Common Decency

When Alex Prager's signature pieces--large-scale photographs of crowds--became impossible to produce during the pandemic, she worried about the future of her work. Prager ultimately found a compelling way forward through portraiture. In this episode of Common Decency, she tells the moving backstory of her powerful new exhibition, Part One: The Mountain and reveals why her latest work, centering on individuals, is about embracing connection, complexity, and hope.

Born in Malawi, raised in Botswana and now working in Johannesburg, South Africa, Billie Zangewa's hand-stitched, raw silk collages celebrate and illuminate the richness of family, ritual and domestic life. They also provide an intimate and unflinching portrait of the artist herself. In developing this work, and showing it prolifically, Billie has learned to trust her gut by turning inward, taking great time and care to learn to love herself. On this episode of Common Decency, Billie shares the story of what's come to empower her, the impact of motherhood on her work and why she feels her moment as an artist is now. 

Helen Cammock's first major public commission, currently installed across 7 London Underground stations, invites commuters to gain perspective and empathy while reflecting upon living through the tumult of recent times. Cammock joins Common Decency host Howie Kahn to discuss this ambitious public installation and how her earlier pursuits as a social worker and as a singer inform who she is as an artist. 

With a magnificent new show of beaded works opening in London, artist Liza Lou discusses the profound impact of coming to accept the significance of instinct, intuition and deep listening in art and in life. From the markets of Durban, South Africa to the desert paths of Joshua Tree, Lou tells stories about the evolving relationship between where she is, who she is and the art she creates by embracing worlds both internal and external.  For more on Liza's work: https://www.lehmannmaupin.com/exhibitions/liza-lou5

Whether it's installation art about outer space voyages, a sculptural celebration of the streets of New York City or designing one of the world's most coveted sneakers, artist Tom Sachs aims to create objects and experiences that serve and enrich his studio and community. Tom joins host Howie Kahn to talk about the cost of his own relentlessness, why art should be fun, the perpetual search for perfection in everything from a sandwich to a fanny pack and how parenthood has changed both him and his work.

Roman and Williams cofounder Robin Standefer talks about the unique and complicated design challenges of turning London's historic Bow Street Magistrates' Court and Police Station into the new NoMad hotel.

Legendary photographer Martin Parr discusses his remarkable career, the tension in his images, why everyday people continue to inspire him--and why pursuing photography now is harder than ever before.