Reality Talks Podcast by ArtAboveReality

#InTheStudio: The series offers an inside look into the studio practice of the visual artist. From fabricated materials and works in progress to exhibition preparation, viewers get a chance to understand and experience the process firsthand. The Artist: Bryan Avila also known as The Producer BDB was born in Riverside California, he currently lives and works in the city of Los Angeles. He is an emergent contemporary artist who has lived all over the world. His work is born out of street art with hints of fashion, pop culture, music, technology, and history. • #ArtAboveReality

#InTheStudio: The series offers an inside look into the studio practice of the visual artist. From fabricated materials and works in progress to exhibition preparation, viewers get a chance to understand and experience the process firsthand. The Artist: UncuttArt has been celebrated on a multitude of different platforms including customization of garments as well as shoes and accessories. Most recently, he dove into the canvas using inspiration from various pop culture images and public figures. As society seems obsessed with the "celebrity", I am motivated to distract them from the idea that some of us are actually better than others, using the images they so sincerely glorify. Along his journey as an artist, he’s been influenced by everything in life that operates outside the norm. Things that are created through the eyes of one or more people who's vision may not all be on the same frequency. #ArtAboveReality

#InTheStudio with #ArtAboveReality as we tap into the creative mind of LA-based entrepreneur Eric Spivak (@eric.spiv.is.ur.plug)! , Thursday, September 24th at Noon/3p! *pacific/eastern. • #InTheStudio: The series offers an inside look into the studio practice of the visual artist. From fabricated materials and works in progress to exhibition preparation, viewers get a chance to understand and experience the process firsthand. • The Artist: Eric Spivak or “SPIV” as most know him, is a multi-disciplinary creative artist and natural-born entrepreneur. Dedicated to community building, cultural preservation, and the arts. For over a decade, he’s been heavily involved in the Los Angeles music scene, from the underground to mainstream, working with some of the top artists of yesterday, today and tomorrow. The question he is most asked is “What don’t you do?”. Sharing such a unique repertoire of diverse skillset, paired with the reach of his network, has merited him an extremely powerful and dynamic addition to any team. #ArtAboveReality

#InTheStudio with #ArtAboveReality as we visit the studio workspace of NYC based artist Bisco Smith! (@biscosmith), Monday, September 21st at 11a/2p! *pacific/eastern. • #InTheStudio: The series offers an inside look into the studio practice of the visual artist. From fabricated materials and works in progress to exhibition preparation, viewers get a chance to understand and experience the process firsthand. • The Artist: Bisco Smith is an American contemporary artist, based in New York, recognized for his graffiti-deconstructive approach to abstract expressionism. Utilizing his understanding of space and songwriting from his early years as a graffiti writer, music maker, and graphic designer, Bisco strips his compositions to their fundamental essence of motion and rhythm while channeling the energy of a moment through gestural marks and abstracted, lyrical text. Reimagining the execution of abstract expressionist painting through his unique contemporary lens, Bisco aims to create art that inspires hope for the future. Over the past decade, Bisco has painted murals and performed live across the globe. He has partnered with creative brands including Nike, (RED), Turner, Coach, Adidas, SBE hotel group, RYOT, and Hypebeast. With a resume of solo and group exhibitions in New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Miami, Berlin, Seattle, and Hong Kong, Bisco Smith’s works are sought after by collectors and art enthusiasts worldwide. #ArtAboveReality

Check out the #ContemporaryArtConversations series where I talk with curators and arts professionals about the state of the #artmarket and the after-effects of the #COVID19 pandemic on #production, #exhibition, and #collection of #fineart. • I’m joined today by independent arts and museum leader and also my buddy, #JamesLeventhal (@jamesgleventhal)! • James G. Leventhal is an arts professional who has been in the museum field for over 25 years, most recently as the Deputy Director and Chief Development Officer for the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) in San Francisco. With a strong background in program development, community engagement, and fundraising, James has worked at museums as far-ranging as The Contemporary Jewish Museum to The Metropolitan Museum of Art. He is is a graduate of the Getty Leadership Program (2015). He holds an MBA in management and museum studies from John F. Kennedy University, Berkeley, and was named Alumni of the Year in 2013. He completed course work toward an MA in art history and museum studies from The City College, City University of New York; and has a BS in studio art and anthropology from New York University. Leventhal has served on the Boards of the Western Museums Association (2010-2017) and Museum Computer Network (2010) and is currently on the Programs Committees for the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) and the Berkeley Art Center. • #ArtAboveReality

