Radio Juxtapoz

There's probably a good chance that you heard the news that BEEPLE, the graphic artist born as Mike Winkelmann, had just sold the third most expensive piece of artwork for a living artist and thought to yourself, "WTF is a BEEPLE?" Or if you were me you said just a plain "WTF?"  Sure, you probably knew a little bit about NFTs (Winkelmann had only just started working with NFTs in October 2020), but the fact that someone had paid $69,346,250 on March 11, 2021 for his work  Everydays: the First 5000 Days, the massive JPEG collage of images from his Everydays series, kind of felt like either a game-changer, an insane hedge, a turning point, a blip, a hero moment, an insider moment, a gross use of money or a smart investment of someone who saw a landmark moment in digital art. Whatever it was, you had a reaction. Many were mad. Many in the establishment almost cried out that it was the end of art as we know it. To be honest, it all felt a little silly. Everyone ran to NFTs for some of that million dollar energy, and some of it worked, some didn't. Winkelmann himself was new to the platform of selling his images this way, but had already accumulated a massive audience for this Everydays series, creating a digital work and posting it everyday since 2007. Regardless of what the market did, of what his impact on NFTs has been just in a few short months, Winkelmann just makes art everyday. It's kind of his thing. On this episode of Radio Juxtapoz, we talked to BEEPLE about just that: making art everyday. We of course talk about the landmark auction and his thoughts on NFTs and his quite interesting advice to everyone joining the medium. We talk about the sudden criticism, what the media seems to have surmized about him from this sale, and what it means to have an audience before the wider public knew BEEPLE. He gives his insights about how artists will help make NFTs more environmentally friendly just through their desire and awareness that it needs to change. But like any disrupter of the art market and art consciousness, we just wanted to talk to BEEPLE about his craft, practice, humor and where he thinks this is all going.  The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 071 was recorded via Skype in London, San Francisco and Charleston on April 16, 2021. Follow us on @radiojuxtapoz

We have come to know Action Bronson as many things; a hip-hop artist with impeccable sampling taste and delivery, a celebrity chef, a VICE host, an author, a spokesperson, a body boarder (something we learned on his social channels these past months), graffiti artist and now... a painter. It makes plenty of sense if you look at the broader view of Action Bronson and his taste. He is always exploring unseen or unfound pieces of culture, much of it to do with his Queens upbringing and the diversity one understands and immerses themselves in the various cultures of the great Borough. NYC can be many things, but for the man born Ariyan Arslan in 1983, he channels a special energy of nostalgia with a very in-the-moment sense of self and what he loves to do. So painting comes at an interesting time for Action. He has always dabbled, but he took a more honest and serious approach just before the pandemic struck so when it came time to hunker down for 12 months, he got to work. And there are a lot of paintings! Like his new workout regime, he is dedicated... but the main thing is that he is having fun. Fun with exploring a new way of communicating, finding parts of himself in the works that he can't articulate in his music and food and new sense of freedom. The works have both the making of childhood memories and abstract musings, not quite unlike how he approaches music, but in a way, more personal. Once a song is released, it's for everyone, stream after stream. Once a painting is made, that personal relationship is something different, something only the artist can really have in themselves. We talk about that difference and special connection to this personal output in our newest Radio Juxtapoz podcast with Action Bronson. We talk about how he started painting, how it relates to his creative outputs of the past and why it seems to have resonated with him so deeply. The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 070 was recorded via Skype in London, San Francisco and Brooklyn on April 02, 2021.

In a new work by Lagos, Nigeria-based painter, Chidinma Nnoli, a woman stands and looks through to the viewer, or maybe she's even looking at a mirror and back to herself. The arches look familiar, a cross is in her hands, the gaze strong and knowing. The work is called did you sin today (pink walls), and in a slight moment, you could see the figure maybe smiling,  as if, yes, I have sinned and it's our little secret. In each of Nnoli's newest works for her debut solo show, To Wander Untamed, on view with Rele Gallery in Lagos at the time of this conversation, there is a coming of age story engrained in the figures. Nnoli said that with these works, “I just want to escape the conditioning." A powerful sentiment that is both so universal and so personal.    In the newest episode of the Radio Juxtapoz podcast, we speak to Nnoli about that escape, from Catholicism, art historical narratives, to the complicated history of power and authority in Nigeria. We speak about what it is to be a feminist in Nigeria in the 21st century, how the potential of social hierarchical evolutions are seen in her work and her own love of both traditional painting and contemporary abstraction. As the works themselves carry a powerful sense of mystery, Nnoli opens up about her own personal histories and how, at the young age of 22, her work is resonating on an international level that shows what feels like a personal escape is also one of the most universal feelings one can capture. The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 069 was recorded via Skype in London, San Francisco and Lagos on March 25, 2021. Subscribe to the Radio Juxtapoz podcast HERE

They may be faceless, but they are definitely not nameless. The works that painter, illustrator, designer and digital artist Melissa Koby has been shared, seen and loved without you maybe even knowing she was the artist behind the work. The Jamaican-born, Tampa, Florida-based artist has created an aesthetic so universal and so universally hers, she has created a collective spirit that she notes is a "safe space" in her bio, but feels almost like an international space of power and community. In a time of collective unease, with so many conversations coming to the forefront and at times, being had in such public manner, there is a something fascinated about speaking to an artist that is about creating in a time of social chaos, and being one of the synonymous with having people think outside of themselves. But of course, things haven't been all that smooth. Working with these bodies, she has had to emphasize and re-emphasize to clients the importance of her content and position POC in her works in that universal spirit. On the Radio Juxtapoz podcast, this isn't a conversation we have had over the past few years; how does an artist confront expectations in commercial while simultaneously owning her unique aesthetic. In this conversation, we learn a lot about those times when Koby's had to fight back on commercial work, how she is trying not to pigeonhole herself as a self-proclaimed "moody" artist and how to navigate the fast-paced and nonstop 21st century media ebbs and flows. The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 068 was recorded by Doug Gillen via Skype in London and Florida on March 17, 2021. Subscribe to the Radio Juxtapoz podcast HERE.

There are those moments in an interview where you know as soon as the subject has said something profound that it will become the centerpiece of their spotlight. In our conversation with Milwaukee-born, NYC-based painter Khari Turner, the Radio Juxtapoz team kept finding so many incredible words, messages, thoughts on art and life with Turner that it's almost impossible to give you one simple summary. He's a throwback in a lot of ways, but a fresh face on the contemporary art scene. His earliest influences were from his grandfather, who turned an art degree into a trade with his skill, and that allowed Khari to see that art could be an option as a career; just perhaps not fine art. But that is just the beginning of the journey. From a botched financial aid mishap to a scholarship and being a cheerleader at Austin Peay, working as one of those incredible high-flying stunt slam dunkers with the Milwaukee Bucks, to Columbia in NYC and now an emerging art career, these are just a few of the incredible stops along the way for Turner. But it was over the past few years, exploring the history of water as both an art material and historical signifier and means of transportation and navigation, Turner has created some of the most powerful paintings we have seen over the past 12 months. At first sight, they are stunning and moving, literally and figuratively. Dig deeper and Turner is working on something personal and universal, speaking about family and names, identity and home. On this episode of the Radio Juxtapoz podcast, Turner tells us of the unique route to his now burgeoning career, what he learned in art school, what he sees in water, growing up on Lake Michigan, how a residency in Venice Beach changed his trajectory, and the art of knowing how to fall. The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 067 was recorded via Skype in San Francisco, London and NYC on March 4, 2021.

We don't often have a guest on the Radio Juxtapoz podcast who is days away from opening a comprehensive survey of their work in a museum where they grew up. That is where we found Melbourne-based artist RONE this past week; prepping, experimenting and reminiscing while putting the final touches on his museum show at Geelong Gallery. Who wouldn't want to catch up with an artist on the week of a major milestone?    RONE has been at the forefront of new muralism movement of the 21st century with big, bold and highly detailed works that also translated into his studio paintings. In recent years, RONE has experimented with experiential installations, combining site-specific work with photography and narrative-based creations that audiences could walk into, touch and feel. Built around ideas of beauty and decay, RONE always captures a sense of physicality and scale, and speaks to our enduring relationships with the past while he consistently expands where his art can go next. On episode 066 of Radio Juxtapoz, RONE talks about the Geelong show, his pivot from murals, a new grant he was awarded and what that may mean for his dream projects. (hint, think a ghost town).    The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 066was recorded via Skype in San Francisco, London and Melbourne on February 10, 2021.  

There is so much going on in the painting of Suffolk, UK-based painter, Ania Hobson. At first glance they are portraits, people posing, leaning, conversing, in bars, bedrooms and in cars. But there are escapists fantasies and sense of almost being misunderstood in each work, like a conversation gone awry or a secret being told. The colors are bold. The facial expressions are often intense or contemplative. And in the end, you are entering Hobson's world that teeters between a sense of reality and that of a distant daydream.    After winning National Portrait Gallery’s BP Young Artist Award in 2018 for her work, "A Portrait of Two Female Painters," Hobson has been on the international radar as a new voice in contemporary portrait works. Her newest solo show at Catto Gallery in 2020 captured a mood we had all been experiencing: wishing for a bit of physical interaction in a year where every intimate was taking from us.    On the newest episode of the Radio Juxtapoz podcast (and ahead of her feature in our Spring 2021 Quarterly edition), Hobson gives us the story of her earliest memories of a creative life, her almost haunted and incredible studio space in an old US army base in the countryside of England, a potential move to London, her new Polish citizenship and the stories of the people and places in her stunning works. The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 065 was recorded via Skype in San Francisco and England on February 10, 2021.

There are people in your life you go to for some advice, some perspective, maybe even a little... real talk. Carissa Potter, the brilliant mind behind People I've Loved and a fine artist in her own right, is one of those people. Through a particularly bold vulnerability and honesty, she navigates both contemporary life and art with a sense of questioning, longing and introspection while simultaneously creating a collective sense of community with her audience. This is such a rare feat, and in a year of uncertainty and change, Potter's work spoke volumes.   In 2020, Potter help co-found If You Were Here Now, a platform that gave artists the opportunity to share their process and creative spirit when we all were looking for a little camaraderie. As Carissa and Radio Juxtapoz co-host Evan Pricco worked on a few projects over the last year, they sat down to talk about... well, what they talk about all the time together; drawing connections in art, understanding communication through the arts, those vulnerable moments of being exposed through art and just how the past 12 months have affected both their practices. The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 064 was recorded via Skype in the Bay Area in January 2021. 

It's amazing where the last year has taken us, but when we look at 12 month journey of Argentinian-born, Barcelona-based painter/muralist Franco "JAZ" Fasoli, it seems about right that we had an almost 90-minute conversation with our friend from a remote gas station/rest stop in the middle of the Argentinian countryside. Fasoli has been on the forefront of a generation of South American street and fine artists, most specifically of course, Buenos Aires artist who stormed the international scene with a unique blend of fine art muralism and bold studio works in the early years of an incredible global movement.    Now based in Spain, but in the midst of crazy year of exploration, experimentation and... being stuck, we caught up with Fasoli back in his home country on a bit of summer break. After a residency in North Carolina led to Fasoli living in Charlotte for an extra six months during the early months of the pandemic, he gave us the lowdown on living in the American south during a time of social turmoil and how it related to social upheavals in South America in his youth. We learn about his past in set design, graffiti, Tango Culture, muralism's infancy, OSGEMEOS' groundbreaking influence and why Barcelona works for him. We also get an in-depth look at Argentinian BBQ, summer in the country, the works he was able to complete at his rented studio in Charlotte and how he thinks we took our globe-trotting ways in the art world for granted. The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 063 was recorded via Skype from a gas station in Argentina, San Francisco, London, February 5, 2021.

