Newspapers. Yes. I have written about Canadian artist Myriam Dion before, and I’ll do it again! Since it’s Canadian Thanksgiving today, I thought posting about Myriam’s work would be a perfect way to give thanks … I’m thankful that there are amazingly talented artists in the world who are capable of turning today’s horrific headlines into paper lace. I’m also thankful that Myriam agreed to let me tell her inspiring story and share her insanely intricate work in my new book. How could I not, right? Right. Happy Monday, and Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Canucks. I’m going to eat pumpkin pie now. Bye!

Annie Kevans … I got Annie Kevans on the podcast! I have been smitten with Annie’s dreamy portraits since the first time I saw them way back in 2009. Well, nine years later and here we are {I like to ease into meeting my heroes}. Annie is a British artist who spent her early childhood in France, attended a {super weird} private school in England, lived in Barcelona for awhile, then London again, and NOW she lives in France. Again. Her story is so, so, so good, and I know first-hand because I was lucky enough to write all about it in my new book! We’re going to talk about all of it – from that super weird private school and her passion for women in art history, to Andy Warhol in drag and jumping off cliffs with a kite type of thing on her back. You can listen right up there under that lovely portrait of Lady Gaga (!), or subscribe on iTunes.

First up, Annie’s ‘Boys’ series. Let’s kick things off with Hitler, shall we:

Yep, dictators before they were dictators … dictators when they were sweet, young, rosy-cheeked boys. ps. This was the series that Charles Saatchi bought just as Annie was graduating from art school. THE. WHOLE. SERIES. Yeah.

‘The History of Art’ … sigh. I cannot explain how much I love this series featuring pioneering female artists:

So powerful, so beautiful. We mentioned Edmonia Lewis a few times and she is in there, of course … her story is so inspiring {she’s also the person Annie named in the not-so-speedy speed round as her choice for a dinner companion. I want to come too!} These unstoppable artists seem like a perfect segue into this next tidbit:

Yep, Annie is in my new book, ‘A BIG IMPORTANT ART BOOK – Now With Women’ – and she happens to be the first artist in Chapter 1! I had the honor of writing her story and displaying her gorgeous work. I have also sprinkled bits about historical women throughout the book, and in Annie’s section I just had to include Sofonisba’s story.

Alright, from inspiring women to fabulous male artists … who dressed like women from time to time:

These paintings are from Annie’s ‘Drag’ series, and here is part of her artist statement about this work:

In the ‘Drag’ series, Kevans reveals male art stars comfortably posing as women but confident that their achievements will not be forgotten.  Artists such as Francis Bacon, Marcel Duchamp, Andy Warhol, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Robert Mapplethorpe and Cecil Beaton all photographed themselves in drag but the question remains: would these artists continue to be so revered had they been born women?

Hm. Excellent question, Annie. Excellent question.

And finally, Annie holding things together in Europe:

Ha! When you find something like this on your guest’s Instagram feed, well, YOU POST IT. Thank you soooo much to Annie for doing this with me, and for also being part of this big important book that is ridiculously important to me. Thanks to Saatchi Art for supporting the episode, and thank YOU for listening. There will be more art for your ear next weekend.

Sigh. New work by LA based artist Seonna Hong. Seriously, I love everything she does every time she does it! Speaking of which, all of these pieces are part of a new show, titled “Things Will Get Better”… let’s hope so. The show opens TOMORROW NIGHT, October 6 from 6-9pm at Hashimoto Contemporary in San Francisco.

“This show is about reckoning. I found myself in the last couple years being overwhelmed by what was happening in the world and it forced me to rethink my place in it as a woman, a person of color, a mother, and as a citizen. I looked for inspiration in people around me, their activism, their work, their humanity and I found hope and community in that.”

So smart, so beautiful.