Tune in to the third digital edition of #InTheStudio with #ArtAboveReality as we visit the studio workspace of Amy McCormac (@mccormacamy) today at 4p! *pacific. • #InTheStudio: The series offers an inside look into the studio practice of the visual artist. From fabricated materials and works in progress to exhibition preparation, viewers get a chance to understand and experience the process firsthand. • The Artist: Amy McCormac grew up in an artistic family in #Chicago. Her father was an art director for book publishing and her mother was a Sunday painter and freelance illustrator. After a short stint as a 3D animation assistant, she moved on to work as a video producer. She took up oil painting in adolescence and got her BFA at Mundelein College, now part of Loyola University (@loyolachicago). #ArtAboveReality

Tune in to the sixth digital edition of #InTheStudio with #ArtAboveReality as we visit the studio workspace of LA-based artist Jonah Jackson (@jonah.jay), today at 6p! *pacific. • #InTheStudio: The series offers an inside look into the studio practice of the visual artist. From fabricated materials and works in progress to exhibition preparation, viewers get a chance to understand and experience the process firsthand. • The Artist: Jonah Jackson is a Houston, Texas native now working in Los Angeles. He received his BA in studio art from the University of Texas at San Antonio and his MFA from Claremont Graduate University. He discovered art during a painting course titled “painting for non-art majors”. • His paintings and installations critique American history and its’ exclusion of Black people. With narratives, identity, portraiture, and language, he responds to the Black experience within his community. Through assemblage, he’s expanded the boundaries of painting creating sculptural work and bringing complexities to these objects. #ArtAboveReality

Tune into the first digital edition of #InTheStudio with #ArtAboveReality as we visit the studio workspace of GreatJoy Ndlovu (@ngreatjoy1) tonight at 6p! *pacific. • #InTheStudio: The series offers an inside look into the studio practice of the visual artist. From fabricated materials and works in progress to exhibition preparation, viewers get a chance to understand and experience the process firsthand. • The Artist: Greatjoy Njabulo Ndlovu is a fine artist based at August House Studios, Johannesburg. Njabulo, who does the dripping technique, says art to him as a lifestyle did not come easy. He had to fight for his first love instead of the easy route of a conventional career. • Through his fascinating and exceptional talent, Ndlovu has won the hearts of many visual arts enthusiasts, as his artworks revolve around emotions and expressions. • #artabovereality

As with everything, it starts with a blank canvas and builds! Can’t wait to chat and walkthrough the studio of my brother @manoneart! • Tune into the fourth digital edition of #InTheStudio with #ArtAboveReality as we visit the studio workspace of LA-based artist Man One! (@manoneart), this Wednesday at 6p! *pacific. • #InTheStudio: The series offers an inside look into the studio practice of the visual artist. From fabricated materials and works in progress to exhibition preparation, viewers get a chance to understand and experience the process firsthand. • The Artist: Man One's art is comprised of his trademark bold, colorful art strokes and has been featured in ten solo shows, countless group exhibitions, and curated well over a hundred. His work has been exhibited in many museums including the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, The Getty, Pasadena Museum of California Art, LACMA, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art in Santa Ana, Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena, Parco Museum in Tokyo, and the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. His artwork is collected internationally and has shown in galleries around the world including Australia, Germany, New Zealand, Mexico, UK, Japan, and Switzerland among others. • In 2002, Man One founded Crewest Gallery in Los Angeles to legitimize graffiti art as a valuable and collectible art form and give graffiti artists a professional venue and forum in which to showcase their work. In the book, Graffiti L.A., street art documentarian Steve Grody listed the opening of Crewest Gallery as a milestone event in the history of graffiti art in Los Angeles. Ten years on, Crewest continues to be a leader in the world of collectible graffiti art. #ArtAboveReality