We are back with a new season and new year of the Radio Juxtapoz podcast! And while we were at it, we wanted to talk to someone who was also celebrating some newness in 2021. We called up our friend Andrew Hosner, co-owner of Los Angeles-based gallery Thinkspace Projects, who recently himself opened a sprawling new space in LA. But of course, the caveat: nothing is really open right now, especially in California, and Hosner is on a bit of delay of that celebration; yes, a mega group show inaugurated the space, but we are all just waiting for that moment. when we can get together and properly kick this party off.  Yet, there is still so much to talk about with Andrew Hosner, who has been at the helm of Thinkspace for over 15 years now, and taken what was a small space into a major player in the New Contemporary movement (a little more on that name in the podcast) and pushing a slew of artists in the institutional conversation. His gallery continues to embody an element of Los Angeles that was a major part of the origins of Juxtapoz. And coming from the world of collecting himself before Thinkspace, he still gets excited about so many part of the process and the world he supports. In this emotional  conversation, we speak to Hosner about the evolution of LA's art scene, what made it so special in the early 00's and community-building in such a competitive landscape. We talk about the gallery's stance during last summer's activist renaissance, what better steps the art world can make towards a more inclusive future. He gives artists and collector insights on making the right decisions for a sustained career, and how he hopes Thinkspace can be that bridge to museum success. The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 062 was recorded via Skype from Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, January 15, 2021. 

It seems apt that in a year of so much turmoil, angst and chaotic worry that we would end 2020 on a street corner in Bronx, NYC. Much of Radio Juxtapoz' year took an interesting turn in NYC in March, as suddenly a pandemic had taken hold of the city while co-hosts Doug Gillen and Evan Pricco were producing podcasts for Armory Week. For what the world has gone through, and for what NYC endured in those early months, to be here talking to Steven Sweatpants as he was finishing up a photoshoot with the NY Knicks felt like we came to an incredible full circle odyssey. Steven "Sweatpants" Irby had one of those years that you talk about decades later. Already one of the editors of the wildly popular Street Dreams mag, he, like most of us, thought his 2020 would be on permanent pause. A few shoots, maybe, but nothing like what we saw this summer across America. With the George Floyd murder sparking protests in almost every city, Steven was assigned by the New Yorker to capture images of protests on the streets of his hometown of NYC, delving in as both a photojournalist, an activist and a man himself. His incredible photos were of someone embedded but with an eagle eye, participating himself but also capturing the mood of Black America and also of a unity that became the calling of many for the rest of this year. His work continued with the Washington Post, New York Magazine, and we at Juxtapoz featured him as both an artist and documentarian in our Winter 2021 issue. In this candid talk, Steven talks about his start in photography, his family and deep roots in NYC, how to be present and active during a protest, his particular camera toolkit, exuding confidence and the moment he knew he captured one of the great photos of 2020. The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 061 was recorded via Skype from NYC, San Francisco, London, December 11, 2020.

There was a moment in the new short documentary film on Fintan Magee, shot by Radio Juxtapoz alum Selina Miles, where he sums up 2020 quite perfectly. “There is too much chaos this year to string any common narratives, or maybe just chaos is the common narrative," he said on the precipice of opening his new solo show Nothing Makes Sense Anymore at Backwoods Gallery in Melbourne.  On the 2-year anniversary of the Radio Juxtapoz podcast, we wanted to talk to our good friend Fintan Magee about that chaos. For years, he has developed into one of the world's premier social realist muralists, and with the absence of lives being lived in public spaces over the last 9 months, Magee's practice had to change. We found him after his longest stint in the studio ever, as he normally spends months on the road away from home on mural projects and exhibitions. He hunkered down in Sydney with no plan, a show on the horizon... and just got to work. What we had was a deeply frank and personal conversation about changing methods, working alone, not criss-crossing the globe, maturing as an artist and rethinking what it means to be in a muralist in such a new atmosphere. Fintan spoke of how well Australians handled the pandemic, and at times felt like he was watching chaos from afar, as an observer. Even that observational scope made it into his studio life like never before. In a year where our lives have become more like Black Mirror than we ever thought possible, Fintan found a sense of domesticity and humanity in his routine. As we celebrate two years and 60+ episodes of Radio Juxtapoz, these conversations with friends, distant but still sharing, are what it's all about.  The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 060 was recorded via Skype from Melbourne, San Francisco, London, December 2, 2020. Nothing Makes Sense Anymore is on view at Backwoods, Melbourne through December 20, 2020. 

Over the course of our almost two years of bringing you the Radio Juxtapoz podcast, the core is looking at the stories and characters that have help shape the past, present and future of graffiti and street art. From Shepard Fairey, Martha Cooper, Felipe Pantone, Hyuro, Craig Costello, REVOK, Cleon Peterson, Dan Witz, Ron English, ESPO, Swoon... what all these episodes have in common in many ways is today's guest, curator Roger Gastman. For over 20 years, Gastman has been at the forefront of documenting, publishing and creating historical overviews of the history of two of the most popular art forms we cover. That graffiti and street art still resonates with audiences so deeply decades into their existence is, in part, a celebration of Gastman's work. In 2018, Gastman started Beyond the Streets, an exhibition that helped create a more linear narrative to what is an often complicated and storied history of art in the streets. Not only were the shows highlighting the graffiti and street artists that we have come to know today, but the show provided an opportunity to show just how widespread and impactful the vandal element of those forms has influenced contemporary art and culture. From Takashi Murakami, Guerrilla Girls and the Beastie Boys, you began to see how Beyond the Streets was more encompassing than past graffiti and street art shows. With exhibitions in both Los Angeles and Brooklyn in 2018 and 2019, Gastman was looking to take the show to new markets when the pandemic put a pause on everything.  For 2020, Beyond the Streets is a virtual art fair, streaming on the NTWRK APP December 5th & 6th, 2020, a two day art fair with  exclusive paintings, sculptures, editioned prints, skate decks, drawings, exclusive drops, and "thought-provoking discussions and panels though a series of videos curated by culture historian Roger Gastman." On this episode of Radio Juxtapoz, we get our own history of Gastman's love and interest in graffiti culture, how he grew to understand the often merging world of street art and how many pivotal moments over the past 50 years have allowed for a major pop-culture interest in Beyond the Streets. From his early days in Washington, DC, his work in publishing and now looking to expand BTS to international markets, this is just the beginning of Gastman's vision to keep graffiti and street art global.  The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 059 was recorded via Skype from Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, November 27, 2020. Beyond the Streets will be streaming on the NTWRK APP on December 5th & 6th, 2020.

It is, indeed, still life. Life is happening perhaps in new ways, and sometimes it seems like it's moving at a weird pace and a new anxiety may exist, but it is indeed, still life. Jillian Evelyn gave her newest solo show at Subliminal Projects one of the best titles of this crazy year (It's Still Life), and it may be her best body of work to date. Her characters feel more mature, each color and line choice so purposeful, and her take on minimalism has equated to a richer and full canvas. These works feel alive. Every angle and awkward pose, each vantage point and mundane gesture comes across as an artist working with directness and a fresh set of aesthetic tools at her disposable. Evelyn has proved that, even when our lives may technically have gone on pause, she is, indeed, still creating with a sense of vitality. We have been wanting to have Jillian on the Radio Juxtapoz podcast for years; she has been part of our Juxtapoz Clubhouses in Miami, been featured in our print edition and just all around fits into fine art we love to cover. It's Still Life feels like a maturation, a culmination of her unique and clean style mixed with art historical references and use of the female body throughout art history. From her days as a designer in footwear to her beginnings as a painter and muralist to now being able to fully spread her wings in Los Angeles, it's been a busy journey for Evelyn, and one that keeps evolving. In episode 058 of the Radio Juxtapoz podcast, we talk to Evelyn about how It's Still Life came to be and how many years it was in the making, growing up in Michigan, working as a designer in Boston, becoming a full-time painter in Los Angeles, deciding against grad school, the challenge of murals, and the new confidence she is finding in her practice. And... we have a Radio Juxtapoz first! Jillian's mom stops in for a quick update on how moms think of nudity in art and a little body humor.  The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 058 was recorded via Skype from Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, November, 62020. It's Still Live is on view at Subliminal Projects via appointment through December 20, 2020. Follow her at @jillian_evelyn

We often have those moments, the ones we literally denote as those where history stops for just one second to rewrite and reinvent itself. In America, you talk of 9/11, Pearl Harbor, Kennedy and MLK being shot, the night Obama was elected. This past Saturday may have been another, where the media call that Biden had won the electoral college sent seismic waves throughout the world. Those are instantaneous moments of history, where in a second, life is different. They are the rarest of times. Perhaps that is why we wanted to share this conversation the week after an election and period of time that is so dominated by instantaneous social media communication. On November 21, 2020, the Toledo Museum of Art will open Radical Tradition: American Quilts and Social Change, an exhibition that spans centuries and speaks to just how labor intensive oral history and physical storytelling can be. There is a beauty in the quilt, not only as an object of warmth and the process to create them, but as the museum notes "quilts have been used to voice opinions, raise awareness, and enact social reform in the U.S. from the mid-nineteenth century to the present." American history is so engrained in the history of quilts, from cotton production to the industrial revolution to civil rights, gender equality, queer rights, you tend to forget that these stories are not just part of an Outsider Art tradition but the very fabric of our lives. And how these two opposing words, "Radical" and "Tradition" are the hallmarks of how we grow and heal as a country in flux. From Gee's Bend quilts, the AIDS Memorial Quilt to the contemporary works of Bisa Butler, there is a lot to understand about the dynamics of quilts and their place in the pantheon of American art. In episode 057 of the Radio Juxtapoz podcast, we speak with Radical Tradition curator Lauren Applebaum of the Toledo Museum of Art on how the pandemic changed her daily life at the museum, the history of Outsider traditions in institutional arts, Toledo's unique history in art and the intricacies of curating an art show on radical traditions while the country itself was going through radical changes on streets across America. The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 057 was recorded via Skype from Toledo, San Francisco, London, October 27, 2020. Radical Tradition is on view at the Toledo Museum of Art in Toledo, Ohio starting on November 21, 2020.

