Art Attack w/ Lizy Dastin and Justin BUA artwork

Art Attack w/ Lizy Dastin and Justin BUA

130 episodes - English - Latest episode: 21 days ago - ★★★★★ - 142 ratings

Art Attack with Lizy Dastin and Justin BUA is a new kind of art podcast—engaging, informed, accessible and raw. Join artist BUA and art historian Lizy as they debate topical artworld happenings, bringing their unique—often contradictory—perspectives to the conversation.

BUA is an internationally distinguished painter, television personality, writer, entrepreneur and teacher. He is perhaps best known for his renderings of often-overlooked characters that define the urban landscape; for instance, his iconic image, The DJ, has become one of the most celebrated and reproduced prints of all time. BUA has roots in the graffiti scene in New York City, co-created and hosted the Street Art Throwdown competition series for the Oxygen Network, and has published two acclaimed books, The Beat of Urban Art and The Legends of Hip Hop, through Harper Collins.

Lizy Dastin is an Art History instructor at UCLAx and Santa Monica College with a focus on contemporary art and urban practice. She has previously taught at Chapman University, The American Jewish University, Mercy College and the School of Visual Arts and has worked on curatorial projects at the Metropolitan Museum, the International Center of Photography and the Whitney Museum of American Art. Lizy, founder of street art information hub Art and Seeking, is a passionate advocate of street art and its makers and is committed to creating a digital archive of this otherwise ephemeral practice.

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Episodes

Leaping into the Void with Yves Klein

April 03, 2024 14:00 - 41 minutes - 31.2 MB

Known for his avant-garde, conceptual art and patented ultramarine blue, Yves Klein created work during the late 1950s and early '60s that push boundaries and provoke passionately varied responses from viewers. Join our hosts as they outline Klein's most influential art and performances from two very different perspectives. 

Sam Gilliam: Exuberant Color, Unfurling Canvas

March 20, 2024 22:27 - 36 minutes - 27.6 MB

Heralded by many as one of the most innovative contemporary abstract painters, Sam Gilliam created art over decades and decades that challenges the parameters of painting and sculpture, encouraging his viewers to reexamine their relationship to space and object. Join our hosts as they talk about this celebrated artist from their signature different perspectives.

Maurice Sendak: The Wildest Thing of All

March 13, 2024 16:24 - 33 minutes - 25.1 MB Video

Maurice Sendak, award-winning writer and illustrator of children's books, is a ubiquitous staple of so many people's imaginations and memories. He illustrated over 150 books, including one of the most beloved children's books of all-time: "Where the Wild Things Are." Join our hosts as they discuss the importance of Sendak's work, and unravel the darker, wilder side of his life and oeuvre.

If it ain't Baroque, it ain't Bernini

March 07, 2024 22:18 - 37 minutes - 68.1 MB

Propelled by the Catholic Church and the Counter-Reformation, 17th century Baroque art was pious, dramatic, theatrical and emotionally intense. Gian Lorenzo Bernini's sculptures typify these ideals, and showcase their maker's poetic mastery of material. Join our hosts as they discuss Bernini's sordid biography, and the key works he sculpted that will live in art history in perpetuity.

Under the Covers with Hanksy aka Adam Lucas aka Adam Himebauch

February 28, 2024 13:00 - 37 minutes - 68.9 MB

Contemporary artist, Adam Himebauch, has lived a lot of lives. He peppered the streets of Lower Manhattan with punny street art for years under the moniker Hanksy, painted colorful, pulsating murals and canvases as Adam Lucas and, now as Adam Himebauch, is tackling his most conceptual, trenchant era to date. Join our hosts as they discuss Himebauch's work and debate the merit of conceptual performance art. 

Lady Pink: First Lady of Graffiti

February 21, 2024 21:16 - 27 minutes - 50 MB

Lady Pink, born Sandra Fabara, was a prominent figure in 1980s graffiti culture, and continues to be a trailblazing woman in the field. Although the world of graffiti was heavily male-dominated and physically dangerous, Lady Pink was undeterred, painting on subway cars, trainyards and walls right alongside the men. Join our hosts as they celebrate this significant woman, her heart, courage and artivism.

AI Copy-right or Copy-wrong?

