Reine Paradis produces quirkily utopian photographs of a world seemingly painted into being in bright bold strokes that belie the complexity, labor and danger involved in creating them. We talk about where these glossy images of a folded, flattened world come from--and how she almost dies in the process. Check out the trailer for her upcoming documentary "Queen of Paradis" out in 2019: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-7pneZR1bk

we talked Young Joon Kwak about trauma, sculpture, William Burroughs the X Men, being a punk being trans, growing up in a conservative household, the healing power of literature, and being a massive slut...with color. (featuring music clips of Young Joon's band Xina Xurner)

For Patreon Subscribers: Five artists at once!! Zak hosts an artist panel discussion in Culver City at the Castanier Gallery where he had a group exhibition with Claire Collette, Adam Beris, Kenton Parker, and Patrick Martinez. The exhibition was curated by past podcast guest Andrew Schoultz. Lagunitas Pilsner was served, tongues were loosened, and there were great audience questions. The color yellow gets a very thorough consideration, as does the city of Los Angeles.

We talk to Jim Shaw about melting face masks, weirdness, thrift store paintings, Oism, meaning and secrecy, being in a two-artist household, assistants, Destroy All Monsters, second jobs for artists and more.

We talked with Amanda about the exact moment she decided she couldn't be an artist, whether or not she likes to enjoy life, erotic uses for spreadsheets, video art, Makunaima, how exactly you become an independent curator, and the difference between doing it right and doing it wrong.

We got to talk to rising star Deborah Roberts in maybe? her first long interview about process, the world through the eyes of little girls, Tanner and Normal Rockwell, getting called "African", being fierce, hungry collectors, Roland Barthes as the Beastie Boys of critical theory, how Skechers just needs to stop making shoes, Good Times and Rudolph, the boy in grade school she became an artist to impress

Zak Smith, our host, gets spoken with, to mark his show at Fredericks and Freiser gallery this month. Friend of the show Sean McCarthy joins John to interview Zak about brush hair, punk and fine art, porn and fine art, being a seasoned art school attendee, drawings that don’t make the cut, why painting is impressive, using your art to tell other people’s stories, the reality of desire, Suicide Girls, pizza, and why Los Angeles is Viennese modernism and New York is an open secret.

We are taping the show live tomorrow, May 19th, at Beyond Baroque in Venice Beach California! Audience members get a chance to stump us with pieces the hosts will have to analyze on the spot. Come by at 1pm, and bring ideas for art works from before 1950. It's FREE. This event was created by Los Angeles Nomadic Division (LAND), and is part of their Frame Rate series. https://nomadicdivision.org/exhibition/frame-rate/

we talk to Ron Athey about growing up with weird religion, having sex in the 1970s, having aids in the 1980s, being used as a pawn in the NEA Culture wars, the early West coast punk rock/ industrial performance circuit, The pre-lapsarian Los Angeles tattoo/body mod scene, being banned in the USA being received in Europe collaborating with classical musicians, blood and death, sanctity in mortification, politics, subculture, grant money, generation gaps, and trying to keep your art out of the hands of music video directors

We talked with Andrew Schoultz about his physical and political relationships with cities, staying out of trouble by skateboarding, getting in to trouble with graffiti, going political in jail, making street art that exposes architecture, reasons why people make maps, juggling between galleries and streets, using the American flag, painting an entire airplane and more.