Deep Color

Deep Color (the exhibition) opened at Halsey McKay Gallery on May 24 and will be on view through June 30th, 2025. The exhibit features drawing, painting, sculpture, writing, editioned prints, and photography by over 60 Deep Color alumni artists. In this special episode, artist and HMG founder/owner, Ryan Wallace, talks with artist and Deep Color host Joseph Hart about how the show blossomed from idea to reality, the DIY nature of producing art exhibitions, the range and cohesiveness of the works on view, being surprised by a handful of artworks during installation, the unscientific curatorial process behind Deep Color, wearing shorts on airplanes, and stamina and horizon lines for Deep Color as a project.Listeners are encouraged to check out the exhibit in-person or online, then revisit the episode archive for that extra magic and context, and as a method for learning about and connecting with the artworks on view.“I'm incredibly appreciative of these artists for recording conversations with me for Deep Color and for being part of this exhibition. They've let us behind the curtain and into their studios. They've told us stories about the formative experiences that helped shape their artwork and outlook. They've offered us guidance, and different models, for how to approach and think about being an artist. Through these acts of generosity, and through their artwork, these artists are contributing to culture in a way that can fuel imagination, provide light, and soften the complicated aspects of our daily lives. This is a profound gesture that we should all salute and support.” -Joseph HartView the Deep Color exhibition HERE.Support Deep Color HERE

Tony Lewis makes drawings using a range of materials and methods that are centered around mark-making and language. Tony talks about athletics, psychology, and art history as frameworks for his world view, drawing as a type of behavior, Calvin & Hobbes comics as a muse, how drawing exists outside of the “art world”, expanding his practice into site-specific installations, not being able to hide or cheat in drawing, cocktail bars as portraits of a place, drawing as problem solving. and kindness and self-awareness as 50% of a career.View Tony's work HERESupport Deep Color HERE

Sean Sullivan makes paintings and drawings that hum and weave through abstraction, representation, and systems of visual organization. He is also the co-owner of R&F Paints—an artist owned company that manufactures handmade oil and encaustic paints for artists. Sean talks about how music and poetry served as gateways into visual art, the farmer and the fisherman as a type of ethos, using printmaking techniques in his painting and drawing process, embracing error as a form of magic in his work, wanting to be in close proximity to his family while he's making art, and art as a potential way to make sense of a complicated world.View Sean's work HERESupport Deep Color HERE

Sara Maria Salamone is a photographer and co-founder of Mrs. Gallery--a contemporary art gallery located in Maspeth, Queens. Sara talks about the gallery ‘s history and roots as a beer and dance hall, the series of professional experiences that lead to opening her own gallery, the curatorial vision that informs Mrs.'s programming, how she scouts and finds artists, expectations within the gallery/artist relationship, studio visit tips, weathering art market dips, and the massive importance of artistic community.View Sara's photography HERECheck out Mrs. Gallery HERESupport Deep Color HERE

Jordan Nassar makes elaborate and intricate embroideries alongside impressive wood-inlay works, tile mosaics, and expansive installations, all inspired by the examination of his Palestinian American identity, diaspora and cultural participation. Jordan talks about the clunkiness of language, wanting viewers to feel just as much energy from his work as he puts into it, the exchanges between decoration and Art with a “capital A”, the impact of scale, landing on an ethical equation for how to pay his assistants, care as a gesture and concept, being strategic with professional goals, Akido as part of his daily practice, and the range of ways one can work and live as an artist.View Jordan's work HERESupport Deep Color HERE

Samuel Levi Jones is a multidisciplinary artist that utilizes law books, history books, medical books, and sometimes flags, as materials to create abstract assemblages that critique ideas around history and systems of power and control. Sam talks about the relationship between deconstruction and repair, how artistic growth can lead to authenticity, books as gestures, abstraction as a vehicle for complexity and optimism, curiosity and surprise as important ingredients in his work and process, collaborating with gallerists and being strategic as a way to keep his practice alive, finding beauty in the madness of it all, and experiencing autonomy and freedom through art.View Sam's work HERESupport Deep Color HERE

