status symbol for the wealthy, and in advertising to create Glamour.

"Ways of Seeing" was created mainly by John Berger (writer/host), Michael Dibb (filmmaker), Delia Derbyshire (composer), and Richard Hollis (book designer) with help from others. The project was conceived specifically to "question some of the assumptions usually made about the tradition of European Painting. That tradition which was born about 1400, and dies about 1900.”

In the TV series (and in direct contrast to Kenneth Clark’s big budget show, “Civilisation”), Berger shows up against a slightly shabby blue screen in a partially unbuttoned white and brown patterned shirt (he bought it right before the shoot bc he had been wearing blue) with kind of wild curly hair (kinda like Michael Landon style), and in slacks…he’s casual- he’s scrappy - parts of the show were even assembled in his parent’s living room. He’s earnest, feminist, anti-capitalist and unlike the posh-speaking Clark, he has a slight speech impediment…and Berger is ready to burn it all to the ground.
"Ways of Seeing," the book, is available at most bookstores and "Ways of Seeing," the BBC tv program, is available to stream for free on Youtube

A few grateful shout-outs to writers who we used for research for this talk: Olivia Laing / The Guardian, Kate Abbott / The Guardian and Sam Haselby / Aeon.co

John Berger's other books: His novel "G" and also books about art’s role in contemporary society: "About Looking" and "The Shape of a Pocket"

Extra shout-outs: Composer, Delia Derbyshire, "The Man with the Movie Camera" filmby Dziga Vertov, poster by Alexander Rodchenko, Walter Benjamin’s "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” Eva Figes, book "Patriarchal Attitudes," Jane Kenrick, one of five who had been on trial for protesting against the 1970 Miss World contest, Laura Mulvey’s “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,” Linda Nochlin’s “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists," "Landscape & Power" by WJT Mitchell, "Looking at the Overlooked" by Norman Bryson

Send me a voice message on Speakpipe.com about what you love and dislike about NYC! I'll use the recording in a future ep about Marsden Hartley: https://www.speakpipe.com/peps

Follow Pep Talks on IG: @peptalksforartists

Donate to the Peps: Buy Me a Coffee or https://anchor.fm/peptalksforartistspod/support.

Amy's website: https://www.amytalluto.com/

All music tracks and SFX are licensed from Soundstripe.

Ep 31: Interview w/ Adie Russell Jul 16, 2022

Show notes

This week I had an amazing conversation with artist, Adie Russell. We discussed her incredible new "Lacuna" series of charcoal works on cotton rag paper (based on old Victorian glass negative studio portraits that are put through an obscure Photoshop filter) and also, her newest video work, "Hydriogenesis," which was born of a craving for a feeling of safety in nature and from the long periods of introspection we all experienced during the pandemic. We also talked about the trickiness of navigating Instagram in an authentic way, what can be used as a sourdough starter for abstraction, Adie's "Covers" video project and Marlon Brando's idea about how everyone is ALWAYS acting, AND of course, the Caterpillar Pillar. (Please check out Episode 30 to learn all about said Pillar where I do a deep dive into Adie's recommended artist-pick-me-up book from the 70's: Hope for the Flowers.)

Adie's website: adierussell.com and Instagram: @adie_russell

Adie is opening her studio up (w/ guest artist Jesse Bransford) for Upstate Art Weekend, Sat-Sun July 23-24 12-6pm and is #20 (near the Stoneleaf Retreat) on the Map : upstateartweekend.org

Adie is a mixed media artist currently working in drawing, painting and video. Russell has exhibited regularly since 2001 in the United States and abroad. She was the subject of a solo exhibition The Reveal at the Leeds College of Arts in Leeds, UK as well as the exhibition I Am (Richard Nixon) at The Center for Photography at Woodstock in Woodstock, NY, amongst others. Her work is in the collection of The Dorsky Museum, in New Paltz, NY.

Episode mentions: Stephen Gill's "Night Procession" series, Rembrandt, Marlon Brando's interview with Dick Cavett, Ingmar Bergman's near-death anesthesia experience, Art and Ventriloquism by David Goldblatt, The Library of Congress online archives: Civil War era glass negative photos & the Arnold Genthe collection, "Photochrom" color postcards, Hilma Af Klint, Mediumistic drawing and Spirit Photography, Early 20th c American advertising postcards, Pessimistic postcards: "The Worst is Yet to Come," Stereoviews, Hope for the Flowers by Trina Paulus, Nog's Vision - A Fantasy Journey by Brian Hall & Joseph Osburn, "The Point!" a film by Harry Nilsson ("Think About Your Troubles" song)

Send me a voice message on Speakpipe.com about what you love and dislike about NYC! I'll use the recording in a future ep about Marsden Hartley: https://www.speakpipe.com/peps

Follow Pep Talks on IG: @peptalksforartists & Donate to the Peps: https://anchor.fm/peptalksforartistspod/support.

