This week we are zooming out . . . wayyy out . . . further . . .further . . .Okay now zoom innnn. . . . to a world without borders through the eyes of artist, illustrator, set-designer, archeologist, and art historian Miguel Covarrubias. And to help us out on this journey, the amazing Veka Duncan @vekaduncan has joined us.

WATCH THE VIDEO VERSION HERE: https://youtu.be/BOJ13HZA3Bs

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Miguel aka El Chamaco, is the other half of that Mexican artist power couple, not named Frida Kahlo & Diego Rivera, from our last episode with Rosa Rolanda: https://youtu.be/w-CVdxpnwBc

Some may know him from his Harlem Renaissance series, his Broadway set designs, his groundbreaking book on Bali, or even his covers for Vanity Fair and/or The New Yorker.

You Texans may know his monumental 1954 glass mosaic mural, "Genesis, the Gift of Life," outside of the Dallas Museum of Art where Miguel reinterprets the story of genesis through a Mesoamerican and Native-American symbols and mythologies.

Miguel’s work touched on so many subjects; traveling to so many continents, really observing and getting to know the people, their culture and surrounding environments.

His groundbreaking archaeological research was revered, his caricatured cultural icons duked it out in his “Impossible Interviews” series, he painted massive murals that highlight all of the people, flora, and fauna that make up our home planet, always blending humor, science, and a real love for everything that makes us human.

Like Rosa Rolanda’s work, it’s unbelievable that his work still feels so contemporary despite being made almost a century ago.

Topics Include: Tomax and Xamot at Costco, Anthony Bourdain blowing up the 90s glam culinary scene, Cracking your teacher’s skull, Palacio de Cultura Banamex, Harlem Renaissance, Impossible interviews, Animal bucket lists, Empanadas with tentacles

Support us on Patreon! - Patreon.com/artslicepod

MUSIC INCLUDES:

“Keep up the momentum, friend” by Chris Zabriske - https://chriszabriskie.bandcamp.com/album/i-made-this-while-you-were-asleep

“2013 Toyota Corolla” by 2003 Toyota Corolla - https://hanahata.bandcamp.com/album/2013-toyota-corolla

“You’re Magic” by Soft and Furious - https://chezmonplaisir.bandcamp.com/album/bae

CREDITS:

Writing and Research by Stephanie Duenas and Russell Shoemaker

Editing, Production and Sound Design by Russell Shoemaker

Logo Design by Russell Shoemaker

Theme by Russell Shoemaker and Betta Music Pro

Ending Theme by Russell Shoemaker and Underwood Beats

Social Media by Stephanie Duenas and Russell Shoemaker

Newsletter by Stephanie Duenas

We are back, we are wide-eyed, almost Bratz Dolls eyed (!) and South of the Border 🇲🇽

This time diving into the work of Rosa Rolanda, who metamorphosis-ized 🦋 from a famous Broadway dancer into a Surrealist late in life.

Full video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-CVdxpnwBc

Along the way she crossed paths with figures like Man Ray. It's likely she even learned the photogram process from him, which she then made uniquely her own. Her photograms feel like intimate journal doodles crossed with the raw energy of punk zines from the early '90s.

She also met her soon-to-be partner and collaborator, the Mexican artist Miguel Covarrubias—also known as 'El Chamaco.'

Together, they became Mexico's first artistic power couple, predating even Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. Their groundbreaking work, the book "Island of Bali," was the first comprehensive account of Balinese culture for the Western world, detailing its art, music, dance, and rituals.

But it's her paintings that have this incredible, haunting feeling of anemoia—a nostalgia for a time you've never known. This gives them a distinct '90s or early 2000s vibe. On the surface, they seem simple and illustrative, but on a second, third, or even fourth look, you start to peel back all these incredible visual and narrative layers."

Topics include:

Bratz Dolls and Crazy Town

Frida Kahlo and Arte Popular at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston

the Museo de Arte Moderno

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art

Smart and Final yellow

Marion Morgan’s Morgan Dancers

Man Ray’s photograms or Rayograms

Rat Fink for some reason

Mexico City’s first artist power couple

Tina Modotti, Nickolas Muray, Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera

Gwen Stefani's Harajuku Girls

Miguel Covarribus and Rosa Rolanda’s Island of Bali book from 1937

Las Mañanitas scene from “El Rapto” starring Maria Felix

The 60th Venice Biennale “Foreigners Everywhere”

LACMA’s 2012 exhibition “In Wonderland: The Surrealist Adventures of Women Artists in Mexico and the United States”

And what Visual Art can learn from performative art like dance

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The featured song was “Cascades” from Kris Keogh’s new album Processed Harp Works, Volume 3 on the Japanese imprint - Muzan Editions.

https://muzaneditions.bandcamp.com/album/processed-harp-works-volume-3

The album is amazing - It’s like drifting off in a meditative trance, being brought back to awareness, before drifting again. If you like artists like The Caretaker - you really need to spend time with these albums.

