I Know Strange People

Painter Rodney Dickson comes from humble beginnings in a small town in Northern Ireland. Being an artist has led him many places around the world but has predominantly lived in NYC  since the 90's.  A student of Mike Knowles who himself is a student of Frank Auerbach (all three still correspond), Rodney is part of a lineage of thick impasto painters while still exploring new possibilities.See www.instagram.com/i_know_strange_people/ for images and comments.

Cordy Ryman thinks it's semantics whether or not he is a painter or sculptor. Having grown up in a family of artists, he knew early on that putting art on a pedestal becomes a barrier. Seeing the built-in paradoxes of the art world led Cordy to start Art Cake, a studio residency program and project space in Brooklyn, New York. See www.instagram.com/i_know_strange_people/ for images and comments.

Painter John Rogers, better known as Ghoulorama on instagram has been told he's smarter than he looks. Drawing from working in a bank that was robbed, living in "Killa-delphia" and of course watching cars on fire,  a deeper sense of how humor is a coping mechanism is conveyed, even when the viewer doesn't always get the joke.  See www.instagram.com/i_know_strange_people/ for images and comments.

Bill Scott was never looking to be an artist, it was like many other things - just in front of him. Following what was in front of him took him after art school to Paris where he had a chance encounter with Joan Mitchell that became a fruitful but complicated relationship. Bill's paintings are like himself:  they are meant to be seen from a distance and up close. His solo exhibition " I Stood There Once" is at Hollis Taggart gallery from September 8th - October 8th.See www.instagram.com/i_know_strange_people/ for images and comments.

Maria Yolanda Liebana has a free flowing conversation on her many interests ranging from Anime, 80's pop culture, her Catholic school upbringing, and her hometown of Paterson NJ. Her idiosyncratic style is a result of these ingredients and her perspective of the world today as a Latinx Multidisciplinary Artist.See www.instagram.com/i_know_strange_people/ for images and comments.

Celeste Morton shares how she gets to try on an identity through painting Cowgirls.  Having started as a film theory major in school, we discussed how other films, particularly Westerns, influenced her work. See www.instagram.com/i_know_strange_people/ for images and comments.

Painter and Pasadena native Justin Duffus reveals his journey from living coast to coast and what led him be free in his life and painting by turning the camera around onto himself.See www.instagram.com/i_know_strange_people/ for images and comments.

Bronx New York native Eric Holzman started out in a rock band but eventually went to art school. After having the profound experience of seeing a Piero della Francesca painting, his path was set. Life, painting, The Beatles, abstraction, and the dignity in art are some of the topics discussed.See www.instagram.com/i_know_strange_people/ for images and comments.

Marybeth Chew takes a deep dive into the main source of her paintings; film stills from horror films. This process deals with much more than just paintings and films, but a greater transformation of how we identify ourselves through movies in today's image-conscious society.See www.instagram.com/i_know_strange_people/ for images and comments.

This short audio montage explains the conception of this interview based artist podcast with music by Michael J. Vitale. 

For Homer Shew, the art department was where he found his community in boarding school. This continued in college to the extent he had to move back in NY to be with his community. After being moved to make a painting of chef in an alleyway in Chinatown, Homer began his series of portraits of Chinese-Americans. See www.instagram.com/i_know_strange_people/ for images and comments.

For abstract painter Hollis Heichemer, going with the flow works well for her.  We talk about  the many jobs we've had, watching nature change, our love for Haruki Murakami and getting rid of that noise so that you can go down deeper into your creativity.See www.instagram.com/i_know_strange_people/ for images and comments.

Artist and Filmmaker David Scott Kessler reveals his long journey in completing his documentary “The Pine Barrens”. David takes cues from originally being a painter on how to work the camera, while challenging his preconceived ideas about the people and place that inhabit this film. See www.instagram.com/i_know_strange_people/ for images and comments.

Ashley didn't fit in with the cool kids in the Art Department, so she studied Greek and Latin instead, inadvertently learning what was really important for her paintings. Cool kids, bad paintings, the music scene in Athens Georgia, weaving in the Odyssey, and Mac'n Cheese are some of the topics that are discussed. See www.instagram.com/i_know_strange_people/ for images and comments.

Mary DeVincentis discusses the multiple sources for her rich imagery and narrative in her painting. Having  Aphantasia, the inability to visualize mental images,  sources such as spoken word and song lyrics provides a pathway to her inner world.See www.instagram.com/i_know_strange_people/ for images and comments.

A Memphis Tennessee native, Paul Behnke's art has brought him many places.  Currently based in Taos, New Mexico, he was a part of the Bushwick art scene for some years when he co-ran the gallery, Stout Projects.  Along with his paintings we get to talk about movies, Star Trek, pop culture, pandemic life, and his new project, Monklike Habits.See www.instagram.com/i_know_strange_people/ for images and comments.

Painter Clintel Steed talks about his latest exhibition, "Behind the Hood". In this interview, the hood is not just the last stop on the subway, but it also refers to hood worn by the Ku Klux Klan. It was a popular trope for Philip Guston to paint as a challenge to white supremacy. When it was recently announced that Guston's retrospective at the National Gallery was postponed due to the political climate, Clintel had to respond. Other topics in this interview range from his upbringing, misogyny, favorite movies, and surviving the pandemic as artist.See www.instagram.com/i_know_strange_people/ for images and comments.

Painter/Sculptor Martin Dull updates us with his situation during the pandemic and discusses how his faith has effected the way he see's the world and finds a way into his painting.