Amy's website: https://www.amytalluto.com/

All music tracks and SFX are licensed from Soundstripe.

Ep 30: Hope For the Artists Jul 06, 2022

Show notes

As an artist, do you find yourself climbing up the "caterpillar pillar"? Or, are you "risking the butterfly"? These analogies are from a wonderful book from the early 1970's called Hope for the Flowers by Trina Paulus. And in this episode, I explore how this fable can apply to artists and inspire them to choose their own path. #AlwaysRiskTheButterfly

Thanks to Adie Russell for the recommendation and check out her interview coming up next on the podcast!

Send me a voice message on Speakpipe.com about what you love and dislike about NYC! I'll use the recording in a future ep about Marsden Hartley: https://www.speakpipe.com/peps

Follow Pep Talks on IG: @peptalksforartists & Donate to the Peps: https://anchor.fm/peptalksforartistspod/support.

Amy's website: https://www.amytalluto.com/

All music tracks and SFX are licensed from Soundstripe.

Ep 29: Interview w/ Ever Baldwin Jun 27, 2022

Show notes

Come listen along as I speak with the incredible painter and sculptor, Ever Baldwin. Ever makes abstract oil paintings that loosely reference the body, eyes, nature, roads and even drag makeup...all enclosed in carved and burned wooden frames. The paintings and frames fuse together visually to create a new surprising whole, greater than the sum of its parts.

Ever Baldwin's website and Insta: https://everbaldwin.com/ and @pretzeltime
Upcoming exhibitions:

Marinaro Gallery, "Quiet Yes," July 6 - Aug 13, 2022, NYC, Links: marinaro.biz and @marinarogallery

JAG Projects at Foreland, July 1 - July 25, 2022, Catskill, NY, Links: forelandcatskill.com and @jag.projects
Works referenced: "Hazel," "Path Through Trees," "After Maurice Denis," "Jade," "Quiffs," "Crying Road," "Miss Cantine," "Maybe She's Born With It," "Omen," "Twilight"

Shout outs: Courtney Puckett, Legendary on HBOmax, Italian Futurist artists, Carlo Scarpa, Carrie Moyer, ArtOMI, Rene Lalique Art Nouveau Brooches and Jewelry, "On Mindfulness in Art" by Enrique Martinez Celaya, Byrdcliffe Art Colony in Woodstock, NY

Ever Baldwin lives and works in Catskill, NY. They hold a BFA in painting from The Maryland Institute College of Art and an MFA from The School of The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Recent solo exhibitions include Emma Gray HQ, Los Angeles, CA; and JAG Projects, Hudson, NY. Their work has been included in group shows at Underdonk in Brooklyn, NY, Opalka Gallery in Albany NY, and Left Field Gallery in Los Osos, CA. Ever is a 2021 recipient of the NYFA/NYSCA Fellowship in Painting.

Thank you, Ever! Thank you, Listeners!

Follow Pep Talks on IG: @peptalksforartists & Donate to the Peps: https://anchor.fm/peptalksforartistspod/support.

Amy's website: https://www.amytalluto.com/

All music is licensed from Soundstripe.

Ep 28: Interview w/ Melissa Capasso / The Dream in Art (Part 2) Jun 16, 2022

Show notes

I was so excited to have painter, Melissa Capasso, whose visionary style is inspired by daydreaming, join me this week to continue my series on the Dream in Art.

Melissa makes charcoal drawings and oil and acrylic paintings that explore themes of mother and child, St. Lucia and Catholic icons, vision, blindness, and the vanitas...all in a wavy gestural style with vibrant color or primal black and white. She invents her subjects in her mind while walking and thinks of her work as a kind of visual novel. We talked about her work, her roots in Cape Cod, and the challenges / advantages of being an artist parent.

Catch her work in person this summer at her solo show at Gold Gallery: https://www.goldmontclair.com/ and @goldscopophilia

Melissa's website and IG: https://www.melissacapasso.com/ and @melissa.capasso

Melissa Capasso studied art at NYU and Brooklyn College and has had recent solo shows at Sweet Lorriane Gallery in Brooklyn and Gold Gallery in Montclair, NJ. She has had her work exhibited in many group shows in NY and beyond.

Thank you, Melissa!
Thank you, Listeners!

Follow Pep Talks on IG: @peptalksforartists & Donate to the Peps: https://anchor.fm/peptalksforartistspod/support.

Amy's website: https://www.amytalluto.com/

All music is licensed from Soundstripe.

Ep 27: The Dream in Art (Part 1) Jun 06, 2022

Show notes

Come along on a ~~Dream Quest~~ with me to discover works of art that show real dreams...not just images of sleepers or "dream-like" paintings. I set out to discover the bonafides. I began in 1525 with Albrecht Durer, then moved to France with Odilon Rédon in the 1800's, the Surrealists and André Masson in the 1920's, and then shot over and up to the US in the 50's to Jasper Johns, and finally landed back at modern day with the exquisitely-observed representational paintings of Catherine Murphy.

