ARTMATTERS: The Podcast for Artists
ARTMATTERS is an intimate, bi-weekly podcast featuring in-studio conversations between host Isaac Mann and professional
artists from around the world. Now in its second season with over 55 episodes, the show has become a vital resource for the
contemporary art community, exploring everything from technical practices and daily studio insights to career advice, creative
blocks, and the emotional realities of making art.
Host Isaac Mann brings both the perspective of a working artist and the curiosity of a thoughtful interviewer to each conversation,
creating a space where artists can discuss not just their techniques and influences, but also the vulnerable aspects of creative life-
hope, depression, expectation, success, and failure.
Whether exploring technical processes, relationship dynamics, or tips for a healthier practice, ARTMATTERS offers
both emerging and established artists a rare glimpse into the real experiences behind successful creative careers.
ARTMATTERS: The Podcast for Artists
#77 with David Humphrey
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Welcome back to ARTMATTERS: The Podcast for Artists
Today's guest is David Humphrey, a New York-based painter whose work has been shown nationally and internationally, and who has been recognized with some of the most prestigious awards in the art world, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Rome Prize. He teaches in the MFA program at Columbia University, is represented by Fredericks & Freiser Gallery in New York, and is the author of Blind Handshake, an anthology of David’s art writing.
On today's episode I ask David about how he knows when a painting is finished, his works on paper, and what late-career de Kooning taught him about the surface of a painting. We get into what David calls the "ecology" of his studio, the sociability of paintings, decision-making in the studio, and the question of shallow vs implied space in his newer work. We also talk about his recent show at Kate Werbel Gallery which features works on paper, wall painting and installation. Finally, David reflects on navigating privilege and provocation during his career, including a memorable and charged moment at a Hunter College lecture that I was actually in the audience for. We finish up by talking about the stakes of painting and the absurdity, weakness, and humor inherent in the medium.
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If you're enjoying the podcast so far, please rate, review, subscribe and SHARE ON INSTAGRAM! If you have any questions you want answered, write in to artmatterspodcast@gmail.com
host: Isaac Mann
www.isaacmann.com
insta: @isaac.mann
guest: David Humphrey
www.davidhumphreynyc.com
insta: @aikenhump
Thank you as always to ARRN, the Detroit-based artist and instrumentalist, for the music.