“Go ahead; you can write whatever you want about me,” Jonas Wood says. “Everyone knows I’m a stoner,” he adds, since beer has been mostly displaced by California’s drug of choice during my Los Angeles series of interviews.
Beer With a Painter
Beer with a Painter, LA Edition: Charles Garabedian
LOS ANGELES — “I can barely remember doing all this,” Charles Garabedian says to me as he flips through the pages of his own museum exhibition catalog, which I have brought along.
Beer with a Painter, LA Edition: Hank Pitcher
Hank Pitcher met me when I arrived in Santa Barbara, and as we made our first drive along the beach, he explained that it was one of the rare places with a south-facing coastline, which affects the light, surf, and feel of the area.
Beer with a Painter, LA Edition: Ed Moses
Researching the work and career of Ed Moses prior to our visit was like uncovering a trove of stylistic experimentation with abstract painting, and a whole segment of West Coast art history.
Beer with a Painter, LA Edition: Lecia Dole-Recio
LOS ANGELES — I visited Lecia-Dole Recio in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, where she lives on a quiet curving street at the top of a hill, close to Dodger Stadium.
Beer with a Painter, LA Edition: Henry Taylor
The painter Henry Taylor welcomed me into his live-work loft with particular openness. It didn’t take long for us to get real and talk about family, the stories behind the paintings, and the daily struggles.
Beer with a Painter: Thomas Nozkowski and Joyce Robins
Tom Nozkowski and Joyce Robins are married, and I have admired the work of both for years. When I asked them to be the first “Beer with a Painter” subjects interviewed jointly as a couple, they were completely game.
Beer with a Painter: Jason Karolak
Jason Karolak and I spoke over beers in his studio one day during the never-ending winter.
Beer with a Painter: Jason Stopa
Jason Stopa stands a head taller than most of us and shares some strong ideas about contemporary art with a calm, intellectual confidence. His work, too, is raw, but the delivery system is mellifluous – a world of familiar references and a range of intimate painterly touches.
Beer with a Painter: Lois Dodd
Lois Dodd has lived in a loft-studio on Second Street near the Bowery for over fifty years. When visiting her, one is struck by the independence of her lifestyle, as well as her work.
Beer with a Painter: Gregory Botts
I have known Gregory Botts for about twenty years. Early on, I remember being captivated by the guerilla action he and his wife, fellow painter Jenny Hankwitz, took in the early 1990s: planting sunflowers in the meridian of Houston Street in SoHo.
Beer with a Painter: Terry Winters
“Let’s just delete all of that and start over again,” Terry Winters said to me, laughing, mid-way through our conversation.