Glasstire

Rainey Knudson and Christina Rees discuss whether artists really have to be politically engaged in their work.

Brandon Zech on a series of signs that are ubiquitous in the Houston landscape. For a written version of this story, and for more pictures of the FIX OVEN A/C signs, go here: http://glasstire.com/2018/04/30/the-story-of-houstons-fix-oven-a-c-signs/

A conversation with host David McGee and guests Felicia Johnson and Stanford W. Carpenter about the cultural phenomenon of the movie The Black Panther, which as of writing is the top-grossing super hero movie of all time in the US, having surpassed $1.3 billion globally in revenues. Recording, mix, and original music by @cbeckermusic.

Rainey Knudson and Christina Rees discuss controversies in the museum world about where the money is coming from. "If the Kochs want to make a $35 million donation to Glasstire, we'll certainly consider it."

Rainey Knudson and Christina Rees discuss artist Christoph Büchel's proposal to designate the prototypes for a wall between the US and Mexico as a national monument, and whether any of this is art.

Rainey Knudson and Christina Rees discuss the new, $23 million Ellsworth Kelly artwork titled "Austin" on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin, and why on earth the people in charge don't want it to be called a chapel.

Daniela Antelo is an artist and realtor living and working in Houston. Her art is primarily performative uses the body to deal with ideas around communication, relationships, and the urban landscape. Originally from Caracas, Venezuela, she moved to Florida with her family at age 12, and after living abroad in Dubai, she moved to Houston in 2010 when her husband was relocated for work.  Together with Brenda Cruz-Wulf she started the Las Girls Collective in order to collaborate on site-specific performances and experimental dance films. Antelo is also The Marriage Story Collector, an ongoing project for which she interviews strangers about how they interpret marriage.

In this episode I interview Soledad Arias, an artist in New York who works as a medical interpreter. Originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, Soledad has lived in NYC for almost 20 years. Being bilingual, her life, artwork, and (luckily) her job revolve around language. She is interested in exploring the human condition through the medium of speech. At a time when words seem to be thrown around blindly, accelerated by the speed of social media, Arias reminds us of the importance of empathy, practicing emotional listening, and that meaning and specificity still matter.

In our latest Art Dirt podcast, Rainey Knudson speaks with Houston artist David McGee, who is the subject of two exhibitions in Houston this fall, at Texas Gallery and the Houston Museum of African American Culture. "Listen, Donald Trump should be the president of Sharknado."

Rainey Knudson and Christina Rees discuss the week's art news: the return of the Texas Biennial, the Guggenheim's decision to pull controversial videos from a new show, and the death of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner (that's Lauren Hutton in her bunny outfit from the 1960s).

In the aftermath and psychic static of Hurricane Harvey, Peter Lucas brings us this special 2-hour radio show featuring a ton of Houston music and catching up with a handful of Houston musicians and DJs along the way. Blues, r&b, soul, jazz, funk, folk, psychedelic rock, punk, and more. May this homespun broadcast help you feel, deal, and replace the sheetrock of your soul.

Rainey Knudson and Christina Rees discuss the response to Rainey's article about painted electrical boxes as public art.

This episode is about Cathy Fairbanks, an artist living and working in LA who truly sees herself as having a dual career as a nurse. She primarily identifies with working in sculpture, specifically ceramics. But her work doesn’t really look like your traditional ceramics - they kind of morph into wonky yet delicate assemblages with materials like paper mache. You can find out more about her work at http://catherinefairbanks.net.

Christina Rees and Rainey Knudson discuss the week's news.

Christina Rees and Rainey Knudson discuss the week's art news. "One of the protest signs said 'When Did Blasphemy Become Art?' and I just had to have a chuckle."

This is Tommy Gregory, an artist living in Houston, TX. And, probably like everyone listening, he’s had his share of good and bad jobs over the years. After getting his MFA from UT San Antonio, he landed a job at the City as their Public Art Specialist. He then moved to Houston to be the Project Manager for Public Art at the Houston Arts Alliance. Currently he’s the public art program curator and interim director at the Houston Airport Systems. Throughout all these jobs, he has kept up his career as an artist and also curated dozens of exhibitions across the state and this is Not A Hobby. photo by Grady Carter.

Christina Rees and Rainey Knudson discuss the recent spate of removals of Confederate statues, and last week's dismantling of a Sam Durant outdoor sculpture at the Walker Art Center. Image of Robert E. Lee statue removal by Matthew Hinton, via the New Orleans Advocate: http://www.theadvocate.com/new_orleans/news/article_40dccfac-3c91-11e7-8121-83e3757dd400.html

This is an interview with Dixie Friend Gay, an artist living and working in Houston. She had grown up in western Oklahoma on a cattle ranch, made her way to New York to be an artist and eventually settled in Houston. Her work focuses on the sacredness of nature, looking specifically at the wild southern native landscape. Her detailed lush paintings have led her to create large mosaic murals and sculptures in the public realm all over the US. We have a video online that documents her most recent installation “Books of a Feather”, which consists of three 15-foot tall mosaic birds in front of the Alice M Young Library in Houston. For this interview, she talks about how to balance being a mother and an artist, advice on how to get involved in public art, and how her first public intervention was taking political action against a series of gates that were put up between affluent and minority neighborhoods in Houston.

Christina Rees and Rainey Knudson discuss celebrities doing performance art, and the issue of artists gentrifying poor neighborhoods. Also discussed: killing animals for food + favorite music videos from the 80s!

Rainey Knudson and Christina Rees on art that's a cry for attention; whether artists should have to talk about their art; and whether it's a good idea to cross over from the nonprofit to the commercial side (or vice versa) of the art world. BONUS: they disagree on John Currin!