Writer/curator Cathy Byrd sparks conversations about today’s art, design, and film on the Fresh Art International podcast. Synthesizing interviews and field recordings with critical commentary since 2011, the podcast archives the voices, sounds, and stories of contemporary culture makers from around the world.
Episodes
Thursday Dec 18, 2014
Thursday Dec 18, 2014
New York-based artist Lynda Benglis has been pouring, dripping, and splattering her way through unexpected media, color, and texture for decades. Her work sometimes shocks, and always surprises. Forty years after posing nude with a dildo for the photo that appeared in a full-page ArtForum advertisement, Lynda is at last being recognized for her significant impact on contemporary art. In this episode, we talk about her passion for creating and resurrecting fountains.
Thursday Nov 20, 2014
Thursday Nov 20, 2014
Prospect New Orleans, a city-wide international art exhibition in its third iteration, is starting to feel at home. This episode features two project sites where we found a deep connection between art and community. In the order of their appearance, Timothy Levitch, Tavares Strachan, Margaret Thomas, and Gary Simmons reveal why Prospect makes perfect sense for the Crescent City.
Sound Editor: Kris McConnachie
Episode sound: The Roots of Music Brass Band's performance of “Go to the Mardi Gras” by Professor Longhair during the live WWOZ broadcast from Jazz Fest on May 1, 2014; and Beans performing for Gary Simmons “Recapturing Memories of the Black Ark,” 2014, at Tremé Market Branch on the occasion of the opening of Prospect.3: Notes for Now, New Orleans, October 25, 2014.
Thursday Sep 18, 2014
Thursday Sep 18, 2014
Surinamese-Dutch artist Remy Jungerman talks about how European modernism and Afro-religious aesthetics influence his art, and describes the recent public art project he created back in Morengo, his home town in Suriname. Selected for inclusion in Prospect.3, the 2014 contemporary art biennial in New Orleans, Remy's work will be on view in an exhibition at the Contemporary Arts Center from late October 2014, to January 2015.
Sound Editor: Kris McConnachie | Episode sound effects: Chris Quinlan, drum set and Evan Dyson, toad mating call
Related podcast: Fresh Talk: Franklin Sirmans
Wednesday Oct 23, 2013
Wednesday Oct 23, 2013
This Fresh Talkepisode features Jean-Ulrick Désert and Trenton Doyle Hancock, two of the artists participating in Radical Presence:Black Performance in Contemporary Art. Curated by Valerie Cassel Oliver for the Museum of Contemporary Arts inHouston (CAMH), the exhibition is now appearing in New York City. Some of theshow’s performance art events will be featured in New York’s Performa 13 this November.
To hear CathyByrd’s unedited recording sessions with Jean-Ulrick and Trenton, go to the newFresh Talk UNCUT podcast series.
Sound Editor: EricSchwartz
Episode Sound: TrentonDoyle Hancock, performing Devotion at CAMH
Sunday Jun 09, 2013
Sunday Jun 09, 2013
Via Skype, Cathy Byrd speaks with international curator and producer Rijin Sahakian in Beirut, Lebanon. Rijin describes how the American invasion in 2003 impacted Iraq's cultural scene and introduces SADA, the experimental new media project she created to support the creative practices of emerging Iraqi artists. Sound Editor: Eric Schwartz
Monday Apr 29, 2013
Monday Apr 29, 2013
The renowned Walker Art Center in Minneapolis staged a one-night Internet Cat Video Festival in August 2012 that drew an astounding 10,000 people to the Center’s Open Field. During South By South West 2013, Cathy Byrd meets curators Scott Stulen and Katie Hill in the KUT/NPR studios to talk about the legendary project. Sound Editor: Eric Schwartz | Episode Sound courtesy Walker Art Center
Monday Feb 25, 2013
Monday Feb 25, 2013
In Houston, Cathy Byrd meets Senior Curator Valerie Cassel Oliver at the Contemporary Arts Museum to tour Valerie’s latest exhibition project: Radical Presence: Black Performance in Contemporary Art. Recipient of the 2011 David C. Driskell Prize for her contribution to the field of African American art history, Valerie talks about what it means to be a curator and how everything starts with a question.
Monday Nov 26, 2012
Monday Nov 26, 2012
In Berlin, Cathy Byrd meets Luci Westphal, a German filmmaker based in New York and Berlin, to talk about Luci's love for street art, music, film and the D.I.Y. style. Luci shares the inside story on her moving postcard series In A Berlin Minute and her latest documentary All's Well and Fair. Sound Editor: Leonardo Madriz Photographs courtesy the artist Music: "Frogfly Buzzing," by Dioxin Dolly (Rachel Iannelli, Margaret Briggs, Tina Bushnell), 1996, from Luci Westphal, All's Well and Fair, 2012.
Monday Oct 22, 2012
Monday Oct 22, 2012
In Kassel, Germany, Cathy Byrd meets Swiss artist Christian Philipp Müller to talk about Swiss Chard Ferry, his project for documenta (13). Christian lives in Berlin and Kassel, where since 2011, he's been Dean at the School of Art and Design. He has a history with the international exhibition, having participated in documenta 10 (1997) and is known for his interest in connecting art with the cultural history of plants. Sound Editor: Leonardo Madriz Photos: Cathy Byrd and the artist, where noted Music: Beach Boys, Vege-Tables, 1967
Monday Oct 08, 2012
Monday Oct 08, 2012
On a spring 2012 road trip in the American Southwest, we drive through the desert to Marfa, home of the Chinati Foundation, a museum designed by artist Donald Judd to present art in conversation with the surrounding landscape. We stop to explore Ballroom Marfa, where then director Fairfax Dorn and project manager Melissa McDonnell sit down with us to talk about the genesis of the contemporary art space. Architect Michael Meredith meets us at an outdoor cafe to share his perspective on how a drive-in theater might come to life in this remote setting.
Sound Editor: Leo Madriz
Special Audio: Brian LeBarton, The Wind, 2010. New Year’s Film/Score Series. January 2, 2010. Courtesy Ballroom Marfa
Related Episode: CineMarfa 2012
Related Links: Marfa, Texas, Chinati Foundation, Donald Judd, Ballroom Marfa, Fairfax Dorn, Melissa McDonnell, Michael Meredith
On a Spring 2012 road trip in the American Southwest, Cathy Byrd meets members of Ballroom Marfa’s creative team. Director Fairfax Dorn, project manager Melissa McDonnell, and architect Michael Meredith talk about why Ballroom came to West Texas and what they envision for Marfa's near future Drive-In theater. Sound Editor: Leo Madriz Photography credits as noted Episode Sound: Brian LeBarton, The Wind, 2010. New Year’s Film/Score Series. January 2, 2010. The Crowley Theater, Marfa.