An Awesome Video Series: Artists on Art
By: Olju Man
Tags: Artist, Creativity, Art, Contemporary Art, Museums

An Awesome Video Series: Artists on Art

Looking at art through the eyes of contemporary artists.

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s Artists on Art video series features contemporary artists speaking on works from the museum’s art collection. Looking at art through their eyes, we hear directly from artists about artworks that inspire them and have fed their own creativity.

Photo: “The Treachery of Images” (1928–9) or “Ceci n’est pas une pipe” (“This is not a pipe”) by René Magritte, 1898-1967. The work is now owned by and exhibited at LACMA.

1. John Baldessari on René Magritte

John Baldessari speaks on The Treachery of Images (“This is Not a Pipe”) by René Magritte. John Baldessari is one of today’s most influential artists, both as teacher and practitioner. His range of work — photography, paintings, prints, artist’s books, and videos — has been celebrated internationally in numerous exhibitions.

2. Ed Ruscha on Marcel Duchamp

Ed Ruscha speaks on With Hidden Noise by Marcel Duchamp. An icon of West Coast Pop, Ed Ruscha is known for his works in a wide variety of media; his images are typically text-based and/or depict the deadpan yet nonetheless expressive landscapes of his adoptive state of California. He frequently portrays gas stations, parking lots, swimming pools, the Hollywood sign, and many other aspects of Los Angeles and its surroundings.

3. Mark Grotjahn on John McLaughlin

Mark Grotjahn speaks on #26 by John McLaughlin. Mark Grotjahn gained renown in the 1990s for his “butterfly” paintings and drawings — deceptively simple compositions of radiating lines that at once suggest perspectival space and lie flat on a surface rich in chromatic and textural nuance. His interest in modernism is evident in his “mask” series of painted bronze sculptures.

4. Catherine Opie on Thomas Eakins

Catherine Opie speaks on Wrestlers by Thomas Eakins. Opie’s photography is extraordinary for the range of its gaze, taking in our institutions and fringes, icons and outcasts, rituals and taboos. Her landscapes, portraits, still lifes, and interiors are, collectively, a profound document of contemporary America, and have been the focus of many solo exhibitions.

5. Thomas Houseago on Tony Smith

Thomas Houseago speaks on Smoke by Tony Smith. Houseago gained early acclaim for his highly tactile figurative sculptures. Made with traditional materials and techniques and informed by art historical precedents, his hulking figures are enlivened by a contemporary, often eviscerating effect.

6. Jennifer West on Ed Ruscha

Jennifer West discusses Edward Ruscha’s Stains, 1969. West is an artist whose work explores the process and materiality of filmmaking. Through video, installation, and performance, West presents celluloid film and negatives that have been subjected to a variety of chemicals and physical manipulation.

7. Mimi Lauter on James Ensor

Mimi Lauter discusses etchings by James Ensor and a 15th century Dutch Book of Hours. Mimi Lauter is a Los Angeles-based artist who makes works on paper using primarily pastel, a medium comprising almost pure pigment. Her drawings are painterly and immersive, with vibrant colors and texture, and derive from a variety of narratives including folklore and mythology.

For more videos, check out the Artists on Art series on LACMA’s YouTube channel. To learn more about LACMA, visit https://www.lacma.org.