Daniel Gibson makes oil paintings that depict desert landscapes full of flowers and butterflies, plant life, and big open skies. Some works also include figures hiding within the flora or in shamanic poses. Danny talks about deserts and horizon lines, little brother drawing magic, being locked into a painting and chasing the next image, memories and visceral emotional responses in painting, beauty as a Trojan horse, resetting and recovering through drawing, self-awareness and gratitude in the studio, and painting as putting puzzle pieces together.View Danny's work HERESupport Deep Color HERE

Kennedy Yanko makes abstract three-dimensional work that combines large twisted and crunched metal forms scavenged from scrap yards and thick sheets of malleable acrylic paint that she refers to as “skins”. Kennedy talks about allowing herself and her work to develop and change over time, paint as a sculptural material, looking for the “ugly”, her sculptures having their own ideology, the advantages and disadvantages of working in abstraction, finding and building support networks and community, leaning towards muted and sour colors, fashion as an adjacent interest, the beach as a place for receptivity and expansiveness, and the value of a hard work within a dedicated studio practice.View Kennedy's work HERESupport Deep Color HERETranscript available on the DC website.

Jesse Wine makes ceramic sculptures that combine body parts like arms, legs, hands, and feet, along with abstract shapes that are deflated, pulled, and stacked. Jesse talks about making sculptures that are self-aware, the expressiveness in our hands, empathy as a gesture, being illusionistic with his surfaces, knowing when to destroy a sculpture, peacefulness as an important ingredient in his studio, a great football match as the ultimate narrative, becoming more optimistic through experience, and the long game of being an artist. View Jesse's work HEREPurchase “Jesse Wine / Sculpture” HERESupport Deep Color HEREThis episode is presented by R&F Handmade Paints

Celia Pym makes textile-based artwork by repairing items like tattered sweaters, worn out socks, or torn paper pastry bags. Celia talks about the exchanges between making functional and non-functional art objects, finding pleasure in the tactility of her materials, different types of art transactions and preferring to return work to their original owners, damage and repair as driving concepts, how portraiture and body can be seen in garments, interacting with stories about grief, being intentional about contrast and “not matching”, repair work as a political act, being suspicious of virtue, how mending can unstick a stuck feeling, and navigating her emotional life through practicalities and making things.This episode is presented by R&F Handmade PaintsView Celia's work HEREPurchase Celia's book “On Mending” HERESupport Deep Color HERE

Alvaro Barrington makes mixed-media paintings that underscore a reverence for art history and hip-hop culture, craft and handwork, and how and where his own lived experience weaves into the work he is making. Alvaro talks about self-evaluation and how one can be a great painter but a bad artist, innovation and social impact as barometers for successful art, stealing from other artists, paintings as monologues, partnering with multiple competing galleries, debt as a kind of violence, searching for freedom through his paintings, and complete awe and gratitude for being able to live his life as an artist. This episode is presented by R&F Handmade PaintsView Alvaro's work HERESupport Deep Color HERE

Matt Rich makes paintings, drawings, sculpture, and installations that center themselves around form and shape, color relationships, and different systems for mark making. Matt talks about time as a resource and the safety of a studio space, the importance of procedure in his practice, colliding intentional and accidental gestures, wanting his work to be unpretentious and light, the influences of writing graffiti as a teenager, color as a mess of ever-changing experiences, ampersand symbols as an aesthetic and conceptual muse, and artistic discontent as a way to drive his work into new places. This episode is presented by R&F Handmade Paints View Matt's work HERE Support Deep Color HERE

Andrew Schoultz makes drawings, paintings, prints, installations, and large-scale murals that reference how history and turmoil follow patterns, and how power dynamics, spirituality, and environment can shape our experience of the world. Andrew talks about comic books and graffiti as early influences, obsessive compulsiveness as a creative asset, handwork and the beauty of imperfection, the connections between skateboarding and art making, style and what can dictate it, how the art market interferes with sincerity, fitness as a powerful force in his studio practice, autonomy as a form of success, and finding a sense of purpose and pride through being an artist. This episode is presented by R&F Handmade Paints View Andrew's work HERE Support Deep Color HERE

