Deep Color at Halsey McKay Gallery - Episode 84

Deep Color (the exhibition) opened at Halsey McKay Gallery on May 24 and will be on view through June 30th, 2025. The exhibit features drawing, painting, sculpture, writing, editioned prints, and photography by over 60 Deep Color alumni artists. In this special episode, artist and HMG founder/owner, Ryan Wallace, talks with artist and Deep Color host Joseph Hart about how the show blossomed from idea to reality, the DIY nature of producing art exhibitions, the range and cohesiveness of the works on view, being surprised during installation, the unscientific curatorial process behind Deep Color, wearing shorts on airplanes, and stamina and horizon lines for Deep Color as a project.

Listeners are encouraged to check out the exhibit in-person or online, then revisit the episode archive for that extra magic and context, and as a method for learning about and connecting with the artworks on view.

“I’m incredibly appreciative of these artists for recording conversations with me for Deep Color and for being part of this exhibition. They’ve let us behind the curtain and into their studios. They’ve told us stories about the formative experiences that helped shape their artwork and outlook. They’ve offered us guidance, and different models, for how to approach and think about being an artist. Through these acts of generosity, and through their artwork, these artists are contributing to culture in a way that can fuel imagination, provide light, and soften the complicated aspects of our daily lives. This is a profound gesture that we should all salute and support.” -Joseph Hart

View the Deep Color exhibition HERE.

Support Deep Color HERE

Tony Lewis - Episode 83

Tony Lewis makes drawings using a range of materials and methods that are centered around mark-making and language. Tony talks about athletics, psychology, and art history as frameworks for his world view, drawing as a type of behavior, Calvin & Hobbes comics as a muse, how drawing exists outside of the “art world”, expanding his practice into site-specific installations, not being able to hide or cheat in drawing, cocktail bars as portraits of a place, drawing as problem solving. and kindness and self-awareness as 50% of a career.

View Tony’s work HERE

Support Deep Color HERE

Sean Sullivan - Episode 82

Sean Sullivan makes paintings and drawings that hum and weave through abstraction, representation, and systems of visual organization. He is also the co-owner of R&F Paints—an artist owned company that manufactures handmade oil and encaustic paints for artists. Sean talks about how music and poetry served as gateways into visual art, the farmer and the fisherman as a type of ethos, using printmaking techniques in his painting and drawing process, embracing error as a form of magic in his work, wanting to be in close proximity to his family while he’s making art, and art as a potential way to make sense of a complicated world.

View Sean’s work HERE

Support Deep Color HERE

Sara Maria Salamone - Episode 81

Sara Maria Salamone is a photographer and co-founder of Mrs. Gallery--a contemporary art gallery located in Maspeth, Queens. Sara talks about the gallery ‘s history and roots as a beer and dance hall, the series of professional experiences that lead to opening her own gallery, the curatorial vision that informs Mrs.’s programming, how she scouts and finds artists, expectations within the gallery/artist relationship, studio visit tips, weathering art market dips, and the massive importance of community.

View Sara’s photography HERE

Check out Mrs. Gallery HERE

Support Deep Color HERE

Jordan Nassar - Episode 80

Jordan Nassar makes elaborate and intricate embroideries alongside impressive wood-inlay works, tile mosaics, and expansive installations—all inspired by the examination of his Palestinian American identity, diaspora, and cultural participation. Jordan talks about the clunkiness of language, wanting viewers to feel just as much energy from his work as he puts into it, the exchanges between decoration and Art with a “capital A”, the impact of scale, landing on an ethical equation for how to pay his assistants, care as a gesture and concept, being strategic with professional goals, Aikido as part of his a daily practice, and the range of ways one can work and live as an artist.

View Jordan’s work HERE

Support Deep Color HERE

Samuel Levi Jones - Episode 79

Samuel Levi Jones is a multidisciplinary artist that utilizes law books, history books, medical books, and sometimes flags, as materials to create abstract assemblages that critique ideas around history and systems of power and control. Sam talks about the relationship between deconstruction and repair, how artistic growth can lead to authenticity, books as gestures, abstraction as a vehicle for complexity and optimism, curiosity and surprise as important ingredients in his work and process, collaborating with gallerists and being strategic as a way to keep his practice alive, finding beauty in the madness of it all, and experiencing autonomy and freedom through art.

View Sam’s work HERE

Support Deep Color HERE

Magical Negro, 2024 by Samuel Levi Jones

Daniel Gibson - Episode 78

Daniel Gibson makes oil paintings that depict desert landscapes full of flowers and butterflies, plant life, and big open skies. Some works also include figures hiding within the flora or in shamanic poses. Danny talks about deserts and horizon lines, little brother drawing magic, being locked into a painting and chasing the next image, memories and visceral emotional responses in painting, beauty as a Trojan horse, resetting and recovering through drawing, self-awareness and gratitude in the studio, and painting as putting puzzle pieces together.