Other tracks featured:

Elvenheim - “At Night” https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Shamil_Elvenheim/momentum

Holizna - “First Snow” https://holiznacc0.bandcamp.com/album/winter-lo-fi-2

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CREDITS:

Writing and Research by Stephanie Duenas and Russell Shoemaker

Editing, Production and Sound Design by Russell Shoemaker

Logo Design by Russell Shoemaker

Theme by Russell Shoemaker and Betta Music Pro

Ending Theme by Russell Shoemaker and Underwood Beats

Social Media by Stephanie Duenas and Russell Shoemaker

Newsletter by Stephanie Duenas

LISTENERS we’re back with maybe a little glimmer of hope?

“Impossible” you say! Eye Rolls you do!

But after our conversation with Jennifer Dasal of the ArtCurious podcast, we had to ask ourselves, could a historical sanctuary for artists offer a vision for today's creators?

You can WATCH this episode here: https://youtu.be/H42eI7V1eek

In her new book, The Club: Where American Women Artists Found Refuge in Belle Époque Paris," Dasal uncovers the story of The American Girls Club of Paris. This remarkable institution provided hundreds of expatriate American women artists with housing, tea gardens, libraries, and—most importantly—dedicated studio and exhibition space.

Far from home and full of ambition, artists like Florence Lundberg, Anne Goldthwaite, Alice Morgan Wright, and Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller found refuge and community in this unique "u-topia" (or as we like to call it, a "YOU-topia").

Building Your Modern Creative Community

With resources for artists often scarce, the story of The Club is more vital than ever. It reminds us of the importance of nurturing our creative practices and finding ways to support each other.

Whether it's a physical space or a dedicated online community, we must be generous with our time and energy to foster collective creativity. This episode explores how to carve out these personal utopias, drawing parallels to diverse examples like Mexican chinampas (floating gardens), Kristin Ghodsee’s "Everyday Utopia," and… the…. 00s UK rap group The Streets.

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Support the show!

https://Patreon.com/artslicepod

Merch ➫

https://artslicepod-shop.fourthwall.c...

More Merch ➫

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CREDITS:

Writing and Research by Stephanie Dueñas and Russell Shoemaker

Editing, Production and Sound Design by Russell Shoemaker

Logo Design by Russell Shoemaker

Theme by Russell Shoemaker and Betta Music Pro

Ending Theme by Russell Shoemaker and Underwood Beats

Social Media by Stephanie Dueñas and Russell Shoemaker

Newsletter by Stephanie Dueñas

MUSIC INCLUDES:

“Soul for Sale” by StevenAndolf

“Lighter than Air” by HoliznaCC0

“Limbo” by HoliznaCC0

“Yesterday” by HoliznaCC0

“Hard bay light” by The Library

Watch the video version here: https://youtu.be/gK2OcbuE7Oo

When the dazzling German actress Maria Lani arrived in Paris in the late 1920s, her presence set the art world abuzz. She quickly recruited over fifty artists—including Pierre Bonnard, Jean Cocteau, Marc Chagall, André Derain, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso (he said no), Man Ray, Georges-Henri Rouault, Fernand Léger, and Suzanne Valadon—to depict her in paintings, photographs, and sculptures for an upcoming film.

There was just one problem: "Maria Lani" was a construct. She wasn’t a famous actress—she wasn’t even "Maria Lani." So what did she plan to do with all these artworks?

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When Maria Lani disappeared along with the pieces, rumors spread that she had stolen the works and sold them to unsuspecting collectors in the United States. Was this the art heist of the century? Or was something else going on?

We sit down with Author and Illustrator - Jonathan Lackman and Zachary J. Pinson - to uncover the truth—and discuss The Woman with Fifty Faces, a stunning new graphic novel from Fantagraphics that explores the enigmatic life of this maligned figure.

Support the show!

Patreon ➫

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Merch ➫

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For more on Maria Lani ➫

https://marialani.com/

https://jonlackman.com/

To see more of Zachary's work ➫

https://www.instagram.com/zachary_j_pinson/

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VIDEO VERSION: https://youtu.be/0_9up1-1b2U

Mary Cassatt, known for her paintings of women and babies (then and now), made a surprising move to accept a mural commission for the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893.

This gig was a big deal, especially if you were a younger artist- it could be a career-making move. But when Mary, decades into her own art career, first received the invitation . . .

well, here’s what she had to say:

“When the committee offered it to me to do, at first I was horrified, but gradually I began to think it would be great fun to do something I had never done before and as the bare idea of such a thing put (Cassatt's best frenemy) Degas into a rage and he did not spare every criticism he could think of, I got my spirit up and said I would not give up the idea for anything.”

So . . . maybe a little spite inspired this mural?

Spite and...a surprising reimagining of the story of Eve.

Unfortunately, this mural has been lost to the sands of time...and we're (maybe, foolishly) diving in with the only surviving grainy black and white photos to guide us.