Ashley Bickerton makes sculpture, assemblages and painting-like objects that reference the grotesqueness of commodification and consumerism. Ashley talks about how a work of art can hold contrasting meanings, avoiding typecasting and being fluid with his artistic language, pacing an art career and gallery relationships as business arrangements—not friendships, operating on the edge of the contemporary art world, how a harmonious homelife allows him to flourish in the studio, being diagnosed with ALS and researching new ways to make art, mortality and the beauty in each day, and preferring ideas and dreams to the crud and muck of our physical word. View Ashley's work HERE Support Deep Color HERE

Spencer Lewis makes abstract paintings that are an explosion of mark-making, smears, caked up textures, and tangles of color. Spencer talks about using raw and low-pressure materials, being spastic and aggressive with his first set of gestures, the exchanges between art and sports, working intuitively and “no move” painting, artists as opportunists, pictorial organization and disorganization, studio visit strategies, and the emotional resonance and chase of making a satisfying painting. View Spencer's work HERESupport Deep Color™

Leslie Diuguid is a printmaker and the founder, owner and operator of DuGood Press—the first and only Black Female owned fine-art screen printing business in New York City. Leslie talks about how her family's history is embedded into her work and outlook, pivoting from printing business cards and apparel to fine-art editions, amplifying an artist's voice and ideas through printmaking, the process of dissecting images into layers and individual colors, “winging it” and learning on the fly, slow mornings as form of self-care, and the excitement and satisfaction born out of solving complicated printing projects. Check out DuGood Press HERESupport Deep Color™

Jim Drain is a multi-disciplinary artist that makes other-worldly sculpture, furniture, and installation-based works. He is also one of the original founders of Fort Thunder--the influential live/work/performance space in Providence, Rhode Island during the 90's, and a member of Forcefield—the celebrated noise band and artist collective. Jim talks about the stories that can surround a work of art, the presence of family imbedded in his work, knitting as method for unification and the generosity of the craft community, hearing with his eyeballs, collaboration and the third mind, being a present parent and grumpy Dads, teaching undergraduate and high school students, and the irrationality and joys of being an artist. View Jim's work HERE.Support Deep Color™

Rodrigo Valenzuela makes photographs, video and installation-based works that consider the value of labor, the language of modernist architecture, and the inefficiency of bureaucracy. Rodrigo talks about how ideas are born out of his process and making, poetic formalism as a layer in his work, getting out of his own way and second guessing as a healthy thought exercise, reading as a key part of his practice, and how friendships and support systems can strengthen an artist's work. This episode was organized, facilitated, and recorded by artist Matt Rich. View Rodrigo's work HERE.Support Deep Color™

Phil Sanders is a master printer, educator, author and artist, and is the founder and director of PS Marlow—a fine art publisher and creative services consultancy based in Asheville, North Carolina. Phil has worked with celebrated artists like Elizabeth Murray, Jasper Johns, Helen Frankenthaler and Chakaia Booker among many others. Phil talks about his new book Prints and Their Makers, learning about the emotional impact of color while collaborating with painter Wayne Thiebaud, the difference between reproductions and prints, prioritizing other artist's work over his own artwork, the enduring legacy of artist and master printer Robert Blackburn, art history and antiracism, fatherhood and the work/life balance, and how art, artists and our imaginations are vital components of a healthy democracy. Purchase Prints and Their MakersJoin the PATM Book ClubSupport Deep Color

Nikita Gale makes sculpture and installation-based work that explores the exchanges and barriers between audience and performer. Nikita talks about how artwork can influence group behavior, protest and dissent as performance, research as a way to pull out ideas, noise and silence as social and political positions, the similarities between studio visits and dating, maintenance and mind-body awareness, and art as an open invitation. See Nikita’s work HERENikita’s culture recommendation: Stories of Your Life and Others, by Ted Chiang Nikita Gale/Private Dancer at California African American Museum through May 9, 2021Support Deep Color

Curtis Talwst Santiago is a multi-disciplinary artist that makes sculpture, drawings and paintings, performance and video. Curtis talks about pivoting from music to visual art, navigating the COVID-19 pandemic, his recent show Can’t I Alter at The Drawing Center in New York, genetic trauma and ancestry as concepts, intuition as an important tool, the complexities of Kanye West, honesty during studio visits and learning to be patient with the process of making art.