There is something both immediately recognizable and yet completely original in the paintings of Icelandic-born, Chicago-based artist, Baldur Helgason. For us at Juxtapoz, it's a classic style and such a fascinating new tale to tell in the world of contemporary art. Part comics but also deeply personal, Baldur is part of a new generation of painters who are both satirist and fine artists, what we noted in a feature last year as " sardonic references to modern life with both humor and a haunting hit of foreboding." But what we learn in episode 056 of the Radio Juxtapoz podcast is how Baldur has broken tradition with the more landscape, ethereal and abstract work of Icelandic painters before him into fresh new territory that combines his childhood and his formative years in San Francisco as an art student and now Chicago-based painter. The last few years have been successful; just this year he has had solo shows in Los Angeles, Iceland and now, currently, in London at Ramp Gallery. We asked about how figurative works fit into the Icelandic art historical lexicon (yes, we asked about trolls), but also how a tiny island country has been able to support and nurture such talent with such a small population. Iceland is, indeed, a special place. We also spoke to Baldur about how San Francisco shaped him, how COVID and being stuck inside changed his muse (its now his wife) and why he is heading back to Iceland for the foreseeable future. In a year of transitions, Baldur is making one of the biggest moves of all. The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 056 was recorded via Skype from Chicago, San Francisco, London, October 20, 2020. Follow Baldur at @baldur_helgason. His solo show, Assortments, is on view at Ramp Gallery in London through November 22, 2020.

In recent weeks, and even in the hours before Radio Juxtapoz got on the phone with our friend and Nigerian-based hyperrealist artist, Arinze Stanley, we were reading and watching as peaceful protests against police brutality in Lagos and other cities had turned to turmoil and chaos as forces began attacking its citizens. In the 24 hours before we recorded this podcast, the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) had open-fired on protestors, resulting in death, lockdowns, curfews and more confusion and unrest. Arinze is supposed to be celebrating a wonderful year. His solo show with Corey Helford Gallery has just opened and his following has grown exponentially since the beginning of 2020. And here we were. Not only did Arinze give us an update on the conditions right now in Lagos, but the history of government violence and social justice protests in Nigeria against SARS, and the complicated past, present and future for Nigerians as they seek reforms. But, there is his art, and how dramatic it is. There are the technical aspects of being a hyperrealist drawer that can be both awe-inspiring and incredibly vivid. One of the traits that the genre can often lack is humanity; the skill is so apparent that the message is lost. Lagos-based Arinze Stanley is one of the great exceptions to the rules. Humanity is at the core of his work, how one sees the self and others, and as he explains it, his work is as much about the Nigerians understanding Nigerians than it is the rest of the world peeking in.    In this wide-ranging conversation, Arinze tells us of his own personal experiences with SARS, how developing and emerging technology has helped empower the youth of Nigeria, how his hyperreal works have influenced more artists in his country and how his own works have evolved. He give poignant views on America's own issues with race and how it relates to Nigeria, but also a hopeful message of staying in Lagos and completing his goal of participating in, and inspiring, real lasting change.    The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 055 was recorded via Skype from Lagos, San Francisco, London, October 21, 2020. Follow Arinze at @arinze

A few years ago when we published our first interview with East German-born, London-based painter and almost mythical figure Super Future Kid, our deputy editor Kristin Farr asked the artist what her superpowers were. We will never forget the answer: "To be incredibly childish and yet able to do all the grown up stuff." That has stuck with us. As an artist with the incredible gift of making her paintings look almost digital and yet definitely hand-painted, who has created characters with almost hype-color characteristics and unmistakable details in her presentation, Super Future Kid has carved out one of the most singular and individualistic careers in the art world.    And yet no matter how far she goes and acclaimed she may be, Super Future Kid has a creative energy and sense of wonderment that is infectious. Born in East Germany in the early 1980s, she claims she never saw color until the Wall came down.  She says, "I spent the first eight years of my life not knowing that there was a universe of colors, toys and all kinds of fun things waiting for me on the other side of the Wall. I had a great childhood but it got a massive upgrade after November ’89!" This detail is essential in understanding the universe she has created. These characters and colors are an extension of how incredible the impression that cartoons, candy, toys, animations, films had on her at a young age. That sudden culture shock, is, what we learned in this podcast, still a major influence and driving force her work today.    For this episode of Radio Juxtapoz, we spoke with Super Future Kid from her studio in London as she had just sent a new body of work, Seaweed Sunrise, to Hong Kong for a solo show at Over the Influence. Of course, the conversation ranged from the disappointment of not being able to attend her opening, and the challenges that Covid has had on her year. But we also dug deep into her memories of East Germany, how pop-culture surprised and inspired her works, how she was influenced by Neo Rauch and how making work under a moniker has allowed her to be even more creative. The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 054 was recorded via Skype from San Francisco and London, October 2, 2020. Follow Super Future Kid @superfuturekid

It's a new season here at Radio Juxtapoz, and where we were hoping that Fall would bring back art openings and a sense of normalcy to our already tumultuous year, we are still a bit in flux. This month we released our newest Fall 2020 Quarterly edition with cover artist Bisa Butler, whose phenomenal and critically-acclaimed year has also become a symbol of the transitions Americans have experienced with social activism and social justice this past summer. The murders of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd have sparked a worldwide movement and moment of reckoning about how society treats people of color and the dominant histories that denied Black Americans a voice for a better future. With social media and the power of technology helping push new powerful narratives and ways to engage with the BLM movement, we look to one of the most antiquated and handmade of the arts, the quilt, as the centerpiece of this episode. Bisa Butler is a textile artist, whose quilts appear like paintings with their incredible details and patters and almost life-like features. And yet her figures and the stories she tells, from the attire of her characters to an iconic image of Frederick Douglass, are about a re-telling of American history. The people lost to our distant memories or stories never told that helped shape our society and the ways we perceive what it is to be American, Butler is literally re-stitching that history on elegant thread at a time. As Jewels Dodson so eloquently wrote in our cover story, "Bisa Butler’s work has elevated the quilt and innovated the portrait, creating a formidable seat for them at the table of contemporary art. She has brought the black historical narrative and imagery of the past back into focus. At a time where black people’s humanity can be stolen in 8 minutes and 46 seconds and broadcast for all the world to see, Butler’s work is a much needed reminder that the lives of Black people always have and always will matter." In this conversation, Juxtapoz editor Evan Pricco and Butler discuss how a year of triumph in a year of pain has shaped the artist, how and where she sources her materials, her evolving relationship with textiles, how the pandemic changed her year, how the art world has evolved with more Black artists and just the overwhelming moment of America in transition. The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 053 was recorded via Skype from San Francisco and New Jersey, September 7, 2020. Follow Bisa Butler @bisabutler

As an artist or creative known around the world for a thing—a style, icon, color scheme, character—you may be held or beholden to that aesthetic because of viewer pressure or even financial concerns. Knowing the Low Bros, the Hamburg-based duo (yes, yes, they are, indeed, brothers), they have a particular iconography and body of work that is so instantly recognizable, so sought after for murals, installations and exhibitions that we almost tend to take it for granted. A mixture of clean skate graphics, plays on 3D imagery and broadening scope when it comes to interactive installations, the Low Bros have established themselves as one of Europe's great duos that were born out counter-culture scenes and grown into hallmarks on the evolutions of street art practices. And yet this summer, as they were preparing their new solo show, CON.TXT, now on view at Urban Spree in Berlin, and with the George Floyd murder dominating the streets of America and moving toward Europe's own social activist and justice narratives and needs for change, the Low Bros began to change the scope of their work. With an instant change to monochromatic images on their social media accounts, the process seeped into their work for CON.TXT.  The show  became not just the Low Bros own relationship to race and their  understanding of their white privilege (and in some cases,  our collective lack of understanding) but Germany's own conversations regarding race the Black Lives Matter movement and the evolution of social justice reforms in their home country. Influenced by the book Exit Racism by Tupoka Ogette and Robin DiAngelo’s White Fragility, Low Bros  partnered with IDB's (Institute for Non-Discriminatory Education) Josephine Apraku and Jule Bönkost for the exhibition. As the Bros and Urban Spree noted, the partnership served as "an educational starting point, this exhibition aims to amplify and continue the conversation surrounding white privilege and asks questions of how it can be better utilized in institutions, as well as private & public spaces. While the search for answers is ongoing, the artworks aim is to highlight the problems of unchecked whiteness, especially when it is being recognized as a default perspective in society. By debunking the concept of privileges and problems, the context of this exhibition aims to engage whiteness as an ally to the BIPOC community." Today on Radio Juxtapoz we speak with Low Bros from Berlin as their show was opening, as well as share an in-depth conversation with IDB's Josephine Apraku about the evolution of the show, collaboration and the history of the brothers aesthetic through the years. As 3x Juxtapoz Clubhouse installation participants, the Low Bros are extended family.  We are so excited to share their process and new direction on the Radio Juxtapoz podcast. The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 052 was recorded via Skype from San Francisco/London/Berlin, August 12, 2020. Follow Low Bros at @lowbros

Dan Witz is a pioneer man in so many ways, and has lived so many different lives that speaking with him in any setting that isn't 6 hours would prove to be difficult. He was painting Baroque style realism at Cooper Union in the late 1970s when Neo-Expressionism was becoming the craze, was painting hummingbirds and doing street art in lower Manhattan when graffiti was becoming part of an art mainstream consciousness, was a Punk when Hip Hop was taking over NYC and was painting his iconic "mosh pits" when no one would dare touch realism again. Now in 2020, he is back with political street art, in the belly of the beast in the battleground states with powerful messages about the Trump administrations diabolical policies toward immigrant families at the border between Mexico and the USA. And every step of the way, the Brooklyn-based Witz is ahead of the curve. His most pit and rave paintings are iconic, his hummingbirds and small scale street art works the same, but what makes Witz such a fascinating interview is not only how long he has been at it, but the multiple genres and mediums he has worked in. From music and photography, street art activism to fine art painting, Witz  hasn't shied away from exploring all the avenues of creativity, and discovered an underbelly of Americana in the process. In the 51st episode of the Radio Juxtapoz podcast, we find Witz at home after trips to the midwest, fresh off his #isitsafe street project and stories to tell. From his research at a Trump rally, to documenting mosh pits with camera in hand and transforming them into beautiful energy on canvas, to seeing the chaos and uncertainty of America this summer to surviving Punk style in Manhattan in the 1980s and 90s, this is one of our favorite podcasts ever. The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 051 was recorded via Skype from San Francisco/London/Brooklyn, July 30, 2020. Follow Dan Witz at @danwitzstreetart

It's not everyday you get to celebrate a few milestones on a podcast, but here we are: Radio Juxtapoz not only has its 50th episode to share but our first trip up north to the good people of Toronto, Canada and our guest this week, Maria Qamar, aka Hatecopy. To call us mega-fans of the Toronto-based author and artist is an understatement. That Qamar has taken the comic book cel and transformed it into a bold, Bollywood style, humorous and honest portrayal of Desi culture in the 21st century makes her one of the most unique voices in contemporary art. As she "virtually" opened her newest solo show, ME, MERASELF & I, with Richard Taittinger in NYC this summer, we decided to finally catch up with the painter to discuss a wide-range of topics, from her career in marketing and advertising, to her first forays into painting and her growing up in a post 9/11 suburb of Toronto that helped shape her content she makes today. Born in Karachi, Pakistan to a Bangladeshi father and Indian mother, Qamar's career has been a modern look at the Desi culture as well as modern look at immigration from Asia to North America. By using the comic book style, her works are personal stories and overarching narratives of contemporary life in one of the most diverse cities in the world in Toronto. By mixing the aesthetics of Roy Lichtenstein paintings and what she has called Indian soap opera style dialogue, her works have continued to bring a new generation of South Asia artists to the forefront and into the contemporary art landscape. And there may have been a K-Pop fan account, a food blog and a best friend call out in this podcast... The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 050 was recorded via Skype from San Francisco/London/Toronto, July 21, 2020. Follow Maria Qamar at @hatecopy

