141: ACHES | Radio Juxtapoz

Continuing our series of podcasts from the Crystal Ship festival in Ostend, Belgium, Radio Juxtapoz' Doug Gillen sat down with Spanish muralist and painter DULK to capture the essence of his practice that has long featured wild animals in a new urban context. The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 1412was recorded in Ostend in April 2024 during Crystal Ship. Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@radiojuxtapoz⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠

Ah, its nice to have a little color talk here on the podcast. Dublin, Irelands' ACHES is a theorist of color. He combines a multitude of ideas and styles into his work, whether graffiti, murals, painting, graphic design, all into an aesthetic that is deservedly his and one of the more unique in the street genre. When you see an ACHES, you know its him. Now on this occasion we aren't in Dublin or the UK to speak with the artist, but in Hong Kong during Basel Week 2024 and the HK Walls festival. It's always a good time to speak to an artist away from home because you understand a certain idea of perception about their work, and a great conversation usually occurs when you have a little jet lag and hard work going on at the same time. What ACHES describes here is his history and his style that he calls a "subtractive and additive color theory." That's the good stuff. The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 141 was recorded in Hong Kong in March 2024 during HK Walls. Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@radiojuxtapoz⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

It was always as much as an intervention as it was a hotel. When Banksy opened the Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem in Palestine in the West Bank in 2017, it was met by both amazement and a bit of shock. In what, in a way, like, "Wait, he opened an actual hotel in the West Bank? By the wall? How did he get that done?" And of course there was the simple: "I want to go. Can I go? Is it safe? I need to go." But there were also more vital questions and anwsers that the hotel offered: what is the history of this region? What is the West's role in this history? The year 2017 was important as it marked the 100 years since the "British took control of Palestine and helped kick start a century of confusion and conflict." And of course in true Banksy fashion, he noted, "At the time of writing there are no special events being planned to mark the occasion." This was a real hotel, with real world implications in a region occupied by Israel with wartime conditions dominating the consciousness of the people there. For Banksy and Walled Off Hotel manager, Wisam Salsaa, this was the opportunity to tell the story of a people, a region and a culture.  After our Israel-Palestine episode at the end of 2023, Radio Juxtapoz wanted to return to the stories of the region but also highlight those who help give Palestinian artists a voice and platform. Wisam, for his years as a tour guide in Bethlehem and now the manager of the Walled Off Hotel (which, of course, is currently closed), helped make Banksy's vision for the hotel come to life and continued to operate it through the following years. In this episode, Jux editor Evan Pricco speaks to Wisam about the creation of the Walled Off, the artistic culture in the West Bank, how street art brought international attention to the region and how Banky changed the way many in the West began to think about its role in the history of Palestine. You can follow the Walled Off Hotel at @walledoffhotel The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 140 was recorded in May 2024. Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@radiojuxtapoz⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

When Cindy Bernhard found the cats she found herself. That is the short summary of the story. During the pandemic, and years of trying to find her artistic voice, Chicago-based Bernhard painted a cat in her work and found that voice, that direction, that narrative, the character that was her but also something so universal. The cats aren't just lying about, they are sleekily wandering beautiful rooms, hiding behind beautiful objects, with candles and purple and the night as the backdrop. They are inquisitive and curious, much like Bernhard herself.  On the eve of her solo show Take Me to Church at Richard Heller Gallery, Radio Juxtapoz sat down with Bernhard to discuss religion, growing up on a farm, a brief move to Los Angeles, finding a home in Chicago and how the cats and the candles made it into her work.  The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 139 was recorded in Los Angeles and Chicago in April 2024. Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@radiojuxtapoz⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  

The thing about FAILE is that they are always trying to take you somewhere you feel like you have been but may have dreamt. Since coming into street art at the pivotal moment of the early 2000s and their various explorations into installation, muralism, nightlife and fine art, you recongnize the world of FAILE even though it's something completely fresh and new. I think of it as the imaginary world you always wanted but could never quite find.  And at the moment they open their new solo show, Don't Stop, at CONTROL Gallery in Los Angeles, Radio Juxtapoz wanted to talk to the duo that is FAILE and discuss what it is they saw and see now as pioneers of street work but also transformative artists who think of place and space and experience in everything they do.  The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 138 was recorded in Los Angeles and Brooklyn in April 2024. Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@radiojuxtapoz⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

