Coagula: Secrets of the Art World

(Originally recorded December 6, 2020) Artist Rick Jones joins us to discuss something everyone is talking about. The world was agog when a metal sculpture mimicking the appearance of classic minimalism appeared on public lands in the Utah Desert. We digress into all sorts of art nerd conversation.

(Originally recorded January 6, 2020) recorded Conceptual art giant John Baldessari died at age 78 just after the new decade dawned. This tribute to him was recorded as news of the passing broke.

(Originally recorded December 6, 2019) Perhaps symptomatic of art world excess or merely a poetic meditation on the absurdity of concept as a commodity, Maurizio Cattelan taped a banana to a wall and priced it in six figures and brought the 2019 Art Basel Miami Beach fair to a standstill.

(Originally recorded November 27, 2019) Long before he painted the official portrait of President Barack Obama, artist Kehinde Wiley was making historic inroads into the mainstream art world. With this signature piece in his oeuvre he got more recognition for a signature style that defines its very times. Does this make him the artist of the decade?

(Originally recorded November 24, 2019) The Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art saw its employees vote to unionize in November of 2019. It was a momentous shift in institutional consciousness in a time when museums are demanding a higher political consciousness of their audiences. How does that shoe feel on the other foot?

(Originally recorded November 12, 2019) Kerry James Marshall, long a prominent African-American artist, rocketed to superstardom in the “TEENS” decade. Were his pictorial accomplishments, exhibitions and record auction prices enough to crystallize him into art history acknowledging him as the artist of the decade?

(Originally recorded November 20, 2019) A legendary political and cultural dissident, artist Ai Wei Wei was too big for China to kill. Exiled outside of the People's Republic, he spent the decade of the “The Teens” making art and standing as a beacon of hope against oppression. But is his art really that great and is his stance making a difference enough to make him the artist of the decade?

(Originally recorded November 15, 2019) In a decade that saw Street Art rise to become a dominant, mainstream phenomena, J.R. stood above the pack and made a poignant homage to regional everyday people manifest as heroic outdoor odes to the greatness in us all. Was this enough to make him the artist of the decade?

(Originally recorded November 13, 2019) Albert Oehelen is an anomaly in art - infinitely talented as a draftsman he chooses to make purposefully bad paintings to reveal the very nature of painting itself. But is that enough to make him the artist of the decade?

(Originally recorded November 11, 2019) Nan Goldin has enjoyed career success few artists will ever know. But her importance as an artist was something she used to draw attention to the evil Sackler family and their complicity in America's opioid epidemic. Is bravery outside of one's art enough to make one the artist of the decade?

(Originally recorded November 9, 2019) Mark Grotjahn is the leading proponent of antidepressant expressionism and his canvases have regularly brought in sums above ten million dollars. Is this “Talented Mister Stripey” the artist of the decade or a starburst that will soon fizzle?

(Originally recorded November 7, 2019) Yayoi Kusama is the rare artist to deliver the most impactful work of a long career in her eighties. With her global reach and signature style finding a detente between Pop and Expressionism, was Kusama the artist of the decade?

(Originally recorded November 3, 2019) How do we establish a methodology to rank artists by their achievements and impact? To begin a series of podcasts examining the greatest artist of the “TENS” …2010-2019 let's talk about establishing a ranking methodology.

(Originally recorded November 6, 2019) The day after seventy of its employees voted to unionize, L.A.'s Marciano Museum announced that it was closing. Busting unions is a synonym of the Marciano brothers way more than art collecting is, but this time it looks like the union busted them!

(Originaly recorded June 2019) Oh isn't it just the epitome of the contemporary art world to plop an abandoned boat on which dozens of refugees drowned into the middle of an international biennial that caters to the tastes and investments of the global one percent? The “artist” behind this, Christoph Büchel, is symptomatic of a class of artist that thinks using discarded human lie as an art medium is cool.

(Originaly recorded June 2019) L.A.'s MOCA named Mia Locks its chief curator. It would be impossible for her to treat the staff any more dehumanizing than her predecessor Helen Molesworth so the only way to go is up from here!

(Originaly recorded June 2019) What's Up Doc? Well, if you are Jeff Koons, the chance to become the world's highest priced artist is at hand. How the hell did this happen? Let's investigate how a steel rabbit cast from an inflatable vinyl toy became a money vacuum!

(Originaly recorded June 2019) Michael Govan is the director of LACMA and is getting his way with bulldozing most of the museum's campus to build a gazillionaire's tarpit dream as architect Peter Zumthor has tried to create an exhibition space splash… but is it?

(Originaly recorded June 2019) Perhaps the most famous celebrity photographer of the Baby-Boomer era, Annie Liebovitz, had a major photo survey at Hauser & Wirth in the Downtown L.A. Arts District. How boomer was it? From the Rolling Stones in Anaheim to Sid Vicious in Texas, from Jerry Brown in Sacramento to Hubert Humphrey in Chicago, it was all here.

Larry Gagosian is opening… a restaurant? In Beverly Hills! Tune in to hear about dinner…

Let's start this podcast alphabetically. Art Auctions have LOTS of secrets and are a major cornerstone of the art world. Learn some secrets over 29 minutes here:]