Just one look at curator and cultural visionary Larry Ossei-Mensah's "LinkTree" on his Instagram, and you can see the breadth of what the man is working on. And this was supposed to be the year for the "collective pause"! A break! As the co-founder of ARTNOIR and curator of various exhibitions, fundraisers and projects, the Ghanaian-American Mensah is an example of how independent curators and art's organizers can utilize their talents and skill set in a year that has had in the art world curious and wondering what to do next. From the pandemic to the immense spark created by the George Floyd murder, this contemporary art world needs new voices and relentless visionaries, and in many ways, individuals who can break down the almost "fantasy narrative" that is built around a curator. You know, that conversation you have had at a gallery when someone says they are a curator and you want to know what that entails and you want to be one, too. Mensah is the perfect art world navigator for these uncertain times. In this wide-ranging interview, the Bronx-based Mensah talks to the Radio Juxtapoz podcast about how he got started in curation, his early forays into organizing art shows in Brooklyn and his ambitious projects that he has on display from anywhere to the web pages of Artsy to the halls of MOCAD in Detroit with the recent Peter Williams exhibition. His story is not just about what means to be an art lover with a good idea, but how to tell stories through curation, how to better equip the art world with new vision and voices from artists around the world and how to still be as active as possible as the art world itself goes through a transition. Mensah also talks about his recent foray into making art himself, and how cooking helped him through the earliest months of the pandemic. The conversation is both a blueprint for a younger generation to be involved in the arts, but also how to engage with contemporary art on every level. If you can't travel the world in 2020, you can still globetrot through the arts, and Mensah is the guide. The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 049 was recorded via Skype from San Francisco/London/Bronx, July 2, 2020. Follow Larry Ossei-Mensah at @youngglobal

Absurdist reality. This is probably the best way to sum up 2020. You put your head down, phone down and take a nap and 20 minutes later you have Kanye West running for president, Donald Trump spending 15 minutes on leather bottom shoes and the twists and turns of a global pandemic that is shifting the way we experience public life. Almost nothing about our life 10 years ago even exists now as we slide further and further into a digital reality, and we ponder what comes with this evolution as we try and make sense of, and experience, truth and reality. Within our new technological and digital lives is a lot of misunderstanding. How does big tech mine our personal information, what is a deep fake, what are my rights and what are the laws that protect me. One of the artists who is challenging this lack of understanding is British artist, Bill Posters, an activist who spent years on the streets with his "Subvertising" interventions and now famous the world over for Spectre and his series of Deep Fakes that portrayed the likes of Mark Zuckerberg, Donald Trump, Kim Kardashian and others as true-tellers of the 21st Century. As most certainly... they are not.  "My work is about raising awareness of human rights and critically interrogating power relations between corporations, governments, people and the artist," Posters told us earlier this year in our Summer 2020 Quarterly. "With deep fakes, you are operating ethically in a difficult space. There are insufficient laws in place to appropriately protect people’s personal data." In this wide-ranging and engaging conversation, Radio Juxtapoz spoke with Posters to learn how graffiti informed his subversive works on the street in the form of Subvertising and Brandalism, how he began to critique and utilize tech in his practice and the ways that activism can create empowerment in the face of Big Tech. "I also think that deep fakes are the perfect art form for our absurdist reality," Posters says... and he couldn't be any more correct. The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 048 was recorded via Skype from San Francisco/London/Manchester, July 2, 2020. Follow Bill Posters @bill_posters_uk

"It’s important to talk about why I make the paintings I do, and why there is a focus on ensuring that within each painting, the black figure is central," Queens-based painter Marcus Brutus told the Juxtapoz team back in the Spring 2020 Quarterly issue. "However, I don’t want to focus too much on specific histories or specific events because I think it then takes precedence in the conversation around the work. To me, these are really just images of humanity. The only politics about them is the fact that I’ve uniquely used black figures. But they’re just scenes of everyday life, everyday situations." When we initially became aware of the works of Marcus Brutus, through gallery shows with Harper's Books and their subsequent book/catalog of Brutus' works, The Uhmericans, there was something so quietly elegant and yet so perfectly connected with the issues of social and political turmoil in the United States that we wanted to investigate further. What we found was a self-taught artist who returned home to Maryland after a stint in marketing in NYC and found himself compelled to create figurative paintings that told the story of everyday existence as a person of color in America. Immediately, the subtle storytelling of the paintings caught the attention of the fine art world, and Brutus began to showcase these unique works to a broader audience. In the vein of Jacob Lawrence and a more literal interpretation of Robert Frank's The Americans, Brutus entered a long standing tradition of portraiture, with elements of social realism, in American art. On this episode of the Radio Juxtapoz podcast, Juxtapoz editor Evan Pricco speaks with Brutus about the origins of his painting career, these subtle political qualities in his work and how the recent protests around America will affect his paintings. Also, co-hosts Doug Gillen and Pricco speak at length about how the art world has responded to the George Floyd murder. The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco.  Episode 047 was recorded via Skype from San Francisco/London/NYC, June 11, 2020. Follow Marcus Brutus at @marcusjbrutus

If there was ever a Juxtapoz Hall of Fame, James Jean would be a first ballot inductee. Everything this magazine has stood for, whether it be reinventing the comic book form, learning the expertise of illustration, commercial design and projects to channeling all those skills and benchmarks into a fine art career, James Jean has carried the torch like few other artists of his time. He's massively popular, with museum shows now opening across Asia, famous clients and a one-of-a-kind ability to paint entire worlds onto a single canvas. His imagination and way of internalizing stories and narratives into lush, bright and bold paintings continues to marvel. Yes, there are a ton of extraordinary compliments we could give the 3x cover artist.  The Taiwanese-born, New Jersey-raised and now Los Angeles-based painter has a career arch that is so fascinating to listen to. From award-winning comic book artist, to a career altering collaboration with Prada to his latest Eternal Journey exhibition at the Lotte Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea that opened in 2019, Jean has rewritten his own artistic path in multiple ways since he left the comic world 2006. And he still finds time to throw in a movie poster every now and again. Radio Juxtapoz caught up with James Jean in the midst of a pandemic and slight change in his schedule. Eternal Journey's opening in Beijing was pushed back, a new book slated for the summer delayed as well. But he himself was still busy in the studio, fresh with new commissions and what he calls a good pause for his to focus on the new works. In this wide-ranging conversation, we talk about his first forays into comic book covers, the bold move to leave it behind, advice from Takashi Murakami, how he always considered himself a painter and how his practice is a process of internalizing everything he sees (and hears) around him. The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco.  Episode 046 was recorded via Skype from San Francisco/London/Los Angeles, May 22, 2020. Follow James Jean at @jamesjeanart

Blame (or credit) Covid-19, but it’s as if, more than ever, we are attracted, and thus connected, by a good story. Many of us have spent the last 10 or so weeks attached to the news, or reports from far away places told through IG stories, and even though we may feel cloistered in place, if we seek them, there are connections to be made. In a vast terrain that comprises the 3,000 miles traversing America,  there seems to be worlds within a world, countries within a country, all with experiencing ranges of interaction or isolation ... and everything in between. For one physician living in the Navajo Nation in northeast Arizona, life has been an ongoing epic, but in a time of confusion and uncertainty, his life's work appears more in focus. This week on the Radio Juxtapoz podcast, we speak with Chip Thomas, doctor, activist, street artist, organizer and in so many ways a collective storyteller, who has spent the last 30+ years living and working in the Navajo Nation. From his early childhood years in North Carolina, attending a Quaker school in the Smoky Mountains, to medical school and eventual travels around the globe, Thomas's lifelong interest and participation in the arts has gone hand-in-hand with his work as a doctor. His practice now focuses on physical health, as he incorporates psychological health, utilizing public art as a prescription for positive mental outlook and participation with the community. Through a career-spanning conversation, we talk about Thomas's early love of the graffiti and hip-hop scenes of NYC, a chance bike ride through Africa that inspired annual travel, discovering the potential of street art in South America and how collaborations with Icy & Sot, Monica Canilao and others have brought international art to the Four Corners region of the USA. We talk about how the coronavirus has ravaged the Navajo people and how his practice has expanded beyond his office walls. Throughout this podcast, Thomas's stories reaffirm our belief that, deep down, the implementation of the arts into daily lives creates an essential, healthy dialogue. And, simply, it creates a crucial connection to the place we live. For more information about some of the organizations that Chip mentions in this podcast, visit www.kinlanimutualaid.org and navajohopisolidarity.org The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco.  Episode 045 was recorded via Skype from San Francisco/London/Navajo Nation, May 9, 2020. Follow Chip Thomas at @jetsonorama

There is a controversy that will surround works based on violence and war. For Cleon Peterson, the story of his works are as old as time. The powerful abuse power create false narratives and press us  a sense of authority that is often violent and sometimes subconscious. Cleon's work balances that explicitness with a sense of timelessness and historical overview. We don't know what eras these atrocities, but they still feel familiar. But with his 2018 solo show, Blood & Soil,  there was marked change in Cleon's approach: he began to find a literalness that was not in his previous paintings. Channeling the likes of Goya, Washington monuments and Donald Trump emerged. Where Cleon felt like his paintings worked best in metaphor, there was no longer a vagueness to be had. There was something real in front of him, a theater of war happening in America and the world that changed Cleon's work. And yet throughout our Radio Juxtapoz conversation with the Seattle-born, Los Angeles-based painter, there was a personal uncertainty to create work that was without allegory. We talked at length about this shift, about how the epidemic has brought him back to the studio alone to begin to focus on new directions. We talked about his childhood connection to the amazing painter, Jacob Lawrence, and how Lawrence's narrative works inspired a young Cleon. And we address Cleon's relationship to street art, and how a controversy with a  fellow artist in late 2019 has not been discussed until now. It's a lively and insightful conversation, one with one of contemporary art's most-talked about artists. The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco.  Episode 044 was recorded via Skype from San Francisco/London/Los Angeles, April 28, 2020. Follow Cleon Peterson at @cleonpeterson

