Exquisite Corpse: Contemporary Conversations

On April 20th, 2024, the newly inducted National Academician, architect Richard Gluckman NA, led a group on a walking tour through several of his building projects in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood. This tour, titled Sense of Permanence, accompanied the National Academy’s exhibition Sites of Impermanence, which closed in May 2024. Co-curated by Sara Reisman, Chief Curator, and Natalia Viera Salgado, Associate Curator, it featured the work of the eight Class of 2023 Inductees, including Gluckman: Alice Adams, Sanford Biggers, Willie Cole, Torkwase Dyson, Carlos Jiménez, Mel Kendrick, and Sarah Oppenheimer.

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Gluckman Tang
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This episode of Exquisite Corpse brings together National Academicians and painters Elena Sisto and Carroll Dunham in a deep discussion about painting, abstraction, and the trajectories of their work.

Both painters are interested in the abstracted figure and their exchange explores the influences of childhood, freedom and risk in the studio, and mimesis versus non-objective painting. They share an investment in the expansive nature of abstraction through invention and revel in their commonalities as artists and most importantly as painters. 

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In this episode of Exquisite Corpse, architects Wendy Evans Joseph and Billie Tsien discuss the art-centered roots of their friendship and the experiential nature of architecture. They discuss what it means to alter or create an experience and how they practice patience with projects in the public realm. 

They touch on their various projects that alter how the public engages with an environment, such as Wendy’s back-of-house glass box for the Music Hall at Snug Harbor Cultural Center or Billie’s project for David Geffen Hall, at the Lincoln Center where her firm restructured the lobby to be more inviting and multifunctional. Both invested in community engagement, they share a mutual admiration for producing projects that deepen public connection.

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The second episode of Season 4 joins National Academicians Charles Gaines and Rashid Johnson in conversation about the multiplicities of blackness, the properties of representation, and exploring materiality in art making. They discuss mutual friends, common references, and a substantial reading list. Rashid shares key reference points from his childhood that inform his materials and structures. Charles delves into the nature of the grid, elements of language, and the dynamics of representation. Together they share a mutual appreciation for each other, and the intellectual investigations that underpin their practices.

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The National Academy of Design’s podcast Exquisite Corpse: Contemporary Conversations launches its fourth season with an episode featuring painters and dear longtime friends Roberto Juarez and Jimmy Wright. Starting with Roberto’s time capsule of work from the 1980s, their conversation ebbs and flows through experiences that color their art practices. From moving to New York in the 1970/80s, to discovering their visual languages, they share a unique journey to making art careers in New York City. Their shared queer community is a connective tissue, providing the foundation for creative expansion, friendship, housing, and work. Both share a warm gratitude for the past and resounding positivity for the future of their art practices and the art world at large. 

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The last episode of Season 3 joins old friends, artist Pat Lasch and architect James Timberlake. Their conversation explores how their residency experiences, spirituality, and childhoods influence their work. They reminisce about their time in Rome where they both attended the American Academy residency in 1982. Each took different approaches to engaging with the city and formed a lasting bond with their cohort. They also discuss spirituality, how it informs their creative practices, and how it is different than religion and the church. Through religion they touch on sensitive topics, but they hold space for their different experiences and embark on a reflective conversation of nuanced views.

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In the third episode of season three, previous guest, Mary Miss, speaks with architect, Jeanne Gang. In sharing their mutual admiration for each other’s practices, their conversation touched on social-ecological frameworks, the female gaze, and the nuances of involving community in their projects. 

Throughout their conversation, the natural parallels between art and architecture begin to emerge. With both practices rooted in public environments, they exchange different approaches to sustained engagement with community members as co-creators. Mary shares her experiences working on the temporary memorial at Ground Zero, a process she describes as “turning voyeurs into mourners”. Jeanne speaks on her youth leadership program in collaboration with SCAPE for their project at Tom Lee park in Memphis, TN. Together they share a collaborative passion for addressing complex societal issues through their practices.

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The second episode of season three joins friends and National Academicians Susanna Coffey and Sangram Majumdar in a conversation about painting. Both acclaimed painters, their conversation brings the audience into the complexities of painting–the material, gesture, and how it changes with their environment. 

Sangram explains the evolution of his process as his paintings mark critical moments in time, from the 2016 presidency to a cross-country move. Susanna examines her own revelation with self portraits which began out of necessity for her teaching position at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. They relate with one another about the ebbs and flows of their practices over time. In sharing different touch points of their journey, the conversation turns to the concept of invisibility versus visibility. Each of them share how they create despite perceived constraints and let the work live expansively.

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In the first episode of Season 3, previous guest Frances Barth chooses to speak with painter William T. Williams. They discuss their 50-year friendship, reminiscing about influences and interactions throughout their accomplished careers like working at Skowhegan, being neighbors, and their shared communities of artists. They discuss the mentors that were a part of their artistic development and how they help students and the next generation develop their own work. In the growing age of social media and miscellaneous distractions, both National Academicians share their advice for emerging artists to remain centered and focused.

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The final episode of Exquisite Corpse’s second season features a conversation between LA-based architect, Michael Maltzan, who chose to speak with an artist who had an impact on his work, Mary Miss, who is based in New York.

Mary speaks about her early career as an artist during the 1960s, the influences of minimalism and landscape on her practice, and how these influences pushed her closer to architecture. The two National Academicians discuss the ways in which their work is, in part, concerned with the interaction between a viewer and the work itself. They both discuss the psychological concerns of this interaction between the viewer and the work and what impact this has on their respective practices.

Michael probes a constellation of ideas—timescales, permanence, ephemerality—and how their respective practices are often quite different in this regard. Both examine the paths their practices have taken toward the impacting social change, and Mary considers participation and the notion of the “expanded field” working as an artist out in the world as an architect does.

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