* BOOK TOUR INFO ALERT *  Seonna and I will both be at Hashimoto on Saturday October 20th! Yep, I’ll be there doing a talk, Q&A, and book signing from 2-4pm AND you can get Seonna to sign it too because her beautiful story/work is featured on pages 30 – 35… YAY! Mark your calendars for A BIG IMPORTANT ART BOOK – Now With Women in San Francisco!

“Everything that could have been but wasn’t, now is” … LOVE! This “paper” sculpture {which is actually aluminum}, is the work of Italian artist Daniele Sigalot. I love the final piece, but it was his brilliant idea behind these bad ideas that got me:

“I wanted to see what happened if I put all the bad ideas I have ever had in my life, in one single room. Would all these crumpled papers turn from bad to good, once they joined forces? Is the repetition of failure, a success?”

Gorgeous.

Breath. Taking. I’ve written about New York based artist Jacob Hashimoto before {2014}, but after seeing glimpses of this absolutely stunning installation, titled ‘The Eclipse’, popping up over and over again on Instagram, well, clearly I had to write about him again. If you are in New York, please, please, please go to this … and then tell me all about it!

Governors Island (NY) Announces Immersive Public Exhibition by Artist Jacob Hashimoto. Two breathtaking installations [‘The Eclipse’ – shown here, and ‘Never Comes Tomorrow’] composed of thousands of delicate, hanging rice paper kites, cubes and funnels to be displayed in historic St. Cornelius Chapel and Liggett Hall Archway. ON VIEW: June 2 – October 31, 2018

Powerful. That word always come up when I write about the work of Iraqi born, US based artist Hayv Kahraman. I had the honor of writing her whole story in my latest book, A BIG IMPORTANT ART BOOK – Now with Women … which just so happens to be hitting shelves, worldwide, today! It is big, important, and filled with stories of unstoppable women – both contemporary and historical. Hayv’s bio and paintings are in Chapter 12 : Look To The Past {p.232 – 237}, as her work is directly influenced by her past personal experiences – fleeing Iraq with her family at the tender age of eleven, for example. Hayv is an extraordinary person and insanely talented artist. In fact, she has an absolutely stunning show hanging right now {install shown above} at Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects in Culver City. Here is a taste of what this show explores:

“Silence is Gold” powerfully reveals the important role played by sexuality and violence in claims to asylum and to humanitarian aid; but it also demonstrates that this works differently for different people. Women fleeing from the global South largely need to sexualize and sell themselves to cross borders, or to sell the very real violence they may have experienced [Note 3]. Trafficking victims must be at once innocent and ravaged; they must leverage their violation even as they must be ashamed of it. These women are required to provide the graphic details of their sexual exploitation, in ways that can end up being both horrifying and titillating for those who serve as legal or political adjudicators. ~Dr. Miriam Ticktin on Havy Kahraman’s exhibition “Silence Is Gold” at Susanne Vielmetter, Los Angeles.

Powerful. “Silence is Gold” will be up until October 27th at Susanne Vielmetter, Los Angeles.

I am so, so, so incredibly proud of this book … if you see it in a shop, snap a photo for me {and you know, buy it too!} 

Okay, I know I’m dating myself by mentioning ‘The Care Bears’, but these paintings make me feel like something has gone terribly wrong in Care-A-Lot! This is the utopian / dystopian work of Korean artist Sanghee Ahn. My eye immediately went to the rainbows and candy, so my first thought was, ‘Oooh, I’d love to walk around in there’ … however, on closer inspection … hellfire, grenades, pollution? I’m having second thoughts about vacationing on that cupcake. I discovered Sanghee’s work while I was selecting artists for The Other Art Fair in LA, and yes, I picked her! If you’re in LA between October 25th – 28th stop by the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica.

