I was fortunate to get to work with Leo in the early 90’s, he was a great teacher and artist. See some of his works here.
Vivian Maier - Photographer (Feb. 1, 1926 – Apr. 21, 2009)
Maier was an American photographer. She worked for about forty years as nanny, mostly in Chicago, pursuing photography during her spare time. She took more than 150,000 photographs, primarily of the people and architecture of Chicago, NYC, and LA.
Maier's photographs were unknown and unpublished during her life. A Chicago collector acquired some of her photos in 2007, while two other Chicago-based collectors also found some of Maier's prints and negatives in her boxes and suitcases around the same time. Maier's photographs were first published on the Internet in July 2008 but the work received little response. In October 2009, Maier's photographs were posted on Flickr, and went viral, with thousands of people expressing interest. Her work subsequently attracted critical acclaim, and have been exhibited around the world. See more of her photographs here.
David Byrne - Musician
Talking Heads ’77 and Stop Making Sense (Live Album) were big albums for me. I listened to them endlessly in HS/college and on a bike trip thru the mid-west in my early 20’s. Byrne could do it all, punk, new wave, pop, world music, etc. Love his influence on music. Listen here to Don’t Worry About the Gov’t (a track from Talking Heads ‘77.
Rachel Whiteread - Artist
Many of Rachel Whiteread’s sculptures are casts of common objects or spaces (e.g. houses, water towers, furniture, etc.). See more of her work here.
Verity Freebern - Artist / Illustrator
We love the work by our friend Verity (and we love her). See some of her art, illustrations and patterns here.
Fibonacci Sequence
a.k.a. the Golden Ratio is another underlying structure that fascinates me. Check out artist/educator Dr. John Edmark’s 5min. video (via Science Friday) about the golden ratio appearing in nature.
Andrew Goldsworthy - Artist
Stunningly beautiful art pieces made with natural materials. Check out more here.
Mike and Doug Starn - Photographers / Artists
These twin brothers are mostly constructors of photography and art. See more of their work here.
Saul and Elaine Bass - Title Designers
This husband and wife team pioneered the title sequence in film - working on nearly 50 movies. Here’s a bit of history of the evolution of movie titles.
Richard Serra - Artist
Many of Serra’s large steel sculptures are balanced in place which adds to the tension when walking around or within - we like to call this “Danger Art”. See more works here.
Bernd and Hilla Becher - Photographers
This German couple spent their lives documenting industrial architecture that was slowly disappearing. Their rich large-format b&w works would go on to influence photographers and historians. See more here.
Pendulum Waves (1 min. 45 secs.)
I find this simple demonstration mind expanding. If you haven’t seen this before, leave a brief comment with your reaction.
Blucifer - Luis Jiménez
Here’s a fun take on the haunting sculpture at DIA that has an equally horrific history. Read more here.
Kehinde Wiley - Painter
Wiley famously painted Barack Obama’s portrait for the Smithsonian National Gallery which houses the portraits of all the US Presidents. See his bold painting here.
Gordon Matta Clark - Artist / Activist (June 22, 1943 - Aug. 27, 1978)
Clark worked in the 1970’s cutting-up buildings (mostly in NY) that were slated for demo. I love how his raw apertures exposed the many layers of buildings (inside & out) and often turned the mundane into art. See more about him/his work here.
Thelma Schoonmaker - Film Editor
She’s the magician behind the magician. She’s edited 23 of Martin Scorsese’s films including Raging Bull, Goodfellas and The Departed. Read/watch more about her here.
Humans of New York - Social Experiment
Photographer, Brandon Stanton, started taking photos of people in New York and captioning each picture with a story an individual or group shared with him at the time. Needless to say, his experiment has grown, see more here.
Coen Brothers - Writers, Producers, Filmmakers
Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, Fargo and on and on. These guys are a power house of cinema with a flare for regional and/or period dialogue and iconically flawed characters. Check out the early investor trailer they made for their first feature film here.
Franz Kline - Painter (1910-1962)
I’ve always loved his action paintings.
Years ago, I read that early in his painting career Franz Kline ran across the room and jumped into the arms of artist Robert Motherwell (see earlier post) upon their first meeting - not sure if it’s true, but I like to believe that it is.
More about Kline here.
WTF - Marc Maron Podcast
I’ve been listening to this podcast for roughly the past 6 years (interviews drop on Mon. & Thurs. mornings). Nearly every conversation Marc has with a guest leaves me feeling like I’ve learned more about a stranger and oddly more about myself. Listen
Note: I fast-forward through the first 10-15mins of monologue & ads
