153: Umar Rashid | Radio Juxtapoz

It isn't often we invite a guest to come onto Radio Juxtapoz for a second time, but Umar Rashid is beyond an exception. He's a friend with something to talk about, a new show, yes, The Kingdom of the Two Californias. La Época del Totalitarismo Part 2 at BLUM in Los Angeles... but we are also talking two days after the American election and an artist dedicated to history has something to say. A lot to say. "This epoch is exhausting," Rashid says, as we explore his own explorations of history and the cacophony of noise of the contemporary. In our wide-ranging conversation, we talk about making art in the midst of history happening around you, how you can tell stories from the past that explain our current and future selves and how much it takes to prepare a body of work that is about a narrative that demands a deeper read. Umar never shies away from telling us how our history is often over-looked, and although that seems simple, it's a plague of humanity to not look back in order to move forward. And art is his language... Radio Juxtapoz' Unibrow podcast is hosted by Juxtapoz editor, ⁠⁠Evan Pricco⁠⁠. Episode 153 was recorded in Los Angeles on November 7, 2024. Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@radiojuxtapoz⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠

Something that will always exist, regardless of political landscapes and the changing of societal norms, is the need to honor space. ⁠Danielle Mckinney⁠ knows something about space, and waiting, and watching, and observing. As a photographer she practices these disciplines, and when she began to explore her desire to paint, she found something remarkably powerful: the space for the body to rest. Whether it was a fantasy or a dream, Mckinney's work is a powerful reminder that the art of protest can come in unexpected ways, that sound can reverberate from the quietest of moments and just how much rest and the act of being seen resonates so deeply. In this episode of the ⁠Radio Juxtapoz's Unibrow podcast⁠, Jux editor ⁠Evan Pricco⁠ speaks to Mckinney the day before the American election of 2024, which envelops the conversation with a bit of realistic uncertainty. Mckinney speaks of her shows in Europe in 2024, listening to Thom Yorke and the Cocteau Twins, her youth in Alabama and Georgia and giving woman of color the space and place to be seen. ⁠Subscribe to the Radio Juxtapoz podcast⁠⁠.  Radio Juxtapoz' Unibrow podcast is hosted by Juxtapoz editor, ⁠Evan Pricco⁠. Episode 152was recorded in Los Angeles and New York on November 4, 2024. Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@radiojuxtapoz⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Photo of Danielle Mckinney by Pierre Le Hors, provided by Kunsthal n in Copenhagen

San Francisco's ⁠Koak⁠ has always been a mystery to us. Yes, of course she is an internationally exhibited painter and the cover of the Juxtapoz Fall 2024 Quarterly in time with her solo show at Perrotin in Paris in September, but that there is something non-era-specific about the work she makes. Timeless get overused, but Koak makes otherworldly paintings that are personal, emotional, universal, environmental and narrative all in one. In this episode of the Radio Juxtapoz's new Unibrow series, a more raw, uncut version of our podcast, Koak talks to me about her teen years in Santa Cruz, how she thinks of composing her installations in the vein of comic book storytelling, how a very difficult year led to quite a compulsive, painstaking process to make her show in Paris and how an upcoming institutional show in London makes her feel right at home. Subscribe to the Radio Juxtapoz podcast⁠.  Radio Juxtapoz' Unibrow podcast is hosted by Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 151 was recorded in Los Angeles and San Francisco on October 29, 2024. Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@radiojuxtapoz⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Anthony Cudahy is at an interest time in his life when we spoke for the Radio Juxtapoz podast: he hadn't been in the studio for a bit. And who could blame him? He had concurrent solo shows open at Grimm and Hales in NYC, and his first museum show, Spinneret, had opened Ogunquit Museum of American Art in Maine earlier in the year and was about to open at the Green Family Art Foundation in Dallas the week of our conversation. A break, or at least taking it all in, seemed quite relatable.  And on this episode of Radio Juxtapoz, it does feel like Anthony is thinking about what is next, giving his most recent work and past works a little deeper look, deeper thoughts and really taking note of how the past 5 years of his life have really taking off. He is a painter of stories, of narratives, capturing his husband and friends in fragments that almost take on a life of their own. Maybe that is what it is all about; letting a painting take you somewhere, outside of yourself by of yourself, and just taking you to another place. That is what Anthony is really, really good at that.  The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 150 was recorded in the NYC in October 2024. Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@radiojuxtapoz⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Matt Bollinger's aim is both to define America but also define himself. Okay, okay, that seems like a wide net to throw, and it maybe it even seems simplistic, but there is his contemporary approach to social realistic, Ashcan School style that has made Bollinger one of the most interesting artists working today in painting, drawing and animation that speaks about and creates narratives of midwest America. His characters often show up in different bodies of work, different mediums, as we follow them through recessions and pandemics and aging, and really just life. Originally from Missouri and now working out of upstate New York, this is a time where Bollinger's voice seems as vital as ever. On this episode of the Radio Juxtapoz podcast, we get the band back together, so to speak, where hosts Evan Pricco and Doug Gillen interview Bollinger about his recent body of work shown in London and the state of America through the lens of his characters. On the heels of our conversation with Patrisse Cullors, this could be the beginning of our "state of the union" series of pods. The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 149 was recorded in the Los Angeles, Margate and Ithaca in September 2024. Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@radiojuxtapoz⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

