You know when you set out to interview a complete stranger, but instead you end up with a new friend who somehow totally understands your love of weeding other people’s gardens, staring into space, and eating at gallery cafes?  Yep, my plan had been to interview New York based artist, designer, and general creative genius Doug Meyer about his beautiful new book, but as usual, one thing led to another and we wound up talking about WAY more than that. You can listen right up there under that still from New York Magazine’s video about Doug’s amazing apartment, or you can subscribe on iTunes.

Where do we even begin? Well, let’s start with just a few of the wildly wonderful environments Doug has created for various clients:

Oh my word, yes! In any of those spaces, you’d feel like you were living INSIDE a work of art. Speaking of which, Doug and his husband live INSIDE a work of art:

Yeah, that’s his apartment in Chelsea. ?!? All of these images are from an article in New York Magazine. Here’s the video from the same article that Doug and I were talking about. You have to see this place to believe it:

Right!?

Ok, and now… the cameos! Have a look and tell me you don’t want one:

Well, now I want one for each member of my entire family, mounted on that crazy beautiful wallpaper.

And finally, yes, we even talked about the book! “Heroes : A Tribute” is exactly that:

“The book pays homage to some of the first victims of AIDS and AIDS-related diseases—brilliant creative figures such as Robert Mapplethorpe, Keith Haring, Rudolph Nureyev, Freddie Mercury, Rock Hudson, John Duka, Tina Chow, Klaus Nomi, Halston, and Angelo Donghia. In Heroes, artist Doug Meyer honors 50 innovative pioneers from the worlds of art, design, film, and dance whose contributions may be unknown to a younger generation.”

And here’s a little peek into this neon-covered object d’art:

So gorgeous, so powerful, and so important. ps. I had to throw in that group of heroes I found on Doug’s Instagram feed… it makes me really happy to see a bunch of them hanging out together. Thanks to Doug for sharing all of his hilarious/inspiring stories; thank you to Saatchi Art for supporting the episode, and great big thanks to you for listening. There will be more Art For Your Ear next weekend.

Other links:

1. Heroes : A Tribute {BUY the book today!}
2. Doug on Instagram
3. Doug & Gene Meyer
4. Holly Solomon, Collector & Curator
5. DIFFA
6. New York Magazine / The Cut