We have spent a lot of time over the past few weeks talking about humanity, and in many ways it's a conversation about our relationship to the natural world around us. Climate change and the ways we traverse and use our Earth has been the most important issue our lifetimes, a real-time global event that we see in melting ice caps, rising seas, massive fires, droughts and extreme weather hitting every region of our world. For that reason alone, talking to an artist like NY-based Zaria Forman, whose life work is to "convey the urgency of climate change" and "recreate the wonder of the natural world" is vital. She has been on personal and scientific journeys to Greenland, Antarctica, the Arctic and the Maldives to observe and create artwork, and has worked closely with the likes of National Geographic and NASA as an artist-in-residence to help create a visual language for climate change. When COVID-19 took hold of the world, we wanted to talk to Forman about her lifelong relationship with painting natural landscapes. "Drawing" painstakingly with pastels over massive paper works, she focuses on the beauty as opposed to destruction, developing a relationship with the viewer that is about love and care of our resources. By appealing to our emotions through painting beautiful landscapes , Forman believes we can enact action of what is at stake for all of us. And that is why we wanted to talk to Forman, on an April afternoon in the midst of shelter-in-place, as her own city of NY was so heavily impacted by the coronavirus. Her perspective and access to the far reaches of Earth are both wise and her temperament is positive. We talked about her career as an artist, how her mother's dedication as a nature photographer continues to drive Forman today and how her interactions with scientists and experts in the field has come to shape her understanding of climate change. Her works are stunning reminders of what we could lose in this fight, and yet she finds so much to be proud of from the even slight changes humanity as made in recent years. The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco.  Episode 043 was recorded via Zoom from San Francisco/London/NY states, April 16, 2020. Follow Zaria Forman at @zarialynn

"You can't steal everything," Craig Costello says, as he recounts his years in both Queens and San Francisco in the 1980s and 1990s. In many ways, Costello is right. As a graffiti writer, photographer and all around innovator, Costello, also known as KR and, of course, now known as the man behind the KRINK brand of markers and inks for not only graffiti, but fine art practices as well, has been at the forefront of multiple ways of underground culture emerging into public consciousness. These moments and stories are captured in the new book, KRINK: Graffiti, Art, and Invention, and in many ways, the title says it all. Radio Juxtapoz caught up with Costello from his home on Long Island in the midst of a pandemic, but a moment where all of us are being a bit nostalgic and mindful. Costello talked about the intricacies of NYC graffiti in the 1980s, the early rise of Mission School artists out of SFAI in San Francisco in the early 1990s and the slow evolution of his own practice that led to the now famous drip aesthetic he would go on to perfect in NYC back in the early 2000s. There is so much history in this talk; from subway cars to Barry McGee's innovative street work, a love of photography to early beginnings of ALIFE on the Lower East Side. ESPO, IRAK, Os Gemeos, KAWS, Revs + Cost... the stories, the materials, the style... it's all here. Subscribe to the Radio Juxtapoz podcast HERE. The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco.  Episode 042 was recorded via Skype from San Francisco/London/NY, April 8, 2020. KRINK: Graffiti, Art, and Invention is published by Rizzoli, and available now.

A few weeks ago, before the doors opened for the second day of the Armory Show, we tucked ourselves on a quiet mezzanine to complete our last in a series of three podcasts from the revered art fair. The mood in the city was beginning to take shape: the Coronavirus began to dominate every discussion, and yet in this early morning, we were able to sit down with NYC-based painter/sculpture artist, Austin Lee, long a friend of the magazine and celebrating a solo booth with Jeffrey Deitch in the pier down the hall from us. We've known Austin for years: he's been featured in the magazine and also a major part of our Juxtapoz x Superflat exhibitions in Seattle and Vancouver with Takashi Murakami. His highly intricate-yet-appearing-lo-fi works have always astounded us. They feel so original and yet so playful, a tad sinister and loose. But we learn over the course of this conversation with Radio Juxtapoz, is that these works are time-consuming, polished and rely heavy on a special technique that Austin has been perfecting for years. These paintings and sculptures show what a generation of artists inspired by early digital technologies such as iPaint, Paintbrush or other applications of the late 1990s and early 2000s have come to create in a contemporary art context. What we love from this conversation is just how excited Austin has been, from his years at Yale to the present, with the use of technology and exploration in his practice. Subscribe to the Radio Juxtapoz podcast HERE. The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco.  Episode 041 was recorded live in New York City at Pier 90, March 6, 2020. Thank you to The Armory Show for the support.

What a difference a week makes? Or in some cases, an hour makes. At the beginning of March, on a quiet Friday morning before the doors opened at Pier 90 for the Armory Show in NYC, we sat down with London-born, Amsterdam-based painter Esiri Erheriene-Essi. She had a new series of paintings in the Galerie Ron Mandos booth, her feature in Juxtapoz's Spring 2020 quarterly was just released and she was fresh off a stunning show at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. Things were supposed to be well, a joyous moment in the emerging artists career. And yet, on the horizon, and we could feel it especially that morning, the Coronavirus was going to be an era-defining, global narrative that could alter the way we looked at history and the future. In many ways, that made speaking with Esiri so vital. Her work is about a reexamination of a collective history, literally building a vast collection of archival and found photography to reimagine as a vibrant figurative painting. There is a beautiful observation in Esiri's bio: "She is interested a great deal by history – in particularly images, objects, and documents which we can return to, in order to examine both individual and shared memories and histories. She doesn’t look at history as something that refers only to the past, on the contrary, she sees history as a great and forcible power that we all unconsciously carry within us, are controlled by in many ways and are present in all that we do."  Little did we know a few months ago, but work that felt so relevant and powerful is now even more essential. Our 3-part series live from the Armory Show sees Radio Juxtapoz speaking with Esiri about growing up in London, what it was like to have Nigerian roots in such a diverse city, her move to Amsterdam, how she collects found photography and what being a mother has meant to her schedule as one of the most important emerging figurative painters in the world today. The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco.  Episode 040 was recorded live in New York City at Pier 90, March 6, 2020. Thank you to The Armory Show for the support.

Yes, these are complicated times. In a weird way, this Radio Juxtapoz podcast conversation marks a turning point in perhaps human history. A few weeks back, as coronavirus was just entering the American landscape and already taking hold in Europe and Asia, we went to a 72nd floor on the tip of Manhattan to the Anchor offices to record a podcast with Juxtapoz Spring 2020 cover artist, Ana Benaroya. Perhaps it's fitting? Benaroya is part of a new generation of painters that is redefining the gallery space with figuration and narrative storytelling that is a breath of fresh air in contemporary art. Her influences include cartoons and zine culture, but she is also working under the inspiration of some of the giants of the art world: Nicole Eisenman, Tom of Finland, Keith Haring, Robert Colescott, Joan Mitchell, Helen Frankenthaler, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Henri Matisse, to name a few. But her aesthetic is her own, and her newest solo show at Richard Heller Gallery in Santa Monica is a unique combination of a world she has created that combines music, history, fantasy, sexuality and play all in one show.    In this conversation, Radio Juxtapoz hosts Doug Gillen and Evan Pricco talk to Benaroya about her experiences between art school and grad school, what she had to relearn at Yale, about being a young gay artist in context with art history, her love of Celine Dion and how she wants to be part of the art historical lexicon.    The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco.  Episode 039 was recorded live in New York City at the Anchor offices, March 4, 2020. Thank you to Jessica Angeles at Anchor/Spotify for the support.

As part of our 3-part Radio Juxtapoz special at The Armory Show 2020, we sit down with Philadelphia-based fine artist and teacher, Mark Thomas Gibson.    We first became aware of Mark's biting and often slyly humorous looks at both contemporary life and American history through a comic book aesthetic, frame-by-frame stories in fine art form. Born in South Florida with a post-graduate degree at Yale (where he was also an instructor before moving to Philly to work at Temple), Gibson's work is so perfectly stated by M+B Gallery: Gibson's painting "stems from his multipartite viewpoint as an artist—as a black male, a professor, an American history buff and comic book aficionado."    On the occasion of our series at The Armory Show in NYC, Radio Juxtapoz sat down with Mark Thomas Gibson on an early morning before the fair doors opened to talk about his solo booth with M+B, the changing dynamics of not only his work but the overall landscape of contemporary art and how the comic book was his first love.    The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco.   Subscribe to the Radio Juxtapoz podcast HERE.     Episode 038 was recorded live in New York City at Pier 90, March 5, 2020. Thank you to The Armory Show for the support. 

Graffiti, and Street Art for that matter, have been analyzed so much over the past few decades for both its content and social impact as both vandalism at times, and now, for the most part, as the seeds for urban development. Whether 6-story figurative murals or a tag caught on a rolldown, art made on the streets as many different roles to play and stories to tell. But when it comes to the work of Valencia, Spain-based artist, Felipe Pantone, there is something else happening. There is a combination of analyzing and intersecting our digital lives with the spaces we live in and around. From works in public that look like gigantic digital glitches to his paintings and interactive sculptures that almost align more with Op Art than they do with traditional street and graffiti art, Pantone is a bit of an enigma in the contemporary art world.  Fresh off this newest solo show, BIG TIME DATA, on view at RGR in Mexico City, Radio Juxtapoz co-host, Doug Gillen, made his way to Spain to catch with Pantone to break down the state of work and the ideas behind "big data." What Pantone shares with Radio Juxtapoz is the idea that more and more galleries and curators should invest more in artist's with concepts than an over emphasis on refined figuration. An artist with an experimental passion and now an internationally recognized star, we are excited to share this conversation with Felipe Pantone. The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by Fifth Wall TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 037 was recorded live in Valencia, Spain, February 13, 2020. 

Homeless is the latest project from artist and past Radio Juxtapoz guest, Axel Void and his ongoing residency, Void Projects. In association with Fifth Wall TV's and Radio Juxtapoz co-host Doug Gillen, Homeless offers an intimate insight to life inside Axel Void's Miami residency. Over a period of two weeks, Miami based artist Alejandro Dorda invites roughly 15 artists from around the world to stay in his house to eat, sleep and create together. Throughout the experience the artists are asked to explore their relationship to concept of "home" through their work. The residency culminates with the house transformed into a very special kind of exhibition. The aim is to create quality shows outside of the conventional art scene, cutting the middlemen, galleries or institutions. Favoring the direct dialogue from the artist to the public. For this second edition of Homeless, Void Projects proposes a show and residency formed by local, national and international, classical painters. As well as live music, gastronomy and installations. The works will be presented with in a quotidian home environment. It is a old house built in the 1920's situated in North Miami just outside of the wall that divides Miami Shores, a upper class neighborhood from a working class area of unincorporated Miami-Dade. The concept of this collective show is to talk about the idea of a home from a political, social or personal viewpoint. Addressing this idea based on cultural heritage, identity and patriotism. This is a special Radio Juxtapoz, and for episode 036, Doug Gillen finds out what home means to an artist, but physically and metaphorically. 

Pop Surrealism has a special place in our hearts as Juxtapoz Magazine, whether it be the special universes created by Mark Ryden, Todd Schorr, Audrey Kawasaki or even Marion Peck, but how the city of Los Angeles helped shape that narrative. Yes, an essential part of the story of Pop Surrealism is Los Angeles, the heartbeat of entertainment but also a place of experimentation and grand ideas. At the core of this story is gallerist Merry Karnowsky, who since 1997, has supported and help evolve a scene that was once her backyard and now has become an international art movement. From Ryden, Shepard Fairey, Greg "Craola" Simkins, Camille Rose Garcia and Mel Kadel, Merry Karnowsky Gallery (now KP Projects) has held it down in West Los Angeles for nearly 25 years. Not just an art gallery, Karnowsky's openings saw a combination of celebrities and LA nightlife that is legendary, long before the world of art, music and Hollywood existed so seamless as they do today. The Radio Juxtapoz podcast talks to Merry about those early years, the evolution of the scene and the unique history of underground culture of Los Angeles. The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by Fifth Wall TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 035 was recorded live at DesigerCon 2019. 