This episode was inspired by 2 main sources: 1) The book "Painting the Dream" by Daniel Bergez and also 2) An online artists' talk between 3 painters: Chie Fueki, Alexi Worth and Catherine Murphy called "Painting Table: Catherine Murphy talks with Chie Fueki and Alexi Worth" 1/21/22 hosted by DC Moore Gallery: Watch here: https://vimeo.com/668978992.
In the talk, Catherine Murphy reveals that 2 of the paintings in her most recent show ("Flight" & "Begin Again") were made from real dreams that she had had (her discussion of this occurs about 1hr into the talk).

Artists and artworks mentioned: "Dream Vision" by Albrecht Durer, "Dream Vision" c 1880 (x 2) by Odilon Rédon, "Gradiva" by André Masson, Jasper Johns "Flag," "Flight" & "Begin Again" by Catherine Murphy

Authors/Poets and pieces mentioned: "Painting the Dream" book by Daniel Bergez, "The Gradiva: The Woman Who Walks" novella by Wilhelm Hermann Jensen, "Delusion and Dream in Jensen's Gradiva" essay by Sigmund Freud, "La Révolution Surréaliste" literary journal pub by Paul Eluard, Antonin Artaud, Andre Breton, Michel Leiris & Louis Aragon, "Une Vague de Rêves" poem by Louis Aragon

Louis Aragon's Poem "Une Vague de Rêves" (A Wave of Dreams) 1924
Translated from French by Susan de Muth (2003)

Excerpt used in the episode:
"Dreams, dreams, dreams, with each step the domain of dreams expands. Dreams, dreams, dreams, at last the blue sun of dreams forces the steel-eyed beasts back to their lairs. Dreams, dreams, dreams on the lips of love, on the numbers of happiness, on the teardrops of carefulness, on the signals of hope, on building sites where a whole nation submits to the authority of pickaxes. Dreams, dreams, dreams, nothing but dreams where the wind wanders and barking dogs are out on the roads. Oh magnificent Dream, in the pale morning of buildings, leaning on your elbows on chalk cornices, merging your pure, mobile features with the miraculous immobility of statues, don’t ever leave again enticed by dawn’s deliberate lies.

Who is there? Ah good: let in the infinite."

Follow Pep Talks on IG: @peptalksforartists & Donate to the Peps: https://anchor.fm/peptalksforartistspod/support.

Amy's website: https://www.amytalluto.com/

Thank you for listening, rating, reviewing & donating!

All music is licensed from Soundstripe.

Ep 26: Interview with Shari Mendelson May 26, 2022

Show notes

Sculptor, Shari Mendelson joined me this week to discuss her work. Shari lives and works in Brooklyn and Upstate NY. She is represented in New York by Tibor de Nagy Gallery and has won many prestigious grants, including 4 NYFA-NYSCA Fellowship awards, a Pollock-Krasner grant and most recently a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2017.

She makes human & animal figures & vessels made up of cut-up plastic bottles that riff on stone, clay & glass forms from ancient antiquity. The resulting sculptures can look translucent like ancient glass in greens, grays, blues, whites & yellows -- and she often adds mica & resin to the surface to add a silvery or opaque finish to parts. They range in size from 12 to 36 in (aprx).

Shari's website and IG: www.sharimendelson.com and @sharimendelson

Current and Upcoming Exhibitions:

The Renwick Gallery in WDC at The Smithsonian American Art Museum "This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World"
Pamela Salisbury Gallery in Hudson, NY "Greetings and Offerings"
Tibor de Nagy Gallery in NYC - Upcoming solo show 2023
Jason Jacques Gallery in NYC "Smoke" a benefit for The Lost Prisoner Project

Shari's Favorite Museum Collections: The Metropolitan Museum of Art (esp. the Cesnola Cipriot Collection, Islamic Wing & The Study Collection on the mezzanine above the Leon Levy & Shelby White Court), Penn Museum, The British Museum, Naples National Archaeological Museum (Pompeii & Herculaneum collections)

Fun Links:
Review by Stephen Maine in Hyperallergic:
Ennion exhibit at the Met
Anasazi Pottery
Ancient Israeli Art
More aboutVotive Figurines
Artist mentions: Bill Traylor, Alberto Giacometti, Rick Briggs, Jill Levine, Ancient Syrian vessel maker: Ennion, Portia Munson, Jennifer Coates, Kiki Smith, Phoebe Helander, Morgan Gilbreath

Glue Talk™: Shari uses AdTech Crystal Clear Glue Sticks combined with a final coat of Magic-Sculpt resin

Follow Pep Talks on IG: @peptalksforartists & Donate to the Peps: https://anchor.fm/peptalksforartistspod/support.
Amy's website: https://www.amytalluto.com/
Thank you for listening, rating, reviewing & donating! All music is licensed from Soundstripe.

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