Glasstire

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...

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 North Texas- based Erica Felicella, a performance artist who counts among her wide range of influences photographers (she was an assistant to Goef Kern) and Gregory Crewd...

Christopher Blay invites Bill and Pam Campbell to talk about their 46-year run with one of the longest-running galleries in Texas, William Campbell Contemporary Art. Last month the couple announced their retirement, and that the gallery continues with new owners, Fort Worth Contemporary Art Partners. “We still love the business and we really thought we would keep working until we couldn’t anymore,...

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. For this episode, Blay participates in a session of Carolyn Sortor’s “Being Together,” one of two projects Sorter created for her Glasstire artist residency. The conversation explores the true...

Inspired by the career of Clint Willour, Christina Rees and Brandon Zech discuss the transformational impact a single person can have on an art scene.  "Even though we're not in a 'major art scene' (although we really are, here in Texas), we have a lot of people who are making a powerful impact."

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech discuss artists' use of windows as makeshift galleries and question if cities should force businesses to put art in empty storefronts. "To be fined for not putting art in your windows — that concept honestly blows my mind... it's the opposite of what we're used to." This week's podcast is sponsored in part by Texas Talks Art, a weekly series of virtual, lunchtime co...

Brandon Zech talks with Houston artist and Glasstire contributor Henry G. Sanchez about the challenges of public arts funding during a pandemic. If you'd like to learn more, you can read Sanchez's recent articles about arts funding in Texas: Part 1: https://glasstire.com/2020/11/23/arts-funding-in-pandemic-texas-part-1 Part 2: https://glasstire.com/2020/12/01/arts-funding-in-pandemic-texas-part-2-...

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’s conversation with guest Ciara Elle Bryant touches on her navigation through graduate school as a Black woman, her mentors and influences, as well as creating opport...

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech talk about the landmark events of 2020, and their takeaways from an unusual year. "2020 is going to stand as this incredibly strange marker in so many people's lives for so many reasons, and visual art is no exception." If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our...

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech talk about nativity scenes, Christmas art, and the inherent kitschiness of our beloved holiday traditions. "If you leave a few Christmas decorations up year-round you're tacky, but if you leave an entire house full of Christmas decorations up year-round you're eccentric and fun." If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As...

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 speaks with Austin-based artist Betelhem Makonnen, who uses video, photography and installation as she considers perception, presence, and place. This conversation t...

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech talk about the recently discovered (and removed) monolith in Utah, and about the wonderful work of a minimalist sculptor.  "I'm not particularly for trampling on a pristine landscape to put a joke out in the middle of the desert, but then again... .." If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the mone...

For this week's episode, Christopher Blay is joined by Jin-Ya Huang, the interdisciplinary artist and founder of the Dallas-based initiative Break Bread, Break Borders. Huang shares ideas about Social Practice, the immigrant experience, and bridging communities one meal at a time. “It’s always like: In here we’re an artist, in here we’re a social entrepreneur, in here we’re making policy changes....

Christopher Blay hosts Dr. Fahamu Pecou, an interdisciplinary artist and scholar. They talk about Trapedemia (including his exhibition at Conduit Gallery in Dallas), African roots, as well as how Pecou's paintings, performances, and academic work reframe the conversation around Black masculinity. "These are mirrors. These are affirmations. I want people, especially Black people, to look at these p...

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech talk about the opening of the MFAH's landmark new building for modern and contemporary art. "My overall impression is that this building is good for Houston, good for the art, good for the MFAH of course, and it's great for art lovers. And right now, it's even good for Texas and Houston artists because there is quite a bit of Texas and Houston art inside this buildi...

Christopher Blay hosts Jonathan Morris, a Fort Worth entrepreneur and community leader. They talk about the marriage of art and commerce, and how Morris' Hotel Dryce You Are Here Art Grant could help build an inclusive community in Fort Worth. “I think it's important that we tell a full, more complete story of who we are as a city, and doing that through art and the lens and perspectives of Black...