If there was ever a piece of art history that Juxtapoz likes to know more about, its Outsider Art. We could always use a crash-course, a 101 if you will, on the genre and its place in what know about not only outsider cultures in general, but creating artwork with no knowledge of the structures of the art world. From the Jean Dubuffet coining the term Art Brut in the 1940s to Roger Cardinal in the 1970s bringing the term "Outsider Art" to prominence, there has been an enduring if not increasingly complicated relationship between the genre and the institutional art world. Can Outsider Art remain, well, Outsider, when shown in museums and placed into the history books?  Today on Radio Juxtapoz, we talk to gallerist and curator, Andrew Edlin, not only of his namesake gallery on the Lower East Side but the owner of the increasingly influential and popular Outsider Art Fair, taking place in NYC from January 16-19, 2020 at the Metropolitan Pavilion. We talk to Edling about the growth of the fair (not only in NYC but a Paris show as well has been going strong since 2013), how Outsider Art is properly defined, a bit of the anxious and unpredictable future of the genre as it becomes more and more enshrined in museums around the world and how Juxtapoz's origins fit into the Outsider Art canon.  Radio Juxtapoz is hosted by Fifth Wall TV"s Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. 

When we look back on over 25 years of Juxtapoz Magazine, there is a huge chunk of our editorial influence that comes from underground comics and character development and how that has found its way into fine art. Alex Pardee is the perfect embodiment of this movement. A 2x cover artist (and 2x full-issue curator) has started a brand (Zerofriends), has done film and television development, made products and prints, gained an international following that rivals the biggest names in art and is an accomplished painter with exhibitions around the world. The Radio Juxtapoz team (for DesignerCon, our host was Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco)  caught Mr Pardee at DesignerCon this past November, and in many ways, found him at a crossroads as well an entire movement at a crossroads. What is the underground? What are collectibles? What is fandom? As the Los Angeles-based artist straddles so many worlds (and his newest paintings are surreal and beautifully monster-esque reminders of his impeccable skill as a draftsman), we wanted to talk to him about not only his past and future, but how he is the ambassador of such a vital movement of collectibles and brand awareness fueling a career in art. The Radio Juxtapoz Podcast is hosted by Doug Gillen of Fifth Wall TV and Juxtapoz Editor, Evan Pricco.

We close our trilogy of Miami Art Week Radio Juxtapoz episodes with an old friend, Diogo Machado, aka ADD FUEL. After talking about the subtle aspects of daily life with Jean Jullien and identifying the self in a deeply personal conversation with Jenny Morgan, we sat down with ADD FUEL for another wide-ranging conversation about how his interest and expansion on the history of Portuguese tile works and how he has applied that to his fine art and street work practice. What we learned in the episode is not only the utilitarian and intricate craft of tile works in Portugal's history, but how ADD FUEL's characters and personal designs into his tile patterns is part of a long lineage of personalization of the art form. He talks about how that craft has been applied in other cultures, and how his research when doing murals has helped him localize the work. From Lisbon's unique graffiti history to his new studio set-up, we catch an artist on the precipice of a major jump, embedded with history and yet pushing the genre forward. All Miami Art Week podcasts were supported by Vans. Subscribe to the Radio Juxtapoz podcast HERE. The Radio Juxtapoz Podcast is hosted by Doug Gillen of Fifth Wall TV and Juxtapoz Editor, Evan Pricco. 

We love when we get two former cover artists on Radio Juxtapoz, and following up on our conversation with Jean Jullien during Miami Art Week where Juxtapoz and Vans took over The Hotel of South Beach, we sat down with one of our favorite contemporary painters, Jenny Morgan. The Brooklyn-based painter, who was the cover of both our print edition and the Juxtapoz Hyperreal book, has been working away in her studio for the past few years, and with her work in Juxtapoz at 25: In Black & White, episode 31 of Radio Juxtapoz is her first interview in over 3 years! In this conversation, Morgan goes deep into her analysis on self-portraits, not only talking about her revelation of seeing her own self on the wall at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver during her mid-career survey, but the intimacy of self and the bodies of her and her friends. The Utah-born painter talks about her life in Brooklyn, how she still feels energized by the city and the artists living there but also how her 3 years away from the limelight after her museum survey has allowed her to reevaluate and enhance her craft.  This episode coincides with Morgan announcing her upcoming solo exhibition with Mother Gallery, opening March 21st, 2020. All Miami Art Week podcasts were supported by Vans.  Subscribe to the Radio Juxtapoz podcast HERE. The Radio Juxtapoz Podcast is hosted by Doug Gillen of Fifth Wall TV and Juxtapoz Editor, Evan Pricco.

For the first Radio Juxtapoz Podcast conversation of Miami Art week, we sat down with the Paris-based artist on the rooftop of The Hotel of South Beach, where we were hosting a special exhibition, Juxtapoz at 25: In Black & White, featuring over 130 black and white drawings from the magazine's present and future. Jullien was the perfect guest to kick-off the week; not only a world famous illustrator and storyteller, his recent fine art career has been internationally recognized as a refreshing reinterpretation of a signature style. It's rare that an artist so well-known in a almost comic-book style to also claimed a place in the fine art world. Jullien is a fascinating artist with a major social media following and a universality with all his practices. The Miami week Radio Juxtapoz podcast's are supported by Vans. Subscribe to the Radio Juxtapoz podcast HERE. The Radio Juxtapoz Podcast is hosted by Doug Gillen of Fifth Wall TV and Juxtapoz Editor, Evan Pricco.

We are back where it all started! A year into the Radio Juxtapoz podcast, we are back in Miami, this time in South Beach during Art Week with a special grouping of conversations with the artist's that have helped shape the 25 years of Juxtapoz Magazine. Coinciding with our special presentation of Juxtapoz at 25: In Black & White, an exhibition of 150 black and white drawings from Juxtapoz present and future, Radio Juxtapoz co-hosts Doug Gillen and Evan Pricco talk the unique history of the magazine, as well as the prompt to ask artists to create work with one simple task: make a drawing, on paper, using only black and white. This introduction is a precursor to our conversations throughout the week, kicking off with Paris-based painter Jean Jullien. 

It's rare that you can sit down with one artist who represents so much of a cultural shift that you can't easily define where to start with their impact. Ron English is that artist. From street art, pop surrealism, activism, political art, public interventions, performance art, music, vinyl toys... the list could go on, but Ron English has played a major roll in shaping the directions in which contemporary art could and has gone over the last 4 decades.  The Radio Juxtapoz Podcast sat down with English at DesignerCon in sunny Southern California in mid-November 2019 for a wide-ranging (thank you iced Americanos!) conversation about not only the influential career he has had, but how the contemporary political climate has helped and hindered his art practice. Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco, who worked with English on a Juxtapoz Political Art issue back in 2012, sits back and let's the artist ruminate on Trump, street art and how DesignerCon has taken the baton for underground art expressions.  The Radio Juxtapoz Podcast is hosted by Doug Gillen of Fifth Wall TV and Juxtapoz Editor, Evan Pricco. Subscribe to the Radio Juxtapoz podcast HERE.

The Radio Juxtapoz Podcast is back, live from the back of a restaurant in Chelsea! That's where we met up with Rebecca Morgan, a few days before her latest solo show at Asya Geisberg Gallery, Town & Country, was to come down. We have been huge fans of Morgan's work for years: she was part of our Juxtapoz x Superflat museum exhibition with Takashi Murakami, been featured in our print edition and has had work in other group shows we have curated. As a professor and artist, Morgan always has an interesting perspective on not only  her process of making art but a wider scope of how art can be communicated to others. Her characters are part self-reflection and almost mythical, fairy-tale-esque figures, and have a unique quality of being grotesque and salacious, comic book-like yet autobiographical. For episode 28 of the Radio Juxtapoz Podcast, Morgan and Jux editor Evan Pricco indeed set themselves up in the backroom of Bottino on 10th Avenue on a Friday afternoon to discuss Town & Country, the widening gap between rural and urban America, growing up in Pennsylvania and Morgan's continued work in the academic world. The Radio Juxtapoz Podcast is hosted by Doug Gillen from Fifth Wall TV and Juxtapoz Editor, Evan Pricco. 

When we started the Radio Juxtapoz podcast almost 12 months ago, we never wanted it to be just about ONE thing. With so many different stories emerging around the globe where art was the center of protest and cultural shifts was something we wanted to talk about, and in recent weeks, our co-host Doug Gillen of Fifth Wall TV was able to spend sometime working on a series of stories from Lebanon. In episode 27 of the Radio Juxtapoz Podcast, we speak to journalist Joey Ayoub and artist Jad El-Khoury to get an insight into what makes this wave of protests so significant in Lebanon. Having spent time with Jad at Nuart in Stavanger, Norway this past fall gave us a chance to hear his stories of process and the importance of his work in Beirut, and now we have an even wider-scope of the works and protest movements coming out of Lebanon at the moment. Subscribe to the Radio Juxtapoz podcast HERE. The Radio Juxtapoz Podcast is hosted by Doug Gillen of Fifth Wall TV and Juxtapoz Editor, Evan Pricco.

For nearly 30 years, Radiohead's visual identity has been established from the mind and evolving style of artist, Stanley Donwood. Like a 6th member of the band, his experiments in his own creative process have gone hand-in-hand with the band's constant reimagining of their own sound. Often embedded in the studio while album's are being made, Donwood listens, expands, visualizes and tells his own creative story while one of the biggest bands in the world tells their own. The bond has made for a consistent and special conversation between artist and musicians, one that rarely gets to grow together as music packaging has become more of a luxury.  On the eve of the release of his first monograph, There Will Be No Quiet, Radio Juxtapoz sat down with the British artist in Shoreditch before a few appearances he was making around London to coincide with the book. We talked about Donwood's unique partnership with Radiohead, his relationship to the early days of London street art and Lazarides Gallery and some of the newest collaborative work and public art projects that coincided with Thom Yorke's ANIMA record. Donwood's history is an incredible journey through music, literature and underground art, and in a candid interview, we get his story.  Subscribe to the Radio Juxtapoz podcast HERE. The Radio Juxtapoz Podcast is hosted by Doug Gillen of Fifth Wall TV and Juxtapoz Editor, Evan Pricco.

