Studio Visits
RSSIn the Studio with Jack Whitten
On a chilly winter afternoon, Assistant Curator, Naima J. Keith and I dropped in on world-renowned and revered abstract artist Jack Whitten. Intent on leaving the bustle and chaos behind in Manhattan, Jack converted an old firehouse on a quiet street in Woodside, Queens into his studio 9 years ago.
As we stepped into his spacious main room that has been arranged as part gallery/workspace on one side and living/domestic space on the other, our eyes were immediately drawn to a wall covered with photographs, posters, bones, and wood pieces. He began telling us about his love for deep sea fishing and Crete, which is where many of the skeletons arranged throughout the workspace came from. There was an image of Nkisi Power Figures from Kongo, which were the root of inspiration for all of the impeccable wooden sculptures that Whitten has been creating since the 1960s.
In the Studio with Jack Haynes
Jack Haynes draws pictures. After graduating from high school in 1999, he spent two years at Illinois State University studying illustration before moving to Chicago to pursue his passion, hoping that a career would soon follow. As a freelance designer, he has designed stationery, logos, invitations, books, and other printed matter for several companies. He loves comics and hopes to author and illustrate his own one day. On Friday afternoon, I had the opportunity to sit down with Jack Haynes, pick his brain and flip through his sketchbook.
Your work spans a plethora of different media, what kind of artist would you classify yourself as?
It's difficult to truly feel like an artist of any medium at 30 with so much to still learn and do. I have put the most study into human figure illustration and painting.
How do you describe your style?
Studio Visit: Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum
Born in Mochudi, Botswana, multidisciplinary artist Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum has at times called various parts of Africa, Southeast Asia and the United States home. Motivated by her experiences in these diverse locales, Sunstrum explores how one’s sense of identity develops within geographic and cultural contexts. Her investigation takes various forms, including large-scale installations, stop-motion films, performances, and works on paper. Her work has been exhibited internationally, and she currently lives and works in Baltimore, Maryland.
Your work chronicles the journeys of “Asme,” your alter ego. What led you to develop this character?
Office Hours
Ronak K. Kapadia
Office Hours is a new feature in Studio magazine and on the web that engages artists, scholars and organizers on the application of critical knowledge and theory.
Ronak K. Kapadia is a PhD candidate in NYU’s American Studies program. He is currently writing his dissertation on creative responses to state security, immigrant detention, surveillance, and the U.S. empire since the late 1970s.
Vaginal Davis
Legendary performance/visual artist and avant-garde “drag superstar,” Vaginal Davis, has been interrogating notions of theater, performance, blackness and queer politics since the 1980s. Davis recently performed her critically acclaimed show at P.S. 122, Vaginal Davis Is Speaking from the Diaphragm, which uses a talk-show format and a set design channeling “kindergarten occultism.” Read a brief interview with the artist after the jump.
Jacolby Satterwhite
On May 14, I sat down with recent University of Pennsylvania MFA graduate Jacolby Satterwhite for a post-studio, studio visit. Using the core elements of his practice—a laptop and two portable DVD players—Satterwhite showed me a body of work still in progress, complex and unresolved. His projects, which center on his own body, cross various media, high and low culture, public and private space, and real and virtual environments. “Living in a liminal space is important to me,” he said. “That’s the only way I’m going to break boundaries and do different things, not just become a commodity.”
Mel D. Cole
Most of photographer Mel D. Cole’s work is done onsite at concerts and parties throughout New York City and the surrounding area. His body of work is both an archive of urban youth culture and a series of arresting compositions.
Located on a quaint street that contrasts with the kinetic energy of the nightlife he documents, Mel D. Cole’s first-floor apartment in Jersey City is his center of creative calm. In the last five years, Cole has been prolific, evidenced by thousands of photos on his Mac computer demonstrating the true depth of his work. He clicks through brilliant photographs from a recent trip to Mexico City, countless images of Japanese dancehalls and a series on homelessness.