February 14, 2024 15:00 - 37 minutes - 68.7 MB

AI technology is starting to transform every area of life, including the process of making art. Artists are using AI more and more in their work, some as a tool and others as an entirely new conceptual practice. Either way, art made partially, or entirely, by a program is proving to be an uncharted territory when it comes to legality and copyright protection. Join our hosts, along with technology and intellectual property attorney Ira Schwartz, as they debate AI art from all the angles. 

Grant Wood, An American(a) Icon

February 07, 2024 20:11 - 30 minutes - 56.1 MB

Grant Wood's 1930 painting "American Gothic" is one of the most recognizable images in art. Quoted, satired and parodied, this painting's legacy is undeniably enduring, but what exactly is the painting saying to its viewers? Join our hosts as they deep dive into this ubiquitous work, and others, to sort through Wood's complicated, often disparate, feelings about 1930s America and his place in it. 

Cindy Sherman, the Original Selfie?

January 31, 2024 21:48 - 34 minutes - 62.9 MB

Among the most ground-breaking of contemporary photographers, Cindy Sherman explores themes of fantasy, feminism, (art) history, the abject, and the self through her work. Using makeup, costumes and staged scenery to manipulate her appearance and perform as various characters, Sherman is technically the subject of her photographs; however, the Sherman we see in each image is never who Sherman truly is. Seeing her body as a storytelling tool, Sherman dissolves completely into her characters, ...

Ushering in Modernity with Manet

January 24, 2024 15:00 - 42 minutes - 77.7 MB

During the mid-19th century, there was a schism among artists between painting in a traditional manner that evoked the past, and disrupting that past and creating something innovative and new. Édouard Manet painted work that perfectly synthesizes this tension between the historical and the contemporary, forging an important path toward modernity. Join our hosts as they unravel the controversies of some of Manet's most shocking paintings.

Getting Romanced by Delacroix

July 05, 2023 15:00 - 38 minutes - 71.9 MB

Eugène Delacroix--innovative, creative, with a flare for drama--was a transformative figure in the art world during the 19th century. Bucking the traditionalism of more rigid French academic painting, Delacroix forged his own style, celebrating passion, the exotic and moments imbued with the utmost intensity. Join our hosts as they discuss the context and creativity of this vibrant painter. 

This is Not a Magritte Episode

March 15, 2021 14:00 - 25 minutes - 34.9 MB

The work of René Magritte's is so iconic that one of his apple paintings inspired Paul McCartney to name the Beatles' company Apple Corps., which, in turn, inspired Steve Jobs to name his burgeoning computer company, Apple. Join our hosts as they explore the conceptual brilliance and paradoxical mystery of Magritte.

NFTs FTW

March 08, 2021 15:00 - 27 minutes - 37.3 MB

NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are in their relative infancy, but nevertheless taking the artworld by storm. Are these digital, object-less works a tech fad or do they indicate the expansive possibilities of what art can be? Join our hosts as they try to better understand this new frontier.

Art & Addiction

March 01, 2021 15:00 - 34 minutes - 47.1 MB

Across the art spectra, there is unfortunately a correlative connection between artists and addiction or addictive behavior. From Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, to Mark Rothko to Nan Goldin, some of the most insightful creatives have suffered from addictions that not only affected them personally, but also informed the aesthetic of their art. Join our hosts, and their special guest, licensed therapist and expert in addition, Marnie Zang Katularu, as they try and unravel the relationship between art...

The Ballad of Yoko Ono

February 22, 2021 15:00 - 40 minutes - 56.3 MB

Biography often plays an integral role in how any given artist is historicized; however, in the case of Yoko Ono, that biography hasn't done her much service. Credited with breaking up the Beatles, Ono's relationship with John Lennon has unfortunately eclipsed her prolific, provocative and profound career as a conceptual artist. Join our hosts as they discuss and debate Ono's work and legacy.

Que Serra, Serra

September 21, 2020 14:00 - 33 minutes - 58.8 MB

The sculptures and public artworks of post-Minimalist Richard Serra are dazzling in their massive scale and quietly contemplative in their aesthetic simplicity. Join our hosts as they discuss Serra's sculptural innovations, public art controversies and the ways in which he activates viewers through an experiential design.