View Danny’s work HERE

Support Deep Color HERE

Daniel Gibson, “Butterfly in Paris”, 2022, oil on canvas, 60x56”

Kennedy Yanko - Episode 77

Kennedy Yanko makes abstract three-dimensional work that combines large twisted and crunched metal forms scavenged from scrap yards and thick sheets of malleable acrylic paint that she refers to as “skins”. Kennedy talks about allowing herself and her work to develop and change over time, paint as a sculptural material, looking for the “ugly”, her sculptures having their own ideology, the advantages and disadvantages of working in abstraction, finding and building support networks and community, leaning towards muted and sour colors, fashion as an adjacent interest, the beach as a place for receptivity and expansiveness, and the value of a hard work within a dedicated studio practice.

View Kennedy’s work HERE

Support Deep Color HERE

For a transcript of this episode, click HERE

Kennedy Yanko, Breath of the earth, (2023)

Jesse Wine - Episode 76

Jesse Wine makes ceramic sculptures that combine body parts like arms, legs, hands, and feet, along with abstract shapes that are deflated, pulled, and stacked. Jesse talks about making sculptures that are self-aware, the expressiveness in our hands, leaving work unfinished, empathy as a gesture, being illusionistic with his surfaces, knowing when to destroy a sculpture, a great football match as the ultimate narrative, becoming more optimistic through experience, and the long game of being an artist.

View Jesse’s work HERE

Purchase “Jesse Wine / Sculpture” HERE

Support Deep Color HERE

This episode is presented by R&F Handmade Paints

For a transcript of this episode, click HERE

Extraordinary delusions and the madness of crowds, 2023, ceramic, paint, copper and steel, 80 x 32 x 65 inches

Celia Pym - Episode 75

Celia Pym makes textile-based artwork by repairing items like tattered sweaters, worn out socks, or torn paper pastry bags. Celia talks about the exchanges between making functional and non-functional art objects, finding pleasure in the tactility of her materials, different types of art transactions and preferring to return work to their original owners, damage and repair as driving concepts, how portraiture and body can be seen in garments, interacting with stories about grief, being intentional about contrast and “not matching”, repair work as a political act, being suspicious of virtue, how mending can unstick a stuck feeling, and navigating her emotional life through practicalities and making things.

 This episode is presented by R&F Handmade Paints

 View Celia’s work HERE

Purchase Celia’s book “On Mending” HERE

 Support Deep Color HERE

For a transcript of this episode, click HERE

Celia Pym

Alvaro Barrington - Episode 74

Alvaro Barrington makes mixed-media paintings that underscore a reverence for art history and hip-hop culture, craft and handwork, and how and where his own lived experience weaves into the work he is making. Alvaro talks about self-evaluation and how one can be a great painter but a bad artist, innovation and social impact as barometers for successful art, stealing from other artists, paintings as monologues, partnering with multiple competing galleries, debt as a kind of violence, searching for freedom through his paintings, and complete awe and gratitude for being able to live his life as an artist.

 This episode is presented by R&F Handmade Paints

 View Alvaro’s work HERE

 Support Deep Color HERE

For a transcript of this episode, click HERE

Alvaro Barrington, Back in Time/Next Episode, 2022, oil, acrylic, sand on burlap and printed Hermes blanket in wooden frame, 75.2 x 85.04 x 3.15 in

Matt Rich - Episode 73

Matt Rich makes paintings, drawings, sculpture, and installations that center themselves around form and shape, color relationships, and different systems for mark making. Matt talks about time as a resource and the safety of a studio space, the importance of procedure in his practice, colliding intentional and accidental gestures, wanting his work to be unpretentious and light, the influences of writing graffiti as a teenager, color as a mess of ever-changing experiences, ampersand symbols as an aesthetic and conceptual muse, and artistic discontent as a way to drive his work into new places.

This episode is presented by R&F Handmade Paints

 View Matt’s work HERE

 Support Deep Color HERE

For a transcript of this episode, click HERE

Matt Rich, Yellow Ribbon, acrylic and muslin on canvas, 57.5 x 91 in.

Andrew Schoultz - Episode 72

Andrew Schoultz makes drawings, paintings, prints, installations, and large-scale murals that reference how history and turmoil follow patterns, and how power dynamics, spirituality, and environment can shape our experience of the world. Andrew talks about comic books and graffiti as early influences, obsessive compulsiveness as an artistic asset, handwork and the beauty of imperfection, the connections between skateboarding and art making, style and what can dictate it, how the art market interferes with sincerity, fitness as a powerful force in his studio practice, autonomy as a form of success, and finding a sense of purpose and pride through being an artist.

