Recording Artists
18 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 2 months ago - ★★★★★ - 185 ratingsArtists in their own words from the Getty Research Institute archives
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Episodes
Recording Artists Live
February 27, 2024 08:00 - 47 minutes - 43.6 MBIn this special live episode of Recording Artists, season two host Tess Taylor speaks with Getty Research Institute curator Pietro Rigolo about the making of the series, what she discovered through the letters, and artists’ stories and letters that didn’t make the cut. Author Maya Binyam joins them to bring the letters to life via dramatic readings. This program is co-presented with the Los Angeles Review of Books. The Getty Patron Program is a proud sponsor of this podcast. Learn more ab...
Meret Oppenheim: Femme Fatale Is an Insult
October 24, 2023 07:00 - 37 minutes - 34.5 MBIn 1975, Meret Oppenheim’s small painting Würgeengel, or Angel of Death, is included in a sprawling exhibition organized by famous curator Harald Szeemann. She had painted it over 40 years earlier, when she was only 16 years old. The only problem now is that the curator has totally misunderstood her artwork—and placed it in a sexist context in the show. Rather than meekly accept this, Oppenheim writes Szeemann a deeply personal letter. Across five pages, she details the challenges she faced ...
Nam June Paik: I Don’t Want to Be Over Whelmed by Glory
October 17, 2023 07:00 - 33 minutes - 30.5 MBIn the mid-1960s, Nam June Paik is living in a run-down studio in SoHo, struggling to make ends meet. But even as he jokes about his ongoing battle against cockroaches, he is building his network, seeking out support for his artist friends, and always experimenting with form. Paik’s vibrant personality is on full display in a letter from this period to musician David Tudor. Partially typewritten, partially handwritten, and full of wild punctuation and inside jokes, the letter’s main purpose...
Benjamin Patterson: Full Moon, Warm, Silver Clouds
October 10, 2023 07:00 - 36 minutes - 33 MBOn May 20, 1962, the morning after his first child is born, Benjamin Patterson writes a touching birth announcement to his own parents. The letter covers all the usual details—the baby’s weight and height, how the birth went, what the hospital is like—but its form is totally unique. Most of the letter is written in the voice of his newborn son, Ennis. Patterson, then a young, struggling musician and composer living as an American expat in Paris, shows off his creativity and experimental writ...
M. C. Richards: I Am Dancing with These Words Around You
October 03, 2023 07:00 - 37 minutes - 34.7 MBBy 1956, M. C. Richards has earned a PhD in English, taught poetry at Black Mountain College, gotten married (and divorced) twice, dedicated herself to pottery, helped found an artists’ cooperative alongside creators like John Cage, and become deeply romantically involved with avant-garde musician David Tudor. Tudor is often on the road, but luckily Richards is an incredible letter-writer. In her notes to him, she plays with language and sends messages of love, all while keeping Tudor up to ...
Marcel Duchamp: Write Me Often, Just a Line or Two
September 26, 2023 07:00 - 35 minutes - 32.7 MBIt’s July 1942, and the artist Marcel Duchamp has recently arrived in New York City after fleeing the Nazis in Vichy France. As he settles in, he writes to his longtime friend and fellow artist Man Ray, who is living in California. In this casual letter, Duchamp asks Man Ray for help. He needs buyers for his latest artwork: a suitcase containing miniatures of many of his most famous pieces, from the mass-produced urinal he signed his name to and called art to his mustachioed Mona Lisa. He en...
Frida Kahlo: Do You Think of Me Some Time?
September 26, 2023 07:00 - 37 minutes - 34.3 MBIn 1944, Frida Kahlo is at a crossroads, both in terms of her health and her career. In April of that year, with World War II dragging on, she writes to her gallerist—and former lover—Julien Levy. In this tender and personal letter, she moves from the logistical challenges of sending art across national borders during wartime, to describing her painful new steel corsets, to asking after her many friends in New York, where Levy lives. Unpacking this letter and exploring Kahlo’s words written ...
Season 2 Coming Soon—Intimate Addresses
September 12, 2023 07:00 - 2 minutes - 2.11 MBIn season two of Recording Artists, titled Intimate Addresses, host Tess Taylor dives into the lives of six artists. From personal letters pulled from Getty’s archives, discover more about artists you’ve probably heard of like Frida Kahlo and meet some who might be less familiar like Benjamin Patterson. Listen as they collaborate, fight for justice, ask for money, work through pain, and affirm their resilience. Anna Deavere Smith reads the letters, and contemporary artists and art historians...
Helen Frankenthaler: Let ‘er Rip
November 12, 2019 09:20 - 36 minutes - 33.3 MBThis episode focuses on Helen Frankenthaler (1928–2011). Joining host Helen Molesworth are artist Rodney McMillian and art historian Alexander Nemerov. Frankenthaler made large abstract paintings by pouring thinned paint directly onto the horizontal canvas. In interviews from 1969 and 1971, she discusses the inspiration for this radical innovation as well as other early influences. For transcripts, images, and additional resources visit www.getty.edu/recordingartists/.
