Brainard Carey

Claire Lehmann

June 17, 2022 By Brainard Carey Leave a Comment

Lehmann’s mysterious, frequently nocturnal paintings draw from sources as varied as the Flemish Primitives, aeronautic technical bulletins, how-to photography manuals, Gothic altarpieces, and radiographic simulators. The work explores the continuity of symbolic motifs over the course of centuries, but is united by a persistent concern with the iconography of the unseeable.

Prior to completing this body of work, Lehmann co-curated, with Ann Temkin, “Ileana Sonnabend: Ambassador for the New,” at the Museum of Modern Art in New York; coauthored the anthology Artists Who Make Books (Phaidon/PPP Editions); and wrote “Color Goes Electric,” a widely read history of standard test images and the digitization of color, for Triple Canopy. A former editor at Cabinet and a contributor to Artforum, Lehmann received a BA from Harvard College in Visual and Environmental Studies (1998–2003).

Todd Gray

June 17, 2022 By Brainard Carey Leave a Comment

Todd Gray (b. 1954, Los Angeles, CA) works in photography, performance, and sculpture. Gray’s most recent photo works are comprised of photographs gathered from his own archive and recontextualized via their juxtaposition with one another and the use of antique frames as a structuring device.

Gray’s work is represented in numerous museum collections including the Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA, the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Canada; The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA; Minneapolis Museum of Art, Minneapolis, MN; and Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA, among others. He was the recipient of the Rome Prize by the American Academy in Rome in 2022, John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in 2018 and a Rockefeller Foundation Grant in 2016, among others.

Todd Gray, the hidden order of the whole (venus), 2021, Four archival pigment prints with UV laminate in artist’s frames, 109 5:8 x 146 1:8 x 4 1:2 in

Todd Gray, Atlantic (the Dancer), 2022, Four archival pigment prints with UV laminate in artist’s frames, 72 1:2 x 49 1:8 x 4 1:2 in

William Wegman

June 17, 2022 By Brainard Carey Leave a Comment

William Wegman was born in Holyoke, Massachusetts, in 1943 and received a BFA from the Massachusetts College of Art, Boston and an MFA from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. His work has been exhibited extensively in both the United States and abroad, including solo exhibitions at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (1982); San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (1988); Whitney Museum of American Art (1992); Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (2001); and The Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto (2002). The retrospective “William Wegman: Funney/Strange” was held at the Brooklyn Museum, and traveled to the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.; the Norton Museum of Art, Palm Beach; the Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover; and Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus (2006-07).

Since his first exhibition at Sperone Westwater in 1990, Wegman has exhibited regularly at the gallery (1992, 2003, 2006, 2012, 2016, 2017 and 2022).

The book William Wegman: Writing by Artist was edited by Andrew Lampert and published in April 2022 by Primary Information. The first collection to focus on Wegman’s lengthy and deeply funny relationship to language, the book is filled with over 300 previously unknown and wildly entertaining texts, drawings, and early photographs spanning the early 1970s to the present.

Real

June 17, 2022 By Brainard Carey Leave a Comment

“Resist much, obey little” -Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

You are under no obligation to comply. Whatever they’ve told you does not add up to your personal story and there is no mandate that says you must follow along. You do not need permission to live your truth – embrace it unapologetically. Be you and no one else. Forget what others might say or think, simply be. As long as you do no harm to others, there are no further rules binding your conduct.

Erik Lindman joined us in early June 2022 from his studio in NYC. Located on the fifth floor of an old building, his studio space gets quite hot in summer and he can often be found working in a bathing suit. At present, he is gearing up to create work for a tentative spring 2023 show. In his studio, he’s working on pieces using open weave gauze utilized in the printmaking process. He uses this to collage an initial image into his work on flexible linen support. Additionally, he uses other textiles in the works, a method that gives them a certain complexity. To hear more about these works and other aspects of Lindman’s practice, listen to the complete interview.

Vivienne Griffin also joined us in early June 2022. Presently they are at work toward a Ph.D. as well as working on a piece with the working title Mercy. The work examines how we engage with algorithms in our everyday lives – how little we understand how they function and how this relates to the increasing complexity of computers. The piece is made using a game engine to create a game/video that tries to realize algorithmic structures in a game environment. To hear more about this work, listen to the complete interview.

A Few Words to Keep in your Pocket

Be authentically you, no matter what.

Interviews are available on iTunes as podcasts, and for Android please click here. All weekly essay pieces in a shareable format are here. The full archive of interviews is here.

Books to Read

What are you reading? Add your titles to our reading list here. Erik Lindman has been making his way through A Life of Picasso by John Richarson and Marilyn McCulley. Vivienne Griffin has been reading Singing the Body Electric by Miriama Young.

Deadlines:

NYSCA/NYFA invites living with disabilities who reside outside the five NYC boroughs and who have experienced financial hardship to apply for grants in the amount of $1,000. Grants are open to those working in the fields of visual art, media, music, performing arts, literary arts and multidisciplinary arts. For more information and to apply, visit the website. Deadline for applications is June 28.

is an author, artist and educator. He is the director of Praxis for Aesthetics. He has written six books for artists, most recently Making it in the Art World.

Are You Making It?

June 15, 2022 By Brainard Carey Leave a Comment

What constitutes a career in the arts? Is it merely skimping by, creating on weekends, attending a fair here and there, dedicating most of your time to a career outside of the arts that does not offer fulfillment – or is there another way? We say absolutely. For artists who are ready to take the next step toward a career doing what they love, we offer the resources to help you along the way. Each week we bring opportunities to set off the chain reaction of success you need to get a foothold in the art world. So what are you waiting for?

NYSCA in partnership with Wave Farm is accepting applications for their Media Arts Assistance Fund. This opportunity is for individual artists working toward completion and/or public presentation in works of sound and moving art. Women, gender non-conforming people and people of color are encouraged to apply. For more details, visit the website. Deadline is July 1.

Sustainability Labs invites U.S. creators, artists, directors and producers to apply for a residency period intended to “change their personal model of creative financial and business sustainability.” There is a preference for mid-career artists who have completed a minimum of one significant project in at least two disciplines or medium. To learn more and to apply, visit the website. Deadline for applications is July 1.

Praxis Center operates under the belief that all artists have what it takes to succeed. What many lack are the tools and skills they need to achieve their dreams of a career in the art world. That’s where we come in. Our team of experts is here to guide you along the way, offering professional advice and expertise to help you build the career you’ve always dreamed of. Give Praxis a try today and see how far it takes you.

Brainard Carey is an author, artist and educator. He is the director of Praxis for Aesthetics. He has written six books for artists, most recently Making it in the Art World.

Photo credit: Sustainability Labs