Special thanks to Klaire Lockheart! https://www.instagram.com/klairelockheart

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✅ NEW: Mary Cassatt "Eve Freed Us" tee

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✅ MUSIC FROM THIS EPISODE:

Holinzacc0 - "Yesterday"

https://holiznacc0.bandcamp.com/album/lofi-and-chill

Blear Moon - "Fortitude"

https://blearmoon.bandcamp.com/album/love-in-ruins

Holinzacc0 - "First Snow"

https://holiznacc0.bandcamp.com/album/winter-lo-fi-2

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We highly recommend watching this one if possible as Violeta Parra’s works are so breathtaking and impactful:

➩ ➪ ➩ ➪ https://youtu.be/g0vESB_nKvE

This month, we dive into Violeta Parra’s (1917-1967) multifaceted legacy with her biographer, Ericka Verba.

You can find Ericka’s book, “Thanks to Life” on her website: www.erickaverba.com as well as more Violeta Parra resources.

Violeta’s artistic journey has many parallels to Frida Kahlo’s: both artists began painting while bedridden; drew from their personal experience with the folk arts of their country, Frida in Mexico and Violeta in Chile.

They both lived and worked during a time when their respective countries were at a crossroads and made it their mission to capture the folk culture of their countries:

Frida with a paint brush and Violeta through song, poem, painting and arpilleras (embroidery).

And while most of us have only heard of Frida Kahlo, both artists achieved international fame in their lifetime and their legacies continue to this day.

Violeta Parra became the first Latin American artist (period) to have a solo exhibition at the Louvre in Paris in 1964 at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs.

And more recently, her arpilleras were featured in the 2022 Venice Biennale “Milk of Dreams” which also featured some Art Slice favorites like Leonora Carrington, Remedios Varo and Dorothea Tanning, to name a few.

While she was putting her own twist on this traditional folk medium during her lifetime, arpilleras took on a much different meaning under the brutal, US-backed Pinochet dictatorship several years (1973-1990) after her sudden death (suicide) in 1967:

They became a protest symbol and tool of resistance against the regime for Chilean women, as well as a way for them to grieve their disappeared loved ones.

But before arpilleras, Violeta had become internationally known for her music. When she began her artistic career, she started with painting.

Her paintings explore deep emotions and personal experiences. The planes of color and vague interiors really mind us of Richard Diebenkorn and Florine Stettheimer.

MAGIC MIND helped fuel our noggins during the making of this episode -to give your brain some choice fuel, use ARTSLICEJUNE for 50% off your order HERE:

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WATCH THE EP HERE: https://youtu.be/9Y4po7xiX5o

We’re back with the 2nd dose of our CREATURE DOUBLE FEATURE series, featuring the mysterious 1944 lithograph “Whodunit?” by artist, illustrator, printmaker and children’s book author: Wanda Gág!

We also discuss her work bringing German fairy tale energy to children’s literature in “Millions of Cats” from 1928.

In this episode, we discover Wanda Gag’s life lesson through her winding, warping, wonky, and wobbling images of interiors and landscapes.

Wanda was raised in a Bohemian community of German immigrants in New Ulm, Minnesota, in a house built and designed from scratch in the Queen Anne style by her artist father, Anton Gag.

Wanda’s story really is that of a modern fairytale involving a magical childhood, German Märchen, creative energy, (unfortunately) tragedy, and a coming of age lesson we can all glean from: life is what you make it and despite the forces telling you otherwise, it CAN be full of whimsy and creativity.

Her struggle as a young artist doing commercial work to stay afloat while attending the Art Students League in NYC NYC reminded us a lot of Dorothea Tanning’s story - finding yourself working odd jobs like ‘lamp shading’ for Wanda or serving canapes to men in suits dressed in hula skirt like Dorothea.

The grind is part of being an artist, or really most of us, in the modern world and we found Wanda’s story not only relatable but extremely relevant to our times.

As we learned more about her ethos and way of working, we found that she and Charles Burchfield, another Art Slice fav (ep 12) have SO MUCH in common: their works come from hours of observation of their subjects, beit the mundane indoors or sublime outdoors, and their results complement one another, yin and yang, if you will.

Topics include Howard, non-euclidian fun, Russell’s version of “Kiss the Girl”, dog stables, bedazzled witch boots, and grey soup.

MUSIC:

"FIRE WALK WITH ME" by Kenobit - kenobit.bandcamp.com

Magic Mind helped fuel our noggins during the making of this episode - to give your brain some choice fuel, use ARTSLICE20 for 20-48% off your order!

ᓚᘏᗢ Special thanks to the folks at the Wanda Gag House - click here to learn more ᗢᘏᓗ

Our SCARY releases continue . . . well, RE-RUN in this case.

WATCH HERE: https://youtu.be/hYONIhxxKUQ

In celebration of our new 2025 Creature Double Feature episodes, we went back to the vault and added VISUALS to our Creature Feature episode with Japanese printmaker Hokusai (1760-1849) and Celtic Spook School alum Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh (1864-1933) and their terrifying contributions to spooky art history.

Both works were inspired by female protagonists who were WRONGED: one from ancient Japanese folklore and the other via the imagination of a fascist Italian playwright.

Real talk: this was one of our favorite episodes we recorded years ago! Hope you enjoy it, NEW EPISODE OUT SOON. <3 Russell + Stephanie