Susan Bee makes energetic oil paintings that feature a mix of female figures in fantastical landscapes, art historical references, geometric abstraction and pictorial invention—all serving as iconic flashpoints for current social and personal struggles. Susan talks about symbolism and being inspired by romance and poetry, inserting herself into someone else’s narrative, how images can represent sound, surrendering meaning and embracing ambiguity, vulnerability during studio visits, the self as primary audience, and feeling completely absorbed by the process of making a painting.

Libby Rothfeld makes conceptually driven sculpture that combines found objects, photography and drawing, and built wood structures that are often covered with banal hardware store tiles and kitchen counter laminate. Libby talks about the varied ingredients in her studio practice, subdued and faded color palettes as suggestions of time, an interest in the peripheral of our world, formality as feeling, figure skating and the collisions between taste, choice and identity.

Graham Collins makes sculpture and paintings that often combine complex structures, minimalism and material exploration. Graham talks about his approach to making and how different bodies of work connect and disconnect, thriving off of deadlines, being skeptical of art as a healthy exercise, allowing for fun in studio, small versus big galleries, green smoothies as placebo, how feelings aren’t facts, a desire for meaning to be visible and artist’s as the drivers of culture.

Joshua Abelow makes abstract paintings that feature a mix of geometric patterns, angular bursts, and stick figures that awkwardly vibrate up and through the picture plane. Josh talks about balancing broadness and specificity in his work, his writing and the futility of artist statements, his curatorial project and exhibition space “Freddy”, the value of maintaining a routine, and the similarities between making a mixtape and making a painting.

Erin M. Riley is a fiber-based artist that makes large scale, hand woven tapestries that depict still lives of forlorn objects, scenes of intimacy and self-portraiture. Erin talks about women expressing masculinity through art, selfies as a form of existence, her source material, ritual and the physicality of process, code words as privacy, slowing down and looking, and art as a fundamental survival mechanism.2019 Fall Fundraiser: show and wear your support for Deep Color™ with an artist shirt by episode 38 contributor Maia Ruth Lee. All proceeds go towards off setting the cost of producing Deep Color™ episodes and ensuring excellent future programming. Only a limited number of these shirts will be produced. To view and pre-order, click HERE.

Jennie Jieun Lee makes ceramic sculpture covered with luscious layers of glaze, and wall works that combine assemblage, drawing and painting. Jennie talks about graduate school as a way to check ego and stretch the brain, otherness and an immigrant’s ear, emotions as appraisals of intelligence, collapsing boundaries between craft and fine art, her glazing strategies, and personal fulfillment through service and art making.2019 Fall Fundraiser: show and wear your support for Deep Color™ with an artist shirt by episode 38 contributor Maia Ruth Lee. All proceeds go towards off setting the cost of producing Deep Color™ episodes and ensuring excellent future programming. Only a limited number of these shirts will be produced. To view and pre-order, click HERE.

Eric White makes representational oil paintings that often depict cinematic scenes and unsettling but graceful interactions between people and objects. Eric talks about film as an influence and using reference material, finding ideas in dream states, sleep and painting as obsession, the perverse satisfaction of using tiny brushes, and enjoying all the variables and challenges of making a good painting.2019 Fall Fundraiser: show and wear your support for Deep Color™ with an artist shirt by episode 38 contributor Maia Ruth Lee. All proceeds go towards off setting the cost of producing Deep Color™ episodes and ensuring excellent future programming. Only a limited number of these shirts will be produced. To view and pre-order, click HERE.

Hilary Pecis makes vibrant acrylic paintings that depict still lives, landscapes and domestic interior spaces. Hilary talks about the benefits and challenges of a home studio, translating camera phone photos into dynamic paintings, looking for opportunities to try different types of mark-making and visual vocabularies, throwing a pie at Renoir, her takeaways from working in a contemporary art gallery and the importance of keeping ego in check.Fall/Winter Fundraiser: show and wear your support for Deep Color™ with an artist shirt by episode 38 contributor, Maia Ruth Lee. All proceeds will go towards off setting the cost of producing Deep Color™ episodes and ensuring excellent future programming. Only a limited number of shirts will be produced. To view and pre-order, click HERE.