Tune into the fifth digital edition of #InTheStudio with #ArtAboveReality as we visit the studio workspace of LA based artist #AprilBey! (@aprilbey_), this FRIDAY at 11a! *pacific. • #InTheStudio: The series offers an inside look into the studio practice of the visual artist. From fabricated materials and works in progress to exhibition preparation, viewers get a chance to understand and experience the process firsthand. • The Artist: April Bey grew up in the Caribbean (Nassau, Bahamas) and now resides and works in Los Angeles, CA as a contemporary visual artist and art educator. Bey’s interdisciplinary artwork is an introspective and social critique of American and Bahamian culture, contemporary pop culture feminism, generational theory, social media, AfroFuturism and constructs of race. • She received her BFA in drawing in 2009 from Ball State University and her MFA in painting in 2014 at California State University, Northridge in Los Angeles. Bey is in the permanent collection of The California African American Museum, The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas and The Current, Baha Mar in Nassau, Bahamas. Bey has exhibited internationally in biennials NE7, NE8 and NE9 in The Bahamas. Bey has also exhibited internationally in Italy, Spain and Accra Ghana, West Africa. • April has launched 3 solo exhibitions: Picky Head at Liquid Courage Gallery in Nassau, Bahamas, COMPLY at Coagula Curatorial in Chinatown, Los Angeles and most recently MADE IN SPACE at Band of Vices Gallery in West Adams. • April travels extensively to collect data for her work having traveled to Canada, Iceland, London, Bali, Dubai, Morocco, Senegal, Nigeria, Benin, Togo and Ghana, West Africa. Bey is both a practicing contemporary artist and art educator having taught a controversial course at Art Center College of Design called Pretty Hurts analyzing process-based art and Beyoncé hashtag faux feminism. • #ArtAboveReality

Tune into a special edition of #InTheStudio with #ArtAboveReality as we visit the studio workspace And talk history with #Philadelphia’s own #CornbreadTheLegend (@cornbreadthelegend) tomorrow at 4p! *pacific. • #InTheStudio: The series offers an inside look into the studio practice of the visual artist. From fabricated materials and works in progress to exhibition preparation, viewers get a chance to understand and experience the process firsthand. • The Artist: Darryl McCray, better known by his tagging name "Cornbread", is a #graffiti practitioner from #Philadelphia. McCray was born in North Philadelphia in 1953 and raised in Brewerytown, a neighborhood of North Philadelphia. During the late 1960s, he and a group of friends started doing graffiti in Philadelphia, by writing their monikers on walls across the city. The movement spread to New York City and blossomed into the modern graffiti movement, which reached its peak in the U.S. in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and then spread to Europe. Since his tagging days, McCray has developed a close relationship with The Philadelphia Mural Arts Program. He is a public speaker and a youth advocate. • #ArtAboveReality

Check out the #ContemporaryArtConversations series where I talk with curators and arts professionals about the state of the #artmarket and the after-effects of the pandemic on production, exhibition, and collection of #fineart. • I’m joined today by my buddy #MatGleason (@matgleason) of Coagula! (@coagulacuratorial) • Founder of the highly controversial Coagula Art Journal, Mat Gleason is an internationally recognized art critic and curator of contemporary art. His on-screen presence adds weight in some artist biographical films, such as "Mr. Bitchin'" (2010) and "One Man Band" (2013), where he passionately advocates for the greatness of artists Robert Williams and Llyn Foulkes, respectively. But Gleason is most known for his aversion to established orthodoxies and his fearlessness in voicing an informed opinion. In the Ovation TV series "Art Or Not?" (2007) he trashed popular fine art superstar Shepard Fairey in a memorable verbal laceration that earned him the scorn of street art fanboys and the admiration of those who would not "Obey" conventional art wisdom. • In the Bobby Sheehan-directed "Jeff Koons: Beyond Heaven" (2009), Gleason emerges as the lone voice bent on removing the emperor's clothes and critiquing the lack of substance int he artist's work and Koons' well-manicured persona. His sharp analytical tongue and ability to articulate aesthetics served him well in his biggest role to date, analyzing and critiquing the competitive body painting in "Skin Wars: Fresh Paint", the 2015-16 television series where he sat as one of the regular judges. #artabovereality