As a co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement, and a career as an artist, writer, abolitionist, Patrisse Cullors is one of the most influential figures in contemporary culture of the 21st century. What the Los Angeles-born Cullors has found in art is something quite fascinating in contrast to work as a activist: space to explore the limitations of language and the expansive nature of creating histories in physical form. I met Cullors at picnic table outside Charlie James Gallery in Los Angeles' Chinatown on the occasion of the artist's first solo show with the gallery, "Between the Warp and Weft: Weaving Shields of Strength and Spirituality." That conversation led to this episode of Radio Juxtapoz, where. Cullors and I discussed the expanded world of activism, her history in making art and the influences of Black American artists in her work and where she sees America at now with the looming elections just months away. —Evan Pricco The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 148 was recorded in the Los Angeles in August 2024. Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@radiojuxtapoz⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

The first time we encountered the works of London-based Christian Quin Newell was at his stunning Earth altar solo show at Public Gallery. Newell works in an otherworldly realm, dreamscapes if you will (more on this in a second). His newest solo show, The Way, at the same London-based Public Gallery, created what we could say are cosmological paintings, a combination of fictional mysticism, medieval and futuristic at the same time. It's his universe, and we are walking into it. On this episode of the Radio Juxtapoz podcast, we speak to Newell about the characters and universe, his influences and his incredible ability of documenting and then painting his dreams in almost real time. The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 147 was recorded in the London in August 2024. Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@radiojuxtapoz⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

When you open up the Fall 2024 Juxtapoz Quarterly, our colleague Kristin Farr brings up a caveat when looking (or hearing) about the works of Hannah Wilson. "Embedded in this interview is a required watchlist: Motion pictures that catalyze the arresting paintings of Hannah Wilson." What perhaps you need to know is that Wilson's works are dramatic in that they are the in-between moments of film, stills of the often-missed moments of repose and turmoil. Backs of heads, faces turned down, whispers, grimaces, stress. This is the world of Hannah Wilson is investigating. The Glasgow-based painter has had quite the few years in the public eye, from a solo show at Steve Turner in Los Angeles and residency in Norwich with the team at Moosey and a new feature in our Fall Quarterly. When we asked Wilson how 2024 was going to wrap up, they said "I’ll be continuing my research, watching lots of films and painting what feels good. Also failing, of course, if I’m lucky." The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 146 was recorded in the London in August 2024. Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@radiojuxtapoz⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

We often said with Juxtapoz that the power of art is to make people feel engaged, feel good and feel ownership over both their community and the world-at-large. Art makes you feel alive, makes you thoughtfully engaged, whether the art challenges you or makes you just have a smile on your face. It's the beauty of it: art allows you to activate yourself. On the occasion of Ken Nwadiogbu taking part in the River Centre Development at Hellesdon Hospital in Norwich, where he the London-based painter transformed the walls of Hellesdon hospital, we found it a good time to finally get a chance here at Radio Juxtapoz to pay Ken and visit and see what he is up to. With Ken's solo show at Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery in Berlin on this summer, we had a lot to catch up on with the Nigerian-bon painter. The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 145 was recorded in the London in August 2024. Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@radiojuxtapoz⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠

We often ask ourselves how art can heal or make us better understand the world around us. It's the function of art, isn't it? We may not have a universal or agreed upon definition of what art is or means, but we have an understanding that art is an expression of creativity in response to both personal and communal experiences. It's complicated, but good art makes you feel and understand something deeper about the human experience. On the occasion of "Don’t Forget to Remember," a documentary film by director Ross Killeen that follows the Irish street artist "Asbestos as he and his family learn to navigate his mother’s diagnosis of Alzheimer’s and cope with her fading memories," Radio Juxtapoz sits down with the artist to discuss this incredible transformation in his personal life and how this has created a new direction in his artistic life. The Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by FIFTH WALL TV's Doug Gillen and Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 144 was recorded in the UK in August 2024. Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@radiojuxtapoz⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