Everything Is Connected

On this episode I'm joined by Basil Kincaid. I first met Basil in Miami with Mindy Solomon, a Miami-based gallerist who has built a working relationship with Basil over the years exhibiting his work in multiple shows. Our introduction sparked a deeper conversation about Basil’s work and practice, and in 2021 I wrote the exhibition text for his first monograph with Galleria Poggiali in Milan.  During our conversation we touched on when we first met, our shared experiences of spending time in Ghana, and some of the important experiences that have been critical to Basil's more recent work, with quilts.  

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On this episode I'm joined by Tunji Adeniyi-Jones the London born, Nigerian painter whose lived and worked in New York for the past severalyears. Tunji is back from a long stint in Lagos when we sit down to talk about his experiences, life in Lagos, the importance of traveling, the commercial art world, and the importance of professional development for emerging artists. We bumped into each other at the opening for Africa Fashion at the Brooklyn museum a week earlier and also shared our thoughts on the importance of this moment in history regarding African diasporic cultures across the globe.

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On this episode I'm joined by Christine Kuan, President & Executive Director of Creative Capital. Before joining Creative Capital, Christine Kuan was CEO/Director of Sotheby’s Institute of Art-New York. With twenty years of experience in both nonprofit and commercial sectors of the art world, Kuan has expertise in art education, museums, and digital strategy across cultural institutions and the art market. She was formerly Chief Curator and Director of Strategic Partnerships at Artsy, where she oversaw the organization’s museum and institutional partnerships, digital collection strategy, open access policy, educational initiatives, and auctions.

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On this episode I'm joined by Emma Prempeh. I first became introduced to Emma’s work on Instagram during the pandemic. I was researching artists for a series of conversations I’d put together with women artists on Art News Africa, a large IG platform that promotes the work of African diasporic artists. It’s a couple weeks after Frieze New York when Emma and I sit down to talk over Zoom. She’s currently working and living in Uganda. Emma has just recently closed her first solo presentation at Frieze Art Fair with Tiwani Contemporary as we begin to chat about her work and practice. 

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On this episode I'm joined by Phillip Collins.  Phillip is a marketer turned art collector. Out of the urgent need to bridge a gap in the commercial art market and the desire to spotlight the stories that mattered to him the most, Phillip gave birth to Good Black Art—a platform that’s investing in emerging Black artists from the onset of their careers, creating an ecosystem that offers access to sales and collaborations, exhibitions and media opportunities. We are sitting in Soho at The Malin when we begin to talk about how we first met, our experiences in the art world and the ways in which travel and new experiences bring us closer to ourselves. 

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It's Frieze Week in New York City and we are rounding out a busy week of fairs, parties, and networking. It’s gala season also and from the famed met gala a couple weeks ago to some of the most important institutions in New York, museums, and large organizations are hosting their spring gala events. 

Last week NYC played host to Future Fair and Independent Art Fair. Both fairs were great, but very different in my opinion. I personally saw some works at Independent that stopped me in my tracks. 

Frieze opened yesterday with its VIP programming, today it opens to the public with a newly commissioned work in partnership with Artadia and Frieze by the Brooklyn based conceptual artist Jessica Vaughn. It’s the first time Artadia and Frieze have partnered with each other and it’s a very exciting commission that is highlighting the work of the very talented conceptual artist Jessica Vaughn, whose work deals with issues of labor, the complex histories of place, production and use. She was an Artadia recipient in 2018. I had the pleasure of interviewing Jessica a couple of months ago in preparation for her freeze Commission. You can read more about that piece on freeze.com and in their latest issue coming out soon that's tied to the freeze New York fair. 

Today 1-54 art fair opens in Harlem and it’s sure to be a breakout fair with lots of incredible talented artists. Stay tuned for our next episode next week and if you’re in NYC have a great art week! 

On this episode I'm joined by Selasie Gomado. Selasie and I met in 2022, in Accra through Gideon Appah a Ghanaian artist, who closed his first solo show with Pace gallery earlier this year in London. Selasie and I are in Accra when we sit down to talk about the artist agency and collective ARTEMARTIS which works with some of Ghana’s most emerging artists showcasing their work both locally in Ghana and internationally throughout the continent, Europe, and beyond. What began as an online shop with a few friends in 2018 has grown into a collective that supports artists with art supplies and studio spaces to an agency that focuses on bringing the artists to larger markets through group exhibitions and shows. 

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On this episode I'm joined by Katherina Olschbaur. I first met Kat in LA when we were deeper into the pandemic and still reeling from life in lock down. We were both following each other on Instagram at the time but had never met in person. I was immediately stuck by Kat’s energetic presence and her interesting ideas about the world. 

Originally from Austria, Kat currently lives and works in LA. Her captivating surrealist paintings draw viewers in with rich luscious colors in striking combinations. Her drawings are an integral part of her painting practice deeply informed by her subjects and conceptual frameworks. Katherina was an artist in residence at Kehinde Wiley’s Black Rock residency in Senegal, West Africa in 2021. 

It’s a couple of weeks before her first solo show with Perrotin Gallery in Hong Kong when we sit down at Soho House in New York to talk about her work and practice. 

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On this episode I'm joined by Ayesha Williams and Paul Ninson. Ayesha Williams is an art professional with over a decade of experience working with visual artists, presenting programs, and generating funding for both commercial galleries and nonprofit institutions. She is currently the Executive Director of The Laundromat Project, a nonprofit organization that advances artists and neighbors as change agents in their own communities. Paul Ninson is the Founder and Executive Director of the Dikan Center, a not-for-profit visual education institution in Ghana that is fast gaining reputation for its impact and dedication to educating the next generation of Africa’s creative leaders with the skills to transform their communities, countries and the continent. 

We're at Dikan Center in Accra, Ghana when we sit down to talk about their work and respective practices within the art world. 

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On this episode I'm joined by Helina Metaferia. Helina Metaferia is an interdisciplinary artist working across collage, assemblage, video, performance, and social engagement. Her work integrates archives, somatic studies, and dialogical practices, creating overlooked narratives that amplify BIPOC/femme bodies. 

Her work is in the permanent collection of institutions including Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA; RISD Art Museum, Providence, RI; and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York, NY. 

Helina is preparing for EXPO Chicago, the annual fair that brings the city's art community together, when we sit down high up at Silver Arts, the shared studio space Helina is currently working out of that plays host to dozens of emerging artists living and working in New York City. 

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