This episode is presented by R&F Handmade Paints

View Andrew’s work HERE

Support Deep Color HERE

For a transcript of this episode, click HERE

Andrew Schoultz, Holy Mountain, Gentle Serpent (Window), 2022, acrylic on paper, 41 3/4 x 29 5/8 in

Ashley Bickerton - Episode 71

Ashley Bickerton makes sculpture, assemblages and painting-like objects that reference the grotesqueness of commodification and consumerism. Ashley talks about how a work of art can hold contrasting meanings, avoiding typecasting and being fluid with his artistic language, pacing an art career and gallery relationships as business arrangements—not friendships, operating on the edge of the contemporary art world, how a harmonious homelife allows him to flourish in the studio, being diagnosed with ALS and researching new ways to make art, mortality and the beauty in each day, and preferring ideas and dreams to the crud and muck of our physical word.

 View Ashley’s work HERE

 Support Deep Color HERE

Ashley Bickerton

Spencer Lewis - Episode 70

Spencer Lewis makes abstract paintings that are an explosion of mark-making, smears, caked up textures, and tangles of color. Spencer talks about using raw and low-pressure materials, being spastic and aggressive with his first set of gestures, the exchanges between art and sports, working intuitively and “no move” painting, artists as opportunists, pictorial organization and disorganization, studio visit strategies, and the emotional resonance and chase of making a satisfying painting.

 View Spencer’s work HERE

 Support Deep Color™

Spencer Lewis, Untitled, 2020, acrylic, oil, spray paint and ink on jute, 89x67 in

Leslie Diuguid - Episode 69

Leslie Diuguid is a printmaker and the founder, owner and operator of DuGood Press—the first and only Black Female owned fine-art screen printing business in New York City. Leslie talks about how her family’s history is embedded into her work and outlook, pivoting from printing business cards and apparel to fine- art editions, amplifying an artist’s voice and ideas through printmaking, the process of dissecting images into layers and individual colors, “winging it” and learning on the fly, slow mornings as form of self-care, and the excitement and satisfaction born out of solving complicated printing projects.

Du-Good Press

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Leslie Diuguid / DuGood Press

Jim Drain - Episode 68

Jim Drain is a multi-disciplinary artist that makes other-worldly sculpture, furniture, and installation-based works. He is also one of the original founders of Fort Thunder--the influential live/work/performance space in Providence, Rhode Island during the 90’s, and a member of Forcefield—the celebrated noise band and artist collective. Jim talks about the stories that can surround a work of art, the presence of family imbedded in his work, knitting as method for unification and the generosity of the craft community, hearing with his eyeballs, collaboration and the third mind, being a present parent and grumpy Dads, teaching undergraduate and high school students, and the irrationality and joys of being an artist.

 View Jim’s work HERE.

 Support Deep Color™

Jim Drain

Rodrigo Valenzuela - Episode 67

Rodrigo Valenzuela makes photographs, video and installation-based works that consider the value of labor, the language of modernist architecture, and the inefficiency of bureaucracy. Rodrigo talks about how ideas are born out of his process and making, poetic formalism as a layer in his work, getting out of his own way and second guessing as a healthy thought exercise, reading as a key part of his practice, and how friendships and support systems can strengthen an artist’s work. This episode was organized, facilitated, and recorded by artist Matt Rich.

View Rodrigo’s work HERE.

Support Deep Color™

Phil Sanders - Episode 66

Phil Sanders is a master printer, educator, author and artist, and is the founder and director of PS Marlow—a fine art publisher and creative services consultancy based in Asheville, North Carolina. Phil has worked with celebrated artists like Elizabeth Murray, Jasper Johns, Helen Frankenthaler and Chakaia Booker among many others.

Phil talks about his new book Prints and Their Makers, learning about the emotional impact of color while collaborating with painter Wayne Thiebaud, the difference between reproductions and prints, prioritizing other artist’s work over his own artwork, the enduring legacy of artist and master printer Robert Blackburn, art history and antiracism, fatherhood and the work/life balance, and how art, artists and our imaginations are vital components of a healthy democracy.

Purchase Prints and Their Makers

Join the PATM Book Club

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Phil Sanders, in studio.

Nikita Gale - Episode 65

Nikita Gale makes sculpture and installation-based work that explores the exchanges and barriers between audience and performer. Nikita talks about how artwork can influence group behavior, protest and dissent as performance, research as a way to pull out ideas, noise and silence as social and political positions, the similarities between studio visits and dating, maintenance and mind-body awareness, and art as an open invitation.

View Nikita’s work HERE

Nikita’s culture recommendation: Stories of Your Life and Others, by Ted Chiang  

Nikita Gale/Private Dancer at California African American Museum through May 9, 2021

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Nikita Gale, Ruiner 1, 2020