Check out the #ContemporaryArtConversations series where I talk with curators and arts professionals about the state of the #artmarket and the after-effects of the pandemic on production, exhibition, and collection of #fineart. • I’m joined today by collector, writer, and artist #KennySchachter (@kennyschachter)! • Kenny Schachter has been curating contemporary art exhibits in museums and galleries for in excess of 20 years and has taught art history at the graduate level at New York University, The New School for Social Research, and lectured and organized an offsite exhibition for the first graduating class of Columbia University's Masters of Fine Art program. He has lectured internationally, been the recipient of a Rockefeller supported grant, written portions of books published by Springer Wien New York (2006, with Vito Acconci, edited by Cristina Bechtler) and MIT Press (2009, on Paul Thek, edited by Harald Falckenberg), and been profiled in The New York Times Magazine, and London's Observer, Independent, and Telegraph. Received planning permission to erect Zaha Hadid's first building in England, situated on Hoxton Square. Kenny deals in international art from impressionism and modernism to the art and design of today. #artabovereality

Vanessa Rivera is a Los Angeles based artist with an education in Fine Arts from the University of Southern California. Rivera’s work is a mixture of abstract expressionism and figurative painting. She uses color as a language to create an emotion in the viewer whether it’s in her solely abstract work, or in preparation for a story in her figurative paintings. Rivera’s pseudo sexual works are a reflection of the stages of the human experience expressed through body postures. The viewer is welcomed to enter a dream-like world surrounded by clouds of color, directing the viewer away from the physical world and into the realm of emotion. Rivera’s work has been exhibited throughout Los Angeles, including the USC Roski Lindhurst Gallery, the Fisher Museum, Gallery 950 at The Met, LAUNCH Gallery, Gallery 38, NWO Art Gallery and Palazzo Vagnotti in Italy.

Philadelphia born artist Al-Baseer Holly (ABH) is best known for paying a tribute to childhood memories through his brightly hued paintings that colorfully blend pop culture figures with street art aesthetic. His works reveal playful energy of the artist’s regular rite of cartoon viewing on Saturday mornings, evoking a sense of nostalgia and state of lacking the constraints of rules and regime. ABH uses iconic characters such as: SpongeBob SquarePants, Beavis & Butthead, and Mickey Mouse, juxtaposing their imagery with a variety of abstract representations. His works were exhibited nationwide and has attracted the attention of Tommy Hilfiger, Beyonce, and Rita Ora.

Not many people know what they want to be at the age of two. But in the case of fine artist Isaac Pelayo, this is true. Born in Los Angeles, CA, on June 7th, 1996, Isaac picked up a pencil at a tender age and discovered a profound passion. He was compelled to mirror his father and fellow fine artist, Antonio Pelayo Jr., but produce art of his own in the process. Growing up, he found comfort in solace, as it allowed him to learn what being committed and dedicated meant and he embraced his love for the craft. His work initiated as a child; from sketching and coloring Disney characters, to now drawing and painting life-like pieces in depth and minuscule detail using only a pencil and brush. His influences and inspirations lie in his family, other visual artist’s, musical artist’s, and the idea of improving his skill on a daily basis. His massive skill didn’t take long to open up success for him. He’s won several first placement awards and the first being at the 2008 12th Annual Western Art Show in Riverside, CA at the age of only 11. Isaac has been published in several books, magazines, and news papers such as Frank 151, Out of Step Books, LA Weekly, and recently landing the cover of the 2016 Los Angeles Latino Heritage Month Calendar and Cultural Guide. Isaac has also exhibited in several well-known galleries and museums such as MOLAA, The Trotsky Museum, Known Gallery, Street Art Fair For Jeff Hamilton, The Seventh Letter Gallery, La Luz De Jesus Gallery, Burbank Art Center, Donna Beam Gallery, Plaza De La Raza, and Gallery 446 to name a few. He is an ambitious young adult who strives to challenge.

