The First Stop

Paul Theriault: Electronic Empathy

Paul is an electronic media artist working with computers, cameras, televisions, scanners and more. He seems to have empathy for the often slightly outdated technology he tinkers with, mapping emotional and cerebral processes onto them. He is also an abstract oil painter who paints on scanner beds rather than canvas. These paintings are always erased to make way for a new painting, but they live on as moments captured by the programmed eye of the scanner. Sometimes these digital images are printed out, and other times they are displayed on the backlit surface of a deconstructed flat screen television. In this episode Paul and I discuss his unusual process and the ideas behind his work. For more images of the artist’s work, visit https://paultheriault.net/

Gerald Sheffield: The Space between "Shock and Awe"

Gerald is an artist working in painting, assemblage and installation art. His most recent work delves into his time deployed in Iraq by the United States Army. Much of his work seeks to complicate society’s oversimplified understanding of soldiers and the occupied people of Iraq. Through his paintings he investigates and questions the way in which western art and media depict and have depicted people and places in the middle east. He also explores the United States’ chaotic diplomatic mismanagement of Iraq during the war. In this interview, we discuss Gerald’s experience enlisting in the United States Army, his deployment to Iraq, a new installation inspired by an unbelievable true story, political rhetoric, Orientalism, and finally his preference for a specific color. Be sure to see Gerald’s exhibition at New Release Gallery in New York’s Chinatown. It's entitled “Democratic Paradox," and it's on view until February 16th

Greyson Hong: "Your Only Limit Is You"

Greyson is a multimedia installation and performance artist whose recent work investigates the limits of human experience. Greyson often uses her own body as a site of artistic experimentation. Much of her work humorously appropriates scientific charts, mathematical data and advertising slogans in order to communicate deeply personal and powerful experiences that often deal with gender identity, politics, and love. To view the works discussed in this podcast visit FirstStopArt.net.

Hong Hong: Atmosphere Absorbed

Hong builds colorful and monumental compositions using paper pulp. These large-scale works record the shifting conditions of time and environment as they cure outside over many hours. Hong is fascinated both by things that change over time and objects like horizons that seem to stay the same even as we change. Her ephemeral paper works are constantly evolving as they absorb the conditions of the spaces they occupy, and as their lustrous colors gradually fade to grey. In this episode, we discuss the process and philosophy behind Hong’s captivating work.

Zachary Keeting: Assembled Expressions

Zach’s bold and vigorous paintings appear to harness the momentum of mid-century American expressionism, but they have an orderly logic to them: each explosive brushstroke seems to have been carefully placed. The compositions are wildly emotional, while at the same time, meticulously layered. Zach’s paintings can be enjoyed without any backstory, but they often allude to deeply personal memories. View the discussed work on http://firststopart.com/