Glasstire

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech discuss artist Jens Haaning's recent viral artwork, 'Take the Money and Run,' and also discuss David Hockney's recent essay about the state of abstraction. "This is the kind of thing that makes taxpayers angry in the U.S. … and this is the kind of thing that gets artists into hot water and gives them a really bad name." See related readings here: https://glasstire.c...

Brandon Zech talks with San Antonio-based artist Mark Menjivar about archives, social practice art, and Menjivar's new virtual residency project with Glasstire. "My work sometimes — some people engage with it and are like 'Really, is this art?' I remember being at a talk years back and someone asked 'Are you an artist? A journalist? A social worker?'" View "Security Questions," Mark Menjivar's pro...

William Sarradet and Brandon Zech discuss the rise of NFTs as online avatars, digital projects by Tom Sachs and Damien Hirst, and advertising's infiltration into the metaverse.  "The crypto market has been driven by individuals and groups of people creating these things more or less themselves. And now is the time when celebrities and companies come in." See related readings here: https://glasstir...

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech discuss the effects that time has on our likes, dislikes, and perceptions about art. "The art that makes you uncomfortable, or that you don’t understand or that you’ve been dismissive of — that’s the stuff that can ultimately sneak up on you and become what you value the most." If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a...

Artist Joey Fauerso joins writer Rainey Knudson for a discussion about how artist residencies can get you over the hump and on the path.

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech discuss Kusama's pumpkin that recently fell victim to a typhoon, experiential underwater sculpture parks, and the relationship between climate change and art "Museums and collectors are trying to preserve things that are ephemeral...I can't believe that in 1000 years museums will have been able to fully fulfill their missions." See related reading here: https://glas...

William Sarradet talks with Christopher Blay about his tenure as Glasstire's News Editor, the trends he's seen in Texas art, and how being an artist impacts the way he approaches writing and curating. "My art practice ran smack into my role as a writer and art critic pretty early on. I think it came from the lack of real criticism that artists crave, good or bad." See related reading here: https:/...

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech discuss the optics and the reality of Hunter Biden's quest to be an artist. "There are many artists who are very successful who aren’t selling $500,000 paintings right now ... These are the kind of prices it would take an artist years to reach, if ever." See related reading here: https://glasstire.com/2021/07/18/art-dirt-whats-going-on-with-hunter-bidens-art/ If you...

Via Peter Lucas for Glasstire: "Though his work as both a solo artist and a member of the collective Otabenga Jones & Associates has been widely exhibited, Houston-based artist Jamal Cyrus had not had a comprehensive museum survey until his exhibition 'The End of My Beginning' opened last month at the Blaffer Art Museum in Houston; it will travel to the Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles i...

"Artist On Artist" is Glasstire’s video and audio podcast series in which Glasstire’s News Editor, Christopher Blay, also an artist, hosts Texas-based artists and art professionals in one-on-one conversations. This week: Christopher Blay interviews (and plays a game of chess) with young artist Kingsley Onyeiwu, on the event of Onyeiwu's solo exhibition of drawings at Hooks-Epstein Galleries in Hou...

Christina Rees and William Sarradet discuss some favorite LGBTQ offerings of the past month and beyond. Also: art they expect to see in museums and galleries going forward. "In which cases are we excused from dwelling in the depths of darkness?" See related reading, viewing, and listening list here: https://glasstire.com/2021/07/04/art-dirt-wrapping-up-pride-with-recommendations-art-we-hope-to-see...

From Hills Snyders' LOVE L-E-T-T-E-R-S (Part One): https://glasstire.com/2021/06/26/love-l-e-t-t-e-r-s-part-one/

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech discuss how the recent cultural swing toward honesty and sincerity has affected comedy, art, and music. "We’ve been through a decade of dishonesty and performance, and it seems like we’re in the middle of a swing away from that … there’s a real appetite for honestly." See this episode's reading list here: https://glasstire.com/2021/06/20/art-dirt-on-sincerity-honest...