Riskie Forever is a contemporary artist from Compton, CA. Not limiting himself to airbrushing and album covers, Riskie is versed in painting everything from canvas pictures to murals, customizing articles of clothing, shoes, skatedecks, and the list could go on forever. His dedication even caught the attention of Death Row CEO and rap mogul, Suge Knight, who introduced him to Tupac Shakur. Riskie’s first project for Death Row was the insert for the Tupac’s All Eyez On Me album. Based on the quality of his first assignment, Riskie was commissioned again to complete the album cover for one of the most illest and influential albums in hip-hop; Tupac’s Makaveli: The 7 Day Theory. Tupac informed Riskie of his vision for the album cover. Once Riskie had the idea sealed in his mind, he set out to create one of the most talked about album covers in the history of hip-hop. Though Tupac never received the opportunity to see the outcome of the new album due to his untimely death, he was able to witness Riskie’s finished product for the album cover. Needless to say, he loved it! Other members of Death Row began to embrace Riskie as well. He did several album covers for the label to include Death Row’s Greatest Hits and Death Row’s Christmas Album, album covers and inserts for Snoop on the Snoop Doggy Dog's Tha Doggfather album, Daz Dillinger’s Retaliation, Revenge and Get Back, and Nate Dogg’s G-Funk Classics, Vol. 1 &; 2. Barthelomew (Bart) Cooper is a Los Angeles based multidimensional contemporary artist born and raised in West Africa, Liberia. Inspired by his country’s vibrant colors and breathtaking scenery, a three-year-old Bart began to visually record the world around him. Fleeing Liberia at the start of the civil war, Bart moved to the United States where he studied fine art, sculpture and graphic design. Greatly influenced by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci, American illustrator Norman Rockwell and American artist Ernie Barnes, he began his pursuit to push the boundaries on the evolution of art and creativity. A reflection of growing up with customary African values in a westernized American culture, Bart’s work merges the traditional with the technological. His signature mixed medium, acrylic style is quickly emerging in the contemporary scene and has already gained him several celebrity clients and private collectors both nationally and internationally.

Danny Minnick grew up in Seattle, landing a successful career as a professional skateboarder in his early teenage years. However, a career-ending Achilles tendon injury led his life in another direction. Once an artist friend showed him how to stretch canvases, Minnick began experimenting with painting, channelling his energy and creativity into a new medium. His hobby soon became a profession, as he was offered his first gallery exhibition shortly after. While Minnick has moved away from skateboarding professionally, his art brings plenty of energy, passion and movement from his earlier experiences. Indeed, he cites Ray Pettitbon skateboard graphics as a major artistic influence, as well as other skateboarders turned artists such as Mark Gonzales, Neil Blender and Chad Muska. He also acknowledges the influence of street artist RETNA, as well as musicians Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix. “One of my favourite things Basquiat said was that music is how we decorate time,” Minnick explains, “and when I listen to Jimi Hendrix I see his paintings.”

Jane Golden, Executive Director, has been the driving force of Mural Arts Philadelphia (Mural Arts), overseeing its growth from a small city agency into the nation’s largest public art program and a model for community development and restorative justice across the country and around the globe. Under Golden’s direction, Mural Arts has created over 4,000 works of public art through innovative collaborations with community-based organizations, city agencies, nonprofit organizations, schools, the private sector, and philanthropies.