Art in the Wake of Pandemics

April 06, 2020 16:38 - 27 minutes - 49.7 MB

With the terrifying outbreak of COVID-19, we're all living in a new reality. Pandemics; however, are not new and have, throughout history, generated hopeful, helpful and life-saving artistic responses. Join our hosts as they discuss a panoply of art that has emerged from pandemics ranging from the Bubonic Plague to the Spanish influenza to the HIV/AIDS epidemic to the Ebola virus.

Photography: the Real Beginnings

March 23, 2020 15:32 - 30 minutes - 55.7 MB

It's widely written that photography was "invented" by Louis Daguerre in 1839; however, nothing has such a clear or clean origin story. Join our hosts as they dissect the very beginnings of photography: how it was invented when it was, who used this new medium, why that matters and who actually invented it.

Down for Dali

March 09, 2020 20:16 - 34 minutes - 64.1 MB

Salvador Dalí is one of history's most iconic, ironic, illogical, irreverent, and integral artists. Best known for his melting clocks and curvy mustache, Dalí created masterful surrealistic landscapes that unlock the collective unconscious and speak to our most intimate and vulnerable anxieties. Join our hosts as they attempt to decode the ultimately unknowable paintings and persona of Dalí.

Ai Weiwei Go!

February 24, 2020 15:57 - 29 minutes - 54.4 MB

Chinese artist Ai Weiwei is arguably the most vehemently anti-authoritarian living artist. In his work across media, Ai tackles the tropes of history, surveillance, abuse of power, and what it means to test the limits of freedom. Regarding this last theme, the artist’s work and life have overlapped. Ai, critical of the Chinese government’s stance on democracy and human rights, has proactively investigated governmental corruption and cover-ups in his work, getting arrested for 81 days in the ...

Art in Nature, Nature as Art

February 18, 2020 16:24 - 31 minutes - 58.3 MB

In the late 1960s, artists began to expand the parameters of art in exciting ways: what it can look like, what it can be made from, where it can be located. Many took to nature--or took materials from nature--to better integrate the world, and concept of impermanence, into art. Join our hosts as they journey through their favorite land art creations.

Love is in the Art

February 04, 2020 15:23 - 30 minutes - 56.7 MB

Art is often political--a discerning lens scrutinizing its surroundings--or perhaps satirical, culturally inquisitive or rebellious in nature. Art can also be fantastically romantic. Join our hosts as they share the art that they think is most steeped in seduction.

What's Up, Whistler

January 27, 2020 20:00 - 32 minutes - 60.3 MB

"Whistler's Mother" is one of the most recognizable and parodied paintings of all-time. The man who painted it, James Abbott McNeill Whistler, is one of the most significant artists and aesthetic game-changers in American history. Join our hosts as they explore his revelatory paintings, disruptions of tradition and ornery personality.

O'Keeffe's Flower Power!

January 20, 2020 16:51 - 28 minutes - 51.4 MB

Georgia O'Keeffe is an American icon. Best--and most controversially--known for the series of "flowers" she painted between 1918-1929, O'Keeffe addresses themes of pleasure and place throughout her career: pleasure with and in the female body, but also the pleasure of being ensconced within the United States. Join our hosts as they unpack the tremendous career of this tremendous artist.

Munch the Punk

January 13, 2020 17:53 - 26 minutes - 49.5 MB

"The Scream" by Edvard Munch is one of the most iconic, ubiquitous and parodied paintings of all-time. Join our hosts as they explore why that is, what the painting could possibly mean, how it evokes the time and place from which it was made, and what's so seductive about its maker.

Art Critics & Culture Changers

January 06, 2020 16:04 - 29 minutes - 54 MB

Ever since Giorgio Vasari published Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects in 1550, historians have played a key role in shaping the careers of artists. Although sometimes subtle and often behind-the-scenes, these tastemakers can puppeteer who becomes iconic and who fades into obscurity. Join our hosts as they explore the role of some of history's most influential critics, collectors, and culture changers.

Latinx Artists in L.A.

December 23, 2019 22:37 - 28 minutes - 52.3 MB

For decades, Los Angeles has been the home to significant Latinx artists who use their work to celebrate their cultural heritage and form meaningful communities. The contemporary scene of Latinx artists in L.A., especially urban artists, has never been more vibrant. Join our hosts as they share their favorite work by their favorite makers.