Christopher Blay interviews artist Annette Lawrence as she departs Texas for Bennington, Vermont to take a two-year teaching position. They talk about where their works intersect, and her journey from upstate New York to Denton, Texas after living in Houston in the 1990s. “All roads lead to Houston! All roads lead to Houston in Black art.”

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech discuss their most anticipated summer shows across the state, a jungle gym-like installation in Houston, and the optics behind Op art. "More than anything I just want to put my eyes on people and on art in these institutions … being in any of these spaces and looking at art is very moving." See this episode's reading list here: https://glasstire.com/2021/06/06/art-d...

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech discuss the things about the art world we don’t miss, the things we do miss, and how to pace yourself when venturing back out. "The way artists make their name in the world is by building consensus. And you can’t build consensus if people don’t see your work and talk to each other about the work." See this episode's reading list here: https://glasstire.com/2021/05/2...

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech discuss the proliferation of private museums in the U.S. "Nowadays, museums are trying to figure out what the public wants and will show up for, and there's a kind of need for the spectacular. These private museums have the money and the means to make those shows happen in a way public museums don't." See this episode's reading list here: https://glasstire.com/2021/...

Christopher Blay's guest this week is Raul Rodriguez, artist and founder of Deep Red Press. They talk about Rodriguez’s work with his Texas art publication, his documentary photography, and how personal it gets when he photographs in his old Northside Fort Worth neighborhood. “I don’t know if it’s some kind of weird time warp or something, but I feel like I run into different versions of myself at...

William Sarradet and Brandon Zech discuss how art meme accounts have taken over Instagram. "The intersection of what is considered to be mainstream and what is considered to be the elitist underbelly of the art world comes to a very weird point in these accounts." See this episode's reading list and a list of art meme accounts here: https://glasstire.com/2021/04/25/art-dirt-why-we-love-and-hate-ar...

Christopher Blay and guest Carol Ivey talk about the role the artist's studio plays in her work, her early years as a painter in Austin, Farrah Fawcett, and how she made the leap from abstraction to still life painting. "I moved to Seattle! And the thing about Seattle is that it is the emerald city, in an evergreen state. And so you can't be there and not focus on plant life."

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech on the ongoing debate about museums deaccessioning objects from their permanent collections. "If MoMA could build a new building because they knew someone who would buy Picasso's 'Les Demoiselles d'Avignon' for $600 million... would they sell it then?" See this episode's reading list here: https://glasstire.com/2021/04/11/art-dirt-should-museums-deaccession-their-co...

Artist On Artist is Glasstire’s video and audio podcast series in which Glasstire’s News Editor Christopher Blay, also an artist, hosts Texas-based artists and art professionals in one-on-one conversations. This week's guest artist, the Austin-based Deborah Roberts, discusses her process, her current major solo exhibition at The Contemporary Austin, and how identity features in her work. “We see t...

Christopher Blay and Christina Rees discuss the recent explosion of murals across the state. “I wonder if artists are being commissioned to beautify cities in a way that ignores the time that we live in.” See this episode's reading list here: https://glasstire.com/2021/03/27/art-dirt-the-mural-boom-in-texas/ This week’s podcast is sponsored in part by Texas Talks Art, a weekly series of virtual, l...

Artist On Artist is Glasstire’s video and audio podcast series in which Glasstire’s News Editor Christopher Blay, also an artist, hosts Texas-based artists and art professionals in one-on-one conversations. Our guest this week is Dallas-based artist Xxavier Edward Carter. We talk about love, loss, graduate school, and how Carter sees his physical presence in his work. “There can’t be that divide,...

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech break down the meteoric rise of NFTs. “These things aren’t necessarily meant to be bought and kept — they’re meant to be flipped — that’s the point. That’s how they gain value.” See this episode's reading list here: https://glasstire.com/2021/03/14/art-dirt-what-are-nfts-and-how-did-one-sell-for-69-million/ This week’s podcast is sponsored in part by the Art Museum...