When you find someone who describes themselves as an “Artist & Beekeeper”, well, you invite them onto your podcast immediately. Yep, New York based designer, collage artist – and beekeeper – Charles Wilkin is my fabulous guest today. We met this past summer in New Orleans when we were both attending the very first Kolaj Fest put on by Kolaj Magazine. I heard Charles speak and I knew you’d want to hear him too. Obviously, I love his collage, but he also tells some pretty good stories, so that sealed the deal! You can listen right up there under his 2018 collage titled “Messages”, or subscribe on iTunes.

Alright, first things first, a few {ok, more than a few} of my favorite pieces from Charles’ art portfolio:

Gasp! Oh, so many layers and slices and luxurious bits ‘n pieces! Stunning. I can’t imagine that there’s a magazine left uncut in his house. I’m pretty sure this is safe though:

This beauty is Charles’ book, titled Index-A, that he published with Gestalten in 2003. Pages and pages of collages, type, and old Polaroids. I was about to mention the limited edition box set he just released for the book’s 15 year anniversary … but it sold out. Obviously.

Now, as a designer myself I admire Charles so much for making a conscious choice to infuse his own artwork into the brands he was working with. I really liked the pharmacy with which he worked. That’s kind of a designer’s dream, and trust me, it doesn’t happen very often. Well, unless you’re Charles:

Australian Vogue, Australian GQ, New York Times and some kind of awesome tape cassette packaging. And this is just the teeny tiny tip of the design iceberg Charles created while running Automatic Art & Design. Oh, and since we’re talking about gorgeous branding … hello, 2 Queens Honey!

So beautiful! And yes, even his beehives are stylish, but who’s surprised? Ok, a few things. No.1: That’s Charles in his bee suit. Is that what it’s called? Probably not, but either way he looks fantastic! No.2 : The images above are just a few of the products that he and Martin make … all of those delicious things also happen to be in my house right NOW! Yep, they sent me an amazingly sweet {see what I did there} care package after we recorded – which of course was totally unnecessary – but there’s also no way in hell I’m sending it back! Note: The “Honey Butter” is body lotion, so do not eat it {that said, it smells ah-mazing and I’m kinda tempted to grab a spoon.}

And, while we’re at it, one more sweet thing to finish off the post:

Awww! This is Carrot Cake Jake, aka Jake, aka Carrot Cake. Yep, Charles has a wiener dog too! See, I knew I liked him right away. Also, those rainbow shoes. Love. Thanks so much to Charles, for not only being on the podcast but also for sending me a giant box of bee-made stuff; thanks to Saatchi Art for supporting the episode {if you’re in Chicago be sure to stop by and see all of the amazing art AND artists at The Other Art Fair}; and as always, thanks to you for listening. There will be more art for your ear next weekend.

Other links:

1. Charles’ art on Instagram
2. Kolaj Fest {and there are dates set for 2019! YAY}
3. 2 Queens Honey
4. Fiskars Fingertip Knife

Rawr! Ok, so to be very clear, I reallllllly hate snakes, so the fact that I love these snakes is a pretty big deal. This is the work of American artist Stacey Elaine, and before you ask, ‘What? How!?’, let me direct you to this tidbit from her site:

“… created by free-hand cutting designs into layers of tissue paper, which I then gently and patiently apply and seal onto heavy hot press watercolor paper. I’m drawn to the bold contrast between the saturated colors of the tissue paper and the bright white background upon which they are adhered.” 

Me too! Happy Friday.

ps. also, look at this! Some of Stacey’s work was recently used to bring a little jungle life into a spa in Mexico! That tiger, though… LOVE.

A post shared by Beatriz Pachón (@beatriz.pachon) on Dec 21, 2016 at 2:08pm PST

These fantastical ceramic creatures are from the weird and wonderful world of Spanish artist Beatriz Pachón. Apparently each one has a little story and, according to Beatriz’s dreamy Instagram feed, that spiky Polar Bear is a pretty creative guy:

“Once upon a time a polar bear, who started to feel backache. So he went to the doctor and he told him it could be caused because he was working too hard in his garden and he should take more care of his back. So he decided to grow the garden in his back.”

Obviously.