Happy Little Bob Ross

December 16, 2019 17:58 - 23 minutes - 43.9 MB

Bob Ross, landscape painter and PBS legend, could always be counted on to have a fantastic hair-day and even more fantastic attitude. His TV show, The Joy of Painting, hasn't aired since the mid-90s; however, Ross has recently become more beloved than ever. Join our hosts as they discuss his works, his joyful demeanor and relatable art teaching style.

Is Jackson Pollock the World's Greatest Painter?

December 09, 2019 15:45 - 30 minutes - 56.2 MB

In 1949, Life Magazine published an article on the (in)famous Abstract Expressionist Jackson Pollock asking whether he was the greatest living painter. Join our hosts as they animatedly--and from wildly different perspectives--begin to answer this question.

Ask Us Anything! Live Q&A

December 03, 2019 16:47 - 38 minutes - 70.8 MB

After the live 100th episode, Lizy and BUA opened up the floor to audience questions--about absolutely anything and everything art related. Check out this impromptu, interactive conversation about hip hop, the legacy of Duchamp, and one artist's choice to use excrement as his art material.

100th Episode Live! Hip Hop & Art

November 26, 2019 20:48 - 36 minutes - 67.8 MB

Hip Hop emerged as a fully postmodern, intersectional art expression during the 1980s in the Bronx. Interweaving graffiti writing, b-boy dance, MC sounds and DJ mixing, Hip Hop continues to energize disparate, and yet connected, facets of society and culture. Join our hosts as they delve into the history of Hip Hop, its progression over time, and contemporary artists who continue to live its ethos.

Architecture Guru Gehry

October 28, 2019 14:31 - 26 minutes - 48.9 MB

From the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao to the Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles to the Dancing House in Prague, Frank Gehry has designed some of the most celebrated buildings across the world. Join our hosts as they discuss his playful, innovative, and idiosyncratic designs.

Cézanne: Game Changer

October 21, 2019 16:25 - 31 minutes - 58.4 MB

Offering the highest compliment an artist can give, Picasso acknowledged Paul Cézanne as the father of modernism, "the father of us all." Join our hosts as they investigate why this is, describing the Post-Impressionist's most significant paintings, his profound flattening of space and introduction of the concept of movement into the otherwise static viewing experience.

Graffiti: Tags, Toys, Throw-Ups, and All-City

October 14, 2019 14:00 - 35 minutes - 64.7 MB

Graffiti, quite literally scratching something into an outdoor surface without permission, has been happening for thousands of years. The graffiti that we know today--rebellious, visceral and counter-culture--was born in New York City in the '70s and practiced by some of the most fearless and inventive artists. Join our hosts as they deep-dive into this dynamic and dangerous time.

The War on Culture!

October 07, 2019 14:00 - 32 minutes - 60.2 MB

Under the conservative Reagan administration, the 1980s was a constraining time for any artist who tried to push the envelope. Especially vilified during this era were photographers Andres Serrano and Robert Mapplethorpe. Join our hosts as they reveal governmental censorship and discuss the work that was considered an aberration on society.

Why do we LOL at Caricatures?

September 30, 2019 14:00 - 31 minutes - 58.6 MB

When we think of words used to describe significant art, chances are that "caricature" doesn't make the list. But maybe it should. Join our hosts as they unearth the history of caricatures, common misconceptions about the genre, and its most phenomenal players.

The Misunderstood Minimalists

September 23, 2019 14:00 - 30 minutes - 56.2 MB

The 1960s art scene is primarily associated with Pop, kitsch and Warhol; however, it was also the era of sleek, stark, hard-edged Minimalism. Join our hosts as they digest this influential--if short-lived--movement and its embrace of the death of the artist and deskilling of the art object.

Concerning the Spiritual in Kandinksy

September 16, 2019 14:00 - 24 minutes - 44.7 MB

Wassily Kandinksy was a major aesthetic innovator--he saw spiritual symbolism in color, sought to translate musical sounds into painterly shapes, and is credited for painting the first entirely abstract canvas in 1913. Join our hosts as they explore all the facets of this Russian genius.

