Tony Lewis - Episode 83

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 by a handful of artworks 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 HartView the Deep Color exhibition HERE.Support Deep Color HERE

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 HERESupport Deep Color HERE

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 HERESupport Deep Color HERE

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 artistic community.View Sara’s photography HERECheck out Mrs. Gallery HERESupport Deep Color HERE

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, Akido as part of his daily practice, and the range of ways one can work and live as an artist.View Jordan’s work HERESupport Deep Color HERE

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 HERESupport Deep Color HERE

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 HERESupport Deep Color HERE

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 HERESupport Deep Color HERETranscript available on the DC website.

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, empathy as a gesture, being illusionistic with his surfaces, knowing when to destroy a sculpture, peacefulness as an important ingredient in his studio, 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 HEREPurchase “Jesse Wine / Sculpture” HERESupport Deep Color HEREThis episode is presented by R&F Handmade PaintsTranscript available on the DC website.

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 PaintsView Celia’s work HEREPurchase Celia’s book “On Mending” HERESupport Deep Color HERETranscript available on the DC website.