"Interventions in urban spaces do not just equal resistance and opposition, they signify innovation and raise questions as to how cities come to be the way they are." That's a lovely quote from Adrian Burnham of Flying Leaps, and the centerpiece of this unique episode of the Radio Juxtapoz Podcast. This week we are at Social Surfaces +0161 in Manchester, UK, where our co-host Doug Gillen spent the week documenting the unique conference of public art and intervention ideas and conversation. As better put:  "Social Surfaces +0161 brings together a wide range of voices to consider ways of intervening in, and changing, city life. Artists, academics, architects, psychogeographers, visual activists, photographers, critics and more contribute to a programme of street displays, walks, talks, films and workshops to explore fresh perspectives on the city. Our common thread is a commitment to both investigating and making interventions that reveal and question hidden boundaries: that test agency and the power relations woven into the material and emotional life of urban environments. In short, how our cities ‘talk’ to us, with us, and about us." On this episode of the Radio Juxtapoz Podcast, Doug speaks with activist/craftivist Carrie Reichardt, artist/organizer Jordan Seiler, and interventionist and Dispatchwork artist, Jan Vormann. Each conversation revolves around this idea of how the city can be shaped, how it speaks to us and how interventions help reimagine the power of the places we live and visit. The Radio Juxtapoz Podcast is hosted by Doug Gillen of Fifth Wall TV and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. 

The Radio Juxtapoz Podcast found a surprise superstar in Stavanger, Norway this year during the Nuart Festival. On a rainy day, running around the city trying to find good places for art interventions, we spent time with Paul Harfleet, the London-based artist/activist whose "Pansy Project" has been going for 15 years. The Pansy Project sees Paul "plant pansies at the site of homophobic abuse; he finds the nearest source of soil to where the incident occurred and generally without civic permission plants one unmarked pansy." Seeing that its impossible to get pansies in September in Norway, Paul painted pansies around the city, a new practice for him but just as powerful, or as he calls it, "gesture of quiet resistance." The Pansy Project being part of the Nuart Festival gave us a chance to sit down with Paul for episode 24 of the Radio Juxtapoz podcast. We talk not only talk about the origins of the project on the streets of Manchester, but the various ways queer art activism has grown in recent years and how he has been able to take his pansy work around the world. We talk about his now unique relationship to street art, and how perhaps him painting pansies could add another dimension to his work. The Radio Juxtapoz Podcast is hosted by Doug Gillen of Fifth Wall TV and Juxtapoz Editor, Evan Pricco.

This feels like an exclusive on the Radio Juxtapoz Podcast! For episode 23, we have something special, the first ever podcast interview with one of the world's leading muralists, Valencia, Spain-based, Argentina-born, Hyuro. For years, her works and her persona have had a bit of mystery to them, poetic imagery that was both timeless and politically in line with the times. In the classical sense of what a muralist is, Hyuro takes the history of social realism and storytelling to enigmatic but bold imagery. We remember years ago Detroit Institute of Arts director, Graham Beal saying of his institutions Detroit Industry Murals by Diego Rivera, “All of the (other) panels are more allegorical, much more symbolic. They deal with the good and the bad, with man and machine, organic vs inorganic, really it's a very complex program.” Hyuro is touching on these levels. Man vs modernity, the changing tides of society, that organic connection we all have in an increasingly inorganic world. Radio Juxtapoz sat down with Hyuro after she completed both an outdoor mural and indoor installation at the 2019 Nuart Festival in Stavanger, Norway. As the festival was themed as a conversation about "retro vs. brand new," Hyuro is the perfect embodiment: she balances a history of storytelling in public space with the world audience paying attention, just a click of a button away. We talk to her about feeling comfortable in a creative crisis, how her color palette is defined by the fabrics we wear and how leaving a wall behind for others to live with is an enormous task. The Radio Juxtapoz Podcast is hosted by Doug Gillen of Fifth Wall TV and Juxtapoz Editor, Evan Pricco.

We have a wide-reach when it comes to the history of Juxtapoz Magazine. After 25 years, we have covered painters, graffiti and street artists, poster artists, designers, fashion people, sculptors, curators, musicians, musicians who want to be painters, actors who want to be painters... the list goes on. But rarely do we get a chance to talk to such an original spirit such as Molly Crabapple. The writer, illustrator, journalist, painter, social activist and all around, in our opinion, voice of reason and progress, has made a name for herself for such an incredible range of artistic output its hard to pinpoint one topic of conversation with her. So we didn't. We went for it all. In Episode 022 of the Radio Juxtapoz Podcast, Molly Crabapple gives us a quite wonderful over-arching view of the current state of the art world, not so much from a nuts and bolts perspective of sales and shows, but what it means to create and be active in such an era of contradictions and much-needed nuance. We talk about climate change, the changing landscape of America's cities and her recent book collaboration and 2018 National Book Award long-listed, Brothers of the Gun, an illustrated collaboration with Syrian war journalist Marwan Hisham, and her own award-winning memoir, Drawing Blood. Of course we talk about her various art projects and journalistic works as well. The Radio Juxtapoz Podcast is hosted by Doug Gillen of Fifth Wall TV and Juxtapoz Editor, Evan Pricco. 

NY-based fine artist Anna Park's charcoal works immediately caught our eye and felt like the perfect reflection of our times. Not in an overtly, politics-by-numbers sort of way. But in a chaotic world, where emotions tend to ebb and flow by the second, with news and even worse news hitting us constantly, these works are about release. That moment, as she notes, between "ecstasy and pure fuckery," when, as an observer, you have an out of body experience at a party, perhaps too drunk, and you can soak in that balance all at once. It disappears quickly, this awareness, but Anna Park is documenting that feeling.  That moment.  As Juxtapoz unveils the Fall 2019 issue, we sat down with featured artist and current New York Academy of Art student, Anna Park, to talk about how these works have taken the attention of the art world in less than a year. We discuss how this transition happened, as well as her recent residency in Neo Rauch's hometown in Germany, what its like to balance her last year of study with a budding fine art career and how a childhood of relocating around the world has found its way into these ghostly, yet powerful, new works. The Radio Juxtapoz Podcast episode 21 is hosted by Doug Gillen of Fifth Wall TV and Juxtapoz Editor-in-chief, Evan Pricco. 

A few weeks back, Radio Juxtapoz traveled to Tokyo, Japan for the RVCA World Tour, a 7-day takeover of the city that saw numerous art shows, signings, screenings, pop-ups occur in and around Shibuya. Obviously, our focus was the Beautiful Losers: Now & Then show, and it gave us a chance to talk with two of our favorite photographers: the talented and influential Ed and Deanna Templeton. Ed Templeton has been blazed across our memories as a legendary skater who was able to take his skate craft and create fine art and photography that has made him famous the world over. Deanna Templeton has been making these incredibly poetic projects for years, with her The Swimming Pool coming to mind first and foremost.  We sat down with Ed and Deanna on a steamy hot Tokyo summer day after a day of RVCA press for the couple. Our conversation went all over: how it feels to bring the Losers back together again, what an Ed shot is versus a Deanna shot, how their longtime home base of Huntington Beach may not be inspiring them anymore and what makes Tokyo a magical place to take photos.  The Radio Juxtapoz Podcast is hosted by Doug Gillen and Evan Pricco. Thank you to RVCA for their support of Episode 019 and 020 of the Radio Juxtapoz Podcast.  Subscribe to the Radio Juxtapoz podcast HERE.

"Speaking with pictures." That's a great way to start. Stephen "ESPO" Powers is a rare icon in the contemporary art world. Graffiti, sign painting, museum installations, books, major public art projects, gallery shows, international recognition, Art In the Streets, Beyond the Streets, Street Market, The Art of Getting Over... I started listing all these things because, to me, ESPO has been a pivotal figure in my understanding of art, and especially, the art that I felt belonged to me the most. He added wit, humour and wry observations to the art genres that I loved, and before there was ever meme culture or Instagram, ESPO was creating these perfectly poetic fine art sign paintings that almost seemed to predict what the future of communication would be.  At the end of July 2019, Juxtapoz went on the RVCA World Tour to Tokyo, where one of the highlights was the re-imagining of Beautiful Losers, the seminal art exhibition and movement that ESPO was part of and has grown from. On episode 019 of the Radio Juxtapoz Podcast, we caught up with the 3x Juxtapoz cover artist in a phone booth in the basement of the Cerulean Tower in Shibuya at the end of the trip and with a bit of a reflection on the "reunion" vibe of the RVCA World Tour and Beautiful Losers show. We talked about ESPO's unique relationship with Tokyo, his history with the Beautiful Losers artists, the family vibe of RVCA, finding respect in the Philly graffiti scene and how he speaks with pictures.   Subscribe to the Radio Juxtapoz podcast HERE. The Radio Juxtapoz Podcast is hosted by Doug Gillen and Evan Pricco. Thank you to RVCA for their support of Episode 019 of the Radio Juxtapoz Podcast.  Follow Stephen "ESPO" Powers at @steveespopowers

On the newest episode of the Radio Juxtapoz Podcast, we caught up with one of our great friends and favorite conceptual street artists, Addam Yekutieli (aka Know Hope). The California-born but Tel Aviv, Israel-raised has found a unique voice in the street art world, creating a poetic and politically strong body of work that has balanced everything from text-based work, street characters to muralism. From focusing on the conflicts of his homeland in not a literal way but delving into more complex themes of giving voice to the marginalized and overlooked moments in history, what was once work that spoke to Israel is more and more speaking to the world at large.  We talked to Addam as he was wrapping us his month-long stay at the Bed-Stuy Art Residency in Brooklyn, where he will be hosting an open studio to show his new works on Monday, July 29. Addam talks about this particular time in NYC, his ongoing projects that span the globe and an upcoming project in Jerusalem that has him excited.  The Radio Juxtapoz Podcast is hosting by Doug Gillen and Evan Pricco. 

When we first met Japanese-born, New Jersey raised painter MADSAKI in person, he had just completed a site-specific mural for the Juxtapoz x Superflat exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery. This was a little less than 3 years ago, and since then, he has become not only a staple in Takashi Murakami's Kaikai Kiki roster, but one of the most exciting and sought-after painters in the world today. His unique way of bending and breaking the rules of traditional Western artworks into a hybrid of Japanese style and street culture aesthetic. On the eve of his new solo show at PERROTIN in Hong Kong on July 17, 2019, and his work now on view at Beyond the Streets in NYC through the summer, we sat down with MADSAKI to talk his first years in Japan, growing up in New Jersey and his subsequent move back to Tokyo with a fresh perspective on being a career painter. We talk a lot about his relationship to his mentor, Takashi Murakami, and how the last few years have felt like an "art training" ground for the years to come. We recorded the day Beyond the Streets opened to the public, when Radio Juxtapoz visited with MADSAKI before his long flight home to Tokyo and last-minute preparations for Hong Kong. To kick off episode 17, hosts Doug Gillen and Evan Pricco catch up after a break, with updates on Beyond the Streets, Lucy Sparrow's massive project in Beijing with M WOODS and Gillen's newest short film with Icy & Sot in Greece at the site of a refugee camp.