Three of the Worst Artists Ever

September 09, 2019 14:00 - 29 minutes - 54.6 MB

For 91 episodes, this show has celebrated the best of the best. But what about the worst of the worst? Join our hosts as they maneuver around the work and lives of three artworld clunkers.

Bi-gendering Bourgeois

August 26, 2019 16:02 - 26 minutes - 48 MB

Louise Bourgeois worked in a variety of diverse media throughout her 8 decades-long career. Her evocative, provocative themes dance between her personal experience with trauma to desire, abjection, gender and the body. Join our hosts on this feisty conversation surrounding Bourgeois' art and its impact.

Art Warrior Warhol

August 19, 2019 15:00 - 32 minutes - 60.4 MB

In a moment of prophetic brilliance, Andy Warhol said everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes. However, his fame has endured millions of minutes beyond those 15 with no sign of fading. Join our hosts as they explain why--outlining his art, his process, his persona and his themes of consumerism, celebrity and tragedy.

Olafur Eliasson: Contemporary Icon or Cleverist?

August 12, 2019 14:53 - 26 minutes - 48.6 MB

Contemporary artist Olafur Eliasson uses light and space in the way traditional painters use pigment and canvas. The public space becomes his painterly surface and nontraditional materials, ranging from water, fans, air currents, color dye, fog, ice and moss, become his tools for mark-making. Join our hosts as they passionately debate the legitimacy and value of his practice.

OG Giotto

August 05, 2019 13:57 - 32 minutes - 59.8 MB

The most respected Italian Renaissance historian, Giorgio Vasari, cited Giotto di Bondone as the absolute first Renaissance artist. Join our hosts as they unravel this statement and explore what the Italian Renaissance is, in what way Giotto's art epitomizes its style and how Humanism changed art forever.

The Biggest Splash: Hockney and L.A. Pop

July 22, 2019 16:21 - 27 minutes - 50.8 MB

With paintings full of palm trees, outdoor pools and seductive stretches of the open road, David Hockney is the quintessential artist of L.A. Pop. Join our hosts as they celebrate the man who celebrates their city.

Hyped on Hopper

July 15, 2019 16:00 - 27 minutes - 51 MB

Edward Hopper is an icon of American art. His paintings are celebrated in museums throughout the country, are reproduced on countless posters, postcards, cell phone cases--even mousepads--and are constantly referenced in pop-culture. But what is it about his work that people find so mesmerizing and meaningful? Join our hosts to find out!

Mexican Muralism in the U.S.

July 08, 2019 15:27 - 27 minutes - 50.1 MB

In the 1920s, Los Tres Grandes--Rivera, Orozco and Siqueiros--created murals throughout Mexico in an effort to reunify the country under the new Mexican Communist Party regime. After the 1929 stock market crash, the United States government commissioned these same men to paint murals that would lift the spirits of the American people and restore their faith in their capitalistic government. Problems ensued. Join our hosts as they unravel this artistic showdown between Communism and Capitalism.

How the Armory Show Changed Everything

July 01, 2019 18:00 - 31 minutes - 22.7 MB

In 1913, European Modernism landed in the U.S. and changed the art game forever. Join our hosts as they discuss the groundbreaking Armory Show and viewers' dramatic reactions to the avant-garde art within its halls.

Fakes and Forgeries

June 06, 2019 16:24 - 26 minutes - 47.9 MB

The fact of the matter is, there are art forgeries everywhere. Fakes are, wittingly or not, sold in galleries, auction houses and displayed on museum walls around the world. Join our hosts as they share their knowledge on these fakes and discuss some of the greatest art forgers of all time.

Prepare to Swoon

May 30, 2019 14:16 - 30 minutes - 56.2 MB

With her psychologically rich work installed both on the streets but also in museums throughout the world, Swoon captivates art viewers of all types. Join our hosts as they discuss the complexities of her practice, her imagery, her installations--even her name.

Finally, One on Picasso

May 21, 2019 16:24 - 28 minutes - 51.9 MB

Pablo Picasso is often heralded as the most significant artist of the 20th century--maybe even of all-time. But why? Join our hosts as they debate and discuss all things Picasso: his work, his innovations, his missteps and his misgivings.

Books

The American Flag
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