Sophie Stone makes work that shifts between painting, sculpture, and domestic floor rugs. Sophie talks about the state of ambiguity in her work, allowing materials to use their own muscles, her installation at NADA House on Governor’s Island, stains as gesture and grungy versus polished surfaces, frustration leading to revelation, letting go in studio, and reinterpreting decorative art and beauty.

Sarah Zapata makes textile-based installations and sculpture. Sarah talks about research, reading and writing as important parts of her process, her sculpture at NADA House on Governor’s Island in New York City, the contentious history of stripes in textiles, writing foot erotica, time as currency, her connection to Evangelicalism, guilt as a driving force and exchanges between craft and contemporary art.

Heather Hubbs is the Executive Director of The New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA), a non-profit membership organization for art galleries and alternative art spaces. Heather talks about NADA’s history and curatorial vision, the NADA House exhibit on Governor’s Island in NYC, where NADA fits within the landscape of contemporary art fairs, the impact of arts-based social media and online platforms, and a forthcoming NADA fair in Chicago.

Fabienne Lasserre makes three-dimensional work that oscillates between sculpture and painting. Fabienne talks about using materials that allow her to change her mind, the process of unthinking and undoing, how color can linger in memory, the indescribable aspects of art, making work that can adapt to its surroundings, a feeling of ease in studio and stubbornness as a guiding principle.

Megan Dickerson is the Senior Exhibitions Manager at The New Children’s Museum in San Diego. Megan talks about identifying as a “play worker,” working at the intersection of the contemporary art world and children’s museums, how kids explore and find agency through play, art materials as potentially “gnawable,” considering physical and emotional risks within an exhibit, re-balancing the relationships between work and play and finding flow, and believing in the immediate potential of children. This recording was organized and facilitated by artist Matt Rich.

Sean Kelly has been a contemporary art dealer for over three decades, establishing a reputation for presenting diverse, intellectually driven and unconventional exhibitions. Sean talks about his role as an Armory Show selection committee member, suggestions on how galleries might prepare a strong and memorable fair application, how his relationship with performance artist Marina Abramovic developed, his podcast “Collect Wisely”, the profound inequities within the world of art, artist’s studios as sacred spaces and slowing down the process of looking at art. This episode was recorded on location at The Armory Show, as it celebrates its 25th Anniversary.

Sally Tallant is the incoming Director of the Queens Museum in New York and curated the Platform section of the 2019 Armory Show. Sally talks about the different stages of her curatorial process, some of the ideas and artists featured in her current project titled “Worlds of Tomorrow”, the exchanges between hope, optimism and action, a meaningful trip to Sri Lanka, being completely moved by the work of Faith Ringgold and connecting people, culture and art through public programs. This episode was recorded on location at The Armory Show, as it celebrates its 25th Anniversary.

Christian Nagel is been a contemporary art dealer for over three decades. He is currently operating as Galerie Nagel Draxler, located in Berlin. Christian talks about the origins of The Armory Show, an important internship he had at the Kaiser Wihelm Museum, a memorable road trip with painter Günther Förg, presenting a commemorative booth that salutes the legacies of fair co-founders Pat Hearn and Colin de Land, a café/studio visit with performance artist Andrea Fraser, and working with a generational range of artists. This episode was recorded on location at The Armory Show, as it celebrates its 25th Anniversary.

Eric Shiner is the artistic director at White Cube in New York. He was previously senior vice president of contemporary art at Sotheby’s and director of The Andy Warhol Museum. Eric talks about curating past Focus and Platform sections of The Armory Show, galleries as an important part of an artist’s support network, what he looks for during studio visits, Andy Warhol and social media, and artists as powerful agents of change. This episode was recorded on location at The Armory Show, as it celebrates its 25th Anniversary.