The first time Juxtapoz met Icy & Sot, they were an up-and-coming brother-artistic duo, recently immigrated from Iran to USA, working primarily in stencil art. Yet in recent years, their work began to evolve to an almost conceptual level of public and street art, mixing stencil art with sculpture, installation, and at times, spontaneous acts of intervention. They have become some of the most political active street artists working today, focusing on the refugee crisis around the world to environmental art ... and who can forget their infamous wad of US money left on Wall Street in 2018? Radio Juxtapoz caught up with Icy & Sot a few weeks back in Manhattan during Moniker Art Fair, just as the brothers were getting ready for their newest solo show, "Faces of Society," currently on view at Underdogs in Lisbon, Portugal. We talked about their youth in Iran, the big move to NYC, a high profile feature in Playboy, how their museum show in Amsterdam alongside Banksy changed their career and how a new focus on sculpture and installation has changed their process.  Hosted by Evan Pricco (Editor-in-chief, Juxtapoz Magazine) and Doug Gillen (Fifth Wall TV).  https://www.juxtapoz.com/ https://icyandsot.com/ https://instagram.com/fifthwalltv/ https://www.instagram.com/epricco/

This episode of the Radio Juxtapoz Podcast is a Special Edition, not only because it features a distinguished panel and guest moderator, but we felt that it stood as its own podcast discussion outside of our typical programming. This past week, May 14, 2019, live from the Vault by Vans boutique at 219 Bowery in NYC, Juxtapoz hosted a special collection of three generations of NYC street photographers: Martha Cooper, Janette Beckman and Miranda Barnes, guest moderated by author, critic and cultural savant, the one-and-only, Carlo McCormick. We called the panel "Cultural Lens." This was a wide-ranging panel: the photographers not only talked about the craft of street photography and photojournalism, but finding your voice and the narratives that you want to embed your careers in. From Martha Cooper's landmark Subway Art, to Janette Beckman's legendary hip-hop portraits to Miranda Barnes's latest works as a contributor to the NY Times, we get three distinct artists talking about the intricacies and magic of photography. In this podcast you will hear Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco, briefly introduce the panel, and is quickly followed by Carlo McCormick and the artists. Recorded live at Vault by Vans, May 14, 2019. 

As part of Juxtapoz's 25th anniversary, the magazine created a special pop-up exhibition and bookstore at the Vault by Vans store in NYC at 219 Bowery for the month of May 2019. For the takeover, Juxtapoz invited San Francisco-based textile artist, Ben Venom, famous for his unique reinterpretations of quilt-making and the reimagining of American craft art, to showcase some of his newer works for the occasion, celebrating the spirit of originality and uniqueness that Vault by Vans represents, and the Outsider Art history of Juxtapoz Magazine.  In episode 015 of the Radio Juxtapoz podcast, hosts Evan Pricco (editor, Juxtapoz Magazine) and Doug Gillen (Fifth Wall TV) sat down with Ben Venom at the Vault store in front of a gathered audience, to learn more about not only the tradition of textile and fiber arts, but how Venom was able to take a love of heavy metal, skateboarding and lowbrow culture and transcend it into a fine art practice. Vault by Vans will showcase Juxtapoz and Ben Venom's work until early June 19, 2019, at 219 Bowery, NYC.

On episode 014 of the Radio Juxtapoz podcast, hosts Evan Pricco (Juxtapoz Magazine) and Doug Gillen (Fifth Wall TV) recorded live at Moniker Art Fair, which held its biannual urban contemporary fair in NYC this past weekend. On the episode, the Radio Juxtapoz team sat down for a special panel on the state of "urban art" with Urban Nation director, Yasha Young and artist Li-Hill. The episode also features a segment with the legendary author, curator, critic and historian, Carlo McCormick on how much the history of graffiti and street art is part of the fabric of NY art history.  https://www.monikerartfair.com/ https://www.juxtapoz.com/ https://www.instagram.com/fifthwalltv/ http://www.li-hill.com/ https://urban-nation.com/

The Radio Juxtapoz world tour continues, as hosts Evan Pricco (Juxtapoz) and Doug Gillen (Fifth Wall TV) were in Aberdeen, Scotland this past week for the 3rd annual Nuart Aberdeen festival. The Nuart Festival has long been the leading street art festival in the world, mixing unique themes, international artists, curators and professors into a mural, street art and academic conference. For the 13 episode of the Radio Juxtapoz Podcast, we sat down with a few participants of the festival, from Lisbon's VHILS, to a wonderful lecture by TCU professor, Jeff Ferrell, and for a second time (!), our good friend Axel Void and Evan Pricco sat down for a special panel. Also, Doug and Evan discuss what makes Nuart so special, the right use of the word wanker and a recap on how Aberdeen has taken to the Nuart family. 

This week Radio Juxtapoz have teamed up with leading Belgian street art festival, The Crystal Ship. Recorded live from the coastal town of Oostende, we chaired a round table discussion on life around art, with artists Miss Van, Case Maclaim and Crystal Wagner. You can listen back on to the audio version or watch the whole thing unfold on youtube.

It seems like a tall task to try and tell a wide-ranging and in-depth visual story of a city, especially one with such a diverse and intriguing counter-culture history like San Francisco, California. But that is exactly what world-renowned street artist, photographer, activist and documentary filmmaker, JR did over the course of a year in the City By the Bay. In his latest project, "The Chronicles of San Francisco," set to open as an interactive installation/mural at SFMOMA on May 23, 2019, JR uses all the great strengths of his craft: photography, filmmaking, storytelling and community engagement to create on his grandest  and most in-depth projects to date. Of course, we sat down with JR just before his awe-inspiring work at the Louvre in late March 2019, a project that saw the French-born artist celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Louvre's "Pyramid" with a grand 4-day street art project at the base of the museum. We are proud to have JR as our 11th episode of the Radio Juxtapoz Podcast. Also in this episode, hosts Evan Pricco (editor, Juxtapoz Magzine) and Doug Gillen (founder of Fifth Wall TV) talk about all the latest action in the art world, including the JR at the Louvre project, as well as the incredible record-setting week of KAWS in Hong Kong. Enjoy the listen! 

Are we excited for Radio Juxtapoz podcast, episode 10? You better believe it. We criss-crossed the globe to connect with acclaimed filmmaker, Sydney, Australia-based Selina Miles, on the eve of her first full-length documentary film directorial debut, "Martha: A Picture Story." We wanted to catch Miles before the world premiere of her film at the Tribeca Film Festival at the end of April, 2019. After recently screening the film for its subject, the legendary photographer, Martha Cooper, in NYC, we caught Miles back in her Sydney studio. For the past few years, Miles has been following and working on a film about the life and work of groundbreaking and influential graffiti and street art photographer, Martha Cooper. Martha's work, including the seminal Subway Art and four decades of photographing the evolution of one of the world's largest art movements,  has also connected multiple generations to the powerful global art form. In many ways, Martha is the glue that holds these generations together, both a rite of passage for artists but an active and vital artist for the movement as well. Our hosts, Juxtapoz Editor-in-Chief Evan Pricco and FifthWallTV's Doug Gillen talk to Miles about the making of "Martha," the pressure on working on a legacy as it continues to grow, and on our highly praised work on the hyper-lapse film, Limitless  and her 2016 , 6-part series, The Wanderers.  This is an episode not to miss. Evan and Doug also discuss the myth of famous paintings, Phlegm's impressive show in Sheffield and Doug's continuing journey toward the North Pole. 

In episode 9 of the Radio Juxtapoz Podcast, hosts Evan Pricco and Doug Gillen sit down with American painters Christian Rex van Minnen and Aaron Johnson the night after their collective solo show, In Heaven, Everything is Fine, opened at Ross + Kramer Gallery in NYC. Both painters have shared a friendship for years that has blossomed into showing work simultaneously, and at times, collectively. In this episode, we talk about a new era of painting, what lowbrow has meant over the centuries and internalizing the current political climate and finding a new voice in both artists' paintings. At the beginning of the episode, Evan (editor of Juxtapoz Magazine) and Doug (founder and director of FifthWallTV) discuss the idea of hero worship and how one can, if possible, separate the art from the artist. 

Juxtapoz has a very special guest for Episode 8 of the Radio Juxtapoz Podcast, and that is none other than the highly influential and imaginative graffiti-turned-fine-artist, Jason REVOK. The Los Angeles-based painter recently wrote an essay for our Winter 2019 issue, and with increasing presence as an experimental artist, with his custom-painting machines he has been using both on the street and in his studio, we wanted to talk to Jason about this evolution and how he has been able to grow as an artist in recent years. Produced and hosted by Doug Gillen of Fifth Wall TV and Evan Pricco, Editor-in-chief of Juxtapoz Magazine. Doug and Evan also discuss some of the upcoming shows and festivals on their radar, and, as always, a little fun banter about contemporary art.

In the 6th episode of the Radio Juxtapoz Podcast, we have sit down with the great and legendary street artist, Swoon, to talk about her new show and some of the great commentary she has been sharing through her social media channels in recent weeks. Not to mention Swoon is featured in Juxtapoz's Winter 2019 issue, a celebration of 25 years of the print publication.  Also, our hosts Doug Gillen of Fifth Wall TV and Juxtapoz's Evan Pricco talk about some of the early highlights of 2019, with a wide-range of shows opening in the last few weeks from pioneers of the scene, including FUTURA, OSGEMEOS and Margaret Kilgallen. 

We are back with episode 5 of the Radio Juxtapoz Podcast, once again coming to you from Miami, Florida, where Juxtapoz's Evan Pricco and Fifth Wall TV's Doug Gillen sit down with Miami-based painters and muralists Axel Void and L.E.O. We discuss a variety of topics, including the changing neighborhood landscape of Miami, how street art and gentrification can get lumped together, the ambition of Axel Void's "Void Projects" residency program and the art of keeping things democratic.

On the latest episode of the Radio Juxtapoz Podcast, Juxtapoz's Evan Pricco and Fifth Wall TV's Doug Gillen sit down with 2x cover artist and extremely influential fine artist Camille Rose Garcia. In the episode we talk shop about tequila, telling stories through paintings and that oh-so-special era of lowbrow art in Los Angeles. We kick off the episode with a discussion about Juxtapoz's editorial process, a little bit about the Juxtapoz Clubhouse in Miami and how the 25th anniversary of the magazine will be celebrated.

In now the third episode of the "Radio Juxtapoz" podcast, editor Evan Pricco and Fifth Wall TV's Doug Gillen get to chat with Muzae Sesay, the great painter based in Oakland, California who has also been featured in the Winter 2019 issue. On the podcast we discuss the idea of home, living in California and Sesay's newest work featured at Pt.2 Gallery in the Juxtapoz Clubhouse. Recorded live at Mana Contemporary, Miami.

In the second episode of the "Radio Juxtapoz" podcast, editor Evan Pricco and Fifth Wall TV's Doug Gillen sit down with legendary street artist and designer Shepard Fairey, who in 2019 will celebrate the 30th anniversary of his Obey Giant project. As Juxtapoz prepared to open the Clubhouse in Downtown Miami, where Shepard's Subliminal Projects will transform a former storefront into an art gallery and tee shirt printing studio, he made time for us to discuss his career, the impact of Juxtapoz and how he sees Obey 30 years in. Recorded live at Mana Contemporary, Miami.

In the first episode of the "Radio Juxtapoz" podcast, editor Evan Pricco and Fifth Wall TV's Doug Gillen sit down with artist Lucy Sparrow, who has created quite an art phenomenon with her "all-felt" installations. As she prepared to open a Sparrow Mini-Mart at the Juxtapoz Clubhouse on December 5th in Downtown Miami (48 East Flagler), Lucy made time for Radio Juxtapoz all while sewing a broken heart.