Betye Saar: Your Particular Jellybean
November 12, 2019 09:15 - 37 minutes - 34 MBThis episode focuses on Betye Saar (b. 1926). Joining host Helen Molesworth are artist Linda Goode-Bryant and art historian Marci Kwon. Saar is the only California artist in this series, and her work has been deeply influenced by the region’s cultural landscape. In a 1975 interview, she discusses the diverse sources for her art and … Continue reading "Betye Saar: Your Particular Jellybean"
Yoko Ono: A Kind of Meeting Point
November 12, 2019 08:00 - 36 minutes - 33.3 MBThis episode focuses on Yoko Ono (b. 1933). Joining host Helen Molesworth are artists Catherine Lord and Sanford Biggers. In an interview from 1990, Ono reflects on her influences, her years on the international avant-garde scene, and the impact of her marriage on the reception of her work. Additional Resources Barbara Rose Papers Finding Aid
Betye Saar: Working My Mojo
November 12, 2019 08:00 - 37 minutes - 34 MBThis episode focuses on Betye Saar (b. 1926). Joining host Helen Molesworth are artist Linda Goode Bryant and art historian Marci Kwon. Saar is the only California artist in this series, and her work has been deeply influenced by the region’s cultural landscape. In a 1975 interview, she discusses the diverse sources for her art and how she prevailed in the face of racism and gender discrimination. Additional Resources Betye Saar, Roberts Projects Cindy Nemser Papers Finding Aid
Eva Hesse: Oh, More Absurdity
November 12, 2019 08:00 - 36 minutes - 33.4 MBThis episode focuses on Eva Hesse (1936–1970). Joining host Helen Molesworth are artist Mary Weatherford and art historian Darby English. Hesse is one of the most influential artists of her generation, despite having a career that lasted only 10 years. In a rare 1970 recording, made only a few months before her death, Hesse discusses the trajectory of her practice, her distinctive materials, and the meaning of art and life. Additional Resources Estate of Eva Hesse, Hauser & Wirth Cindy Ne...
Helen Frankenthaler: Let ’er Rip
November 12, 2019 08:00 - 36 minutes - 33.3 MBThis episode focuses on Helen Frankenthaler (1928–2011). Joining host Helen Molesworth are artist Rodney McMillian and art historian Alexander Nemerov. Frankenthaler made large abstract paintings by pouring thinned paint directly onto the horizontal canvas. In interviews from 1969 and 1971, she discusses the inspiration for this radical innovation as well as other early influences. Additional Resources Helen Frankenthaler Foundation Cindy Nemser Papers Finding Aid Barbara Rose Papers Fin...
Lee Krasner: Deal with It
November 12, 2019 08:00 - 40 minutes - 37.3 MBThis episode focuses on Lee Krasner (1908–1984). Joining host Helen Molesworth are artists Lari Pittman and Amy Sillman. In interviews from 1972, 1975, and 1978, the first-generation abstract expressionist discusses her formation as a painter, the progression of her work, her relationships with fellow artists, and her role as guardian of Jackson Pollock’s legacy. Additional Resources Pollock Krasner Foundation Cindy Nemser Papers Finding Aid Barbara Rose Papers Finding Aid Barbaralee Di...
Alice Neel: Viva la Mujer
November 12, 2019 08:00 - 35 minutes - 32.6 MBThis episode focuses on Alice Neel (1900–1984). Joining host Helen Molesworth are artists Simone Leigh and Moyra Davey. Neel is known for striking, expressionistic portraits of family, friends, lovers, and neighbors in Spanish Harlem. In interviews from 1971 and 1975, she discusses inequality, economic hardship, and her own mental health challenges. Additional Resources Estate of Alice Neel, David Zwirner Gallery Cindy Nemser Papers Finding Aid
Trailer for Recording Artists: Radical Women
October 30, 2019 16:56 - 2 minutes - 2.29 MBHere’s a sneak peek of Recording Artists: Radical Women, a new podcast that explores the lives of six women artists—Alice Neel, Lee Krasner, Betye Saar, Helen Frankenthaler, Yoko Ono, and Eva Hesse—through archival interviews and discussions with contemporary artists and art historians. Hosted by Helen Molesworth, the podcast launches on November 12, 2019. Stay tuned!
Coming Soon—Recording Artists: Radical Women
October 30, 2019 07:00 - 2 minutes - 2.29 MBIn this season of Recording Artists, host Helen Molesworth delves into the lives and careers of six women artists spanning several generations. Hear them describe, in their own words, their work, relationships, and feelings about the ongoing march of feminism. Contemporary artists and art historians join the conversation, offering their own perspectives on the recordings and exploring what it meant—and still means—to be a woman and an artist. This podcast is based on interviews from the 1960...