Mark Dion is an American artist whose work examines the ways in which dominant ideologies and public institutions shape our understanding of history, knowledge and the natural world. Mark talks about participating at the first incarnations of The Armory Show during the mid-1990’s, remembering Pat Hearn and Colin de Land, collecting objects and his curiosity cabinet installations, a forthcoming project at Storm King Art Center and working as an artist as a long, complex and ongoing endeavor. This episode was recorded on location at The Armory Show, as it celebrates its 25th Anniversary.

Rachelle Dang makes installation-based work and sculpture that considers the exchanges between colonial legacies, botanical sciences and personal history. Rachelle talks about how audience activates her work, shifting from painting to sculpture, her “Savages of the Pacific” project, breadfruit, finding tremendous happiness through making art and the endless responsibility of dealing with history.

Adam Helms makes drawings and paintings that often depict masked faces, opposition groups, portraits of women, or scenes from comic books and film. Adam talks about posturing and symbolism through identity, image appropriation, subcultures and black metal, divorcing himself from his own work and looking for the emotional resonance in images.

Brian Chippendale is a visual artist, drummer and singer in Lightning Bolt and Black Pus, and a founding member of the seminal work-live-performance venue Fort Thunder. Brian talks about the similarities and distinctions between his different modes of making, mistakes as the living parts of his work, the fury of parenthood, selling artwork outside of the gallery system and enthusiasm as a way to generate new ideas. This is part 2 of a 2-part episode.

Brian Chippendale is a visual artist, drummer and singer in Lightning Bolt and Black Pus, and a founding member of the seminal work-live-performance venue Fort Thunder. Brian talks about creating immersive and expansive worlds in his work; handmade masks; playing drums; improvisation as an important tool, and capturing energy, multiplying it and blowing it back out. This is part 1 of a 2-part episode.

Monona Rossol is a chemist, sculptor, singer and an industrial hygienist that specializes in visual and performing arts health hazards. Monona talks about how most artist studios fail OSHA safety regulations, her book “The Artists Complete Health & Safety Guide”, kid’s art supplies, being born into a vaudevillian family, scientific facts, human denial and the challenge of being persuasive, and a steadfast desire to contribute to the arts in multiple ways.

Ryan Travis Christian makes graphite drawings on paper that often depict invented cartoon characters immersed in a world of provocative activity and goofball scenarios. RTC talks about processing emotional and political turmoil through his art, making work that transcends scene, seeing a demon and homage as a way to keep ideas alive.

Butt Johnson makes highly rendered and labor intensive drawings. Butt talks about using a pseudonym as part of his artistic identity, his technical process and drafting system, patient execution as a form of peacefulness, looking for rigorousness in art, a love for sub-cultures, biology and gardening, and setting up his own parameters of challenge in art.

Tau Lewis makes sculptural work that often utilizes fabrics, industrial debris, plaster and found objects. Tau talks about her admiration for Souls Grown Deep, the history and memory of materials, identifying as a self-taught artist, black geographies, black imagination and black resourcefulness, childhood drawings of Michael Jackson, mermaids, healing and joyfulness through making.

Maia Ruth Lee makes paintings, sculpture, jewelry and video-based works. Maia talks about growing up in Nepal, being patient and flexible with her ideas, utilizing source material like vintage clip art books, art education and her role as the director of Wide Rainbow, how motherhood has helped her become a more relaxed artist and her recent solo show at Jack Hanley Gallery.

Ellie Rines is the founder and director of 56 Henry and co-director at Ceysson Bénétière’s New York location. Ellie talks about paintings as memory banks, the relationship between gallery and artist, slowing down the discussion of an artwork, shower stalls as storage spaces, her recipe for ideal studio visits and acting as a conduit for the artists she represents.

Sun You makes sculpture, installations and wall works that operate like paintings. Sun talks about carrying the language of painting into her three dimensional work, finding ways to interrupt her sensibility, the tonality and surprise in Korean film, moments of self-doubt as healthy, false proximities and keeping track of the potential of art.

Sean J. Patrick Carney is a visual and performance artist, writer, comedian and art educator. Sean talks about the similarities between comedians and visual artists, his love for teaching, cooking as a creative and meditative process, being a member of the Bruce High Quality Foundation, the fog of art speak, his Humor & The Abject podcast and comedy as a through-line in his work and life.