As these things happen when we are on the road, we met a Canadian in Ostend, Belgium. Radio Juxtapoz was on the road for the annual Crystal Ship and as we love with the mural festivals we get to see the process, the ideas and the creation of so many works from so many different practices. Katie Green creates masks, what she calls "intimate watercolour personas that are eerie and ethereal." On a mural level, this requires participation and something quite unique.  Her project, as she notes on her IG, "is a community driven process which uses handmade masks as a way to build community, find healing, and explore aspects of self. By designing and wearing a mask, invited participants are given the opportunity to present society with an internal, alternate, or imagined part of themselves. The mask creates a safe space—both expressive and anonymous—to share oneself with the outside world."Like Ostends' beloved James Ensor, "Katie uses masks as a symbol for intrigue. Masks are a passageway between what we perceive on the outside and the mystery of what lies beyond. In Ensor’s work, his masks are unpredictable and we are invited to befriend our own imaginations as we ponder the hidden subjects. In this project masks become an extension of self, where each participant is guided through a curated process that brings them closer to their internal landscape." So for Crystal Ship, Green worked with the community to create masks, and chose this particular mask as an ode to the city and Ensor's work. And we have her on this episode of Radio Juxtapoz. The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 137 was recorded by Gillen in Ostend in April 2024 during Crystal Ship. Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@radiojuxtapoz⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

Hong Kong was the center of the art world a few weeks back, as Basel week set the stage for the prominent art capital to get some much overdue love from the pandemic era shutdowns. Juxtapoz, and mainly Radio Juxtapoz, was there for HK Walls, the esteemed mural fest celebrating its 9th edition with a roster of international and Hong Kong-based painters. On the occasion, as we always like to make a little time with the artists at a mural festival, we spoke with German-based Bond Truluv, the calligraphic and futurist who transforms walls into alternate universes. He's a portal maker. The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 136 was recorded in Hong Kong in March 2024 during HK Walls. Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@radiojuxtapoz⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

We love when an old friend becomes a new friend all at once. We have known and featured the works of German-artist Cathrin Hoffmann many times through the years and one of the things we love about her practice of going from digital to analog all while keeping the spirit of something from another world. Not alien, but just something beyond human. But, in that, she seems to be capturing the exact innate quality it is to be human. Get it? Got it. On this episode of Radio Juxtapoz, we catch up with Hoffmann as she takes part in a group show at Christine König Galerie in Vienna and where her ability to create an atmosphere with her paintings and sculptures, side by side, is hitting its stride. The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 135 was recorded in London and Hamburg in March 2024 . Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@radiojuxtapoz⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

The first thing we researched when we came across the paintings of Johanna Bath was this simple declaration "I am madly in love with life." That is a great place to start, because sometimes a painter just needs to love the life they are inspired by. Maybe, in her distorted and almost hazy representations of life and in her fate to become an artist, she finds life just a little more exhilarating. After seeing the German-born painter's work at Pipeline Contemporay in London and a residency at the Fores Project in 2023 and 2024, Radio Juxtapoz's Doug Gillen sat down with Bath to her about her route to the art world and her lust for life. The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 134 was recorded in London in February 2024 . Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠@radiojuxtapoz⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

On the occasion of his newest solo show, Abstract Figurativism: Loving Fiercely, at BSMT in London's Dalston, Radio Juxtapoz sat down with Ben Wakeling for a special conversation about art, healing, community, loss, grief and love. As the Artist in Residence of the North London Trust NHS Arts Programme that he helped found, Wakeling collaborates with patients experiencing episodes of mania or psychosis. The beauty of the works lies in both the sublime brushstokes and the channeling of energy, creating something fresh and introspective for abstract painting. You don't want to miss this one. The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 133 was recorded in London in February 2024 . Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠@radiojuxtapoz⁠⁠⁠ // You can buy the SPRING Quarterly now at Shop.Juxtapoz.com