Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Press Play's favorite visual artists of the year
We look back at some of our top interviews with artists this year: Barack Obama’s Chief Official White House Photographer Pete Souza; LA artists Edgar Arceneaux and Ken Gonzales-Day, and painter Lari Pittman.
By Madeleine Brand • • 47m ListenPhoto Collage:
Photo by Barack Obama (Pete Souza)
Photo by Gina Pollack (Lari Pittman)
In this episode
4 storiesPete Souza on photographing President Obama
Pete Souza has taken nearly two million photos of former President Barack Obama -- from when Obama was in the Situation Room the night Bin Laden was killed, to meetings with world leaders, to tender moments with Michelle, Sasha and Malia. Souza’s book documenting Obama’s historic presidency includes more than 300 images. He talks about the highlights, and whether he took to Instagram to troll President Trump.
Read the story17 minKen Gonzales-Day on challenging ideas about who and what murals are for
Ken Gonzales-Day spent two years driving around Los Angeles, documenting hand-painted signs, street art, graffiti and murals. The images tell us a lot about history, race, and identity in LA. The photos are on view at the Skirball Museum as part of Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA, a collection of exhibits and performances celebrating Latin American and Latino art in Southern California. The show is called Surface Tension.
Read the story8 minEdgar Arceneaux on history, race and identity
Edgar Arceneaux is from South LA, went to art school in LA, and grad school at CalArts. He teaches at USC, and runs a nonprofit in Watts. Arceneaux’s work deals with history and identity -- through drawings, video, installation.
Read the story13 minLari Pittman on finding beauty in the grotesque
Lari Pittman’s work has been shown at every major museum in LA. He’s on the board at MOCA and the Hammer. He’s been a tenured professor at UCLA since the late ‘90s. Museum director Lisa Phillips says that Lari Pittman is one of the most important painters of his generation because he bucked the minimalist trend before it was fashionable to do so.
Read the story9 min
