7 - Chakura Kineard—talks rebellious art, Public education & the economy as she plans her next move / by Vivian Liddell

Chakura Kineard invites Peachy Keen into her spacious, glitter-filled studio at the Atlanta Contemporary to talk shop. She reflects on her experiences as a woman of color navigating public education in the South, her rebellious tendencies as they relate to art-making, and the job prospects for millennials in a baby-boomer's world. 

We geek out discussing her use of found objects in an art historical context, but keep it real by using the all-knowing eye of Instagram as a touchstone. Kineard shares some hilarious insights on some not-so-hilarious situations—like how to win the racists vs. non-racists "competition"—and educates us on the difference between a "loc" and a "townie" in the Athens scene.

Chakura Kineard & Vivian Liddell

Chakura Kineard & Vivian Liddell

Chakura Kineard Studio, Atlanta Contemporary

Chakura Kineard Studio, Atlanta Contemporary

Chakura Kineard Studio, Atlanta Contemporary

Chakura Kineard Studio, Atlanta Contemporary

Chakura Kineard Studio, Atlanta Contemporary

Chakura Kineard Studio, Atlanta Contemporary

Chakura Kineard Studio, Atlanta Contemporary

Chakura Kineard Studio, Atlanta Contemporary

Related Links:

Chakura Kineard at Atlanta Contemporary, Chakura Kineard Website, ART PARTY 2017

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25 - DONNA MINTZ—REFLECTIONS ON THE SUBLIME THROUGH STORYTELLING AND THE VISUAL ARTS /MAY 11, 2019 Peachy Keen met with artist and writer Donna Mintz ( @donnajmintz ) in the back room of her exhibition at Sandler Hudson Gallery ( @sandlerhudsongallery ) in Atlanta during the recent blackberry winter to talk about her current body of work. We discussed her use of materials to express ideas on memory and place: kaolin gathered from Georgia’s Fall Line recalls an ancient sea, elementary school milk cartons become a practical casting container for gold reliquaries, samples of water taken from North Georgia rivers and streams mark childhood haunts, and found large format negatives capture the gravitas of memory—even if those memories are unknown to us. Mintz gives us a detailed account of her 24 hours at a 1920s homesteaders’ cabin observing Walter De Maria’s masterwork, The Lightening Field, and explains how the concept of the sublime expressed in this work relates to her own art. This is a good episode for you visual folks to bulk up on your literary to-do list because in addition to James Agee (who is featured with De Maria in Mintz’ current book in progress) Mintz references the works of many literary giants including Vladimir Nabakov, Ezra Pound, James Dickey, Lillian Smith, and Joel Chandler Harris. Also discussed: lost-cause mythology, the impermanence of human life, and generational gender roles. Not all serious, we get a little silly with some chat about ASMR and maybe give you something to think about before you go whispering to the person next to you while an author is reading an emotional passage. **Special note: This is Mintz’ very first selfie! 🤓
24 - CHRISTINA RENFER VOGEL—PERCEPTUAL PAINTING AS A CONTEMPORARY CULTURE BOMB /APRIL 23, 2019 Peachy Keen met up with Christina Renfer Vogel ( @christinarenfervogel ) in her Chattanooga studio to talk shop about her painting, teaching and curatorial projects. Originally from Pennsylvania, Vogel has been in Chattanooga for the past 6 years. We discussed her interim time in Nebraska working at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, how she turned her office into an alternative exhibition space and the lingering benefits of going unplugged for a two-week summer residency at the Hambidge center. Although working from life is a very traditional form of painting, Vogel explains how it remains new— energizing and surprising in its ability to slow us down. We talk about her artistic influences, her embrace of the heavy relationship painting has to art history and get some technical insights into her process as she prepares for two upcoming exhibitions. In the spirit of the podcast, we blow up some hierarchies associated with painting beautiful, colorful still lifes. Painting flowers can be its own kind of bomb.
23 - KATIE HARGRAVE & MEREDITH LYNN—DRIVING IDEAS ON PUBLIC SPACE AND THE AMERICAN LANDSCAPE / MARCH 25, 2019 Katie Hargrave ( @katie_hargrave_ ) is an artist and educator in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Meredith Lynn ( @meredithlauralynn ) is an artist and curator based in Tallahassee, Florida. Peachy Keen caught up with them in Chattanooga, where they were meeting up for the weekend to collaborate on a body of work for an upcoming exhibition at the Wiregrass Museum of Art that they first began exploring while at a Signal Fire residency in Oregon. - We talked about the shared interests that inform their collaborative work, including the accessibility and complexity of interactions that happen in public spaces, RV naming conventions, and how they’re both the type of people that go to historical sights and read every word on those ubiquitous markers. They explained how they created a camera obscura out of a van—creeping around campgrounds with windows covered in black vinyl—yet managed to avoid arrest. - We also weighed in on such heady topics as the place of an artist in academia, creating social criticism outside of geographic and political binaries, and the importance of self-reflection and deconstructing narratives.
Have really enjoyed visiting with the arts community in Chattanooga over the past week and recording TWO new episodes! Look for Episode 23 soon with @katie_hargrave_ and @meredithlauralynn 🍑🤓🎤🎧This image is from the beautiful studio of @christinarenfervogel —we met up this morning and had a great time geeking out with some painting talk for episode 24... 💕🎨🎤🎧
Episode 22 is now live! - 🤓🍑🎤🎧🎨🎧🎤🍑🤓- 22 - CORRINA SEPHORA—TURNING MIDNIGHT DREAMS INTO REALITY Artist Corrina Sephora ( @corrinasephora.metalartist ) moved to Atlanta in the mid 90s after receiving her BFA in Sculpture and Metalsmithing from the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston and has stayed on to become an integral player in the Atlanta arts community, establishing a prosperous artistic practice in metal and other media.- - She tells Peachy Keen how she created her own apprenticeship program (looking up blacksmiths in the White Pages and refusing to take no for an answer), how local teachers and benefactors helped set her on the path to manage her own studio, and paints a picture of the gritty but thriving creative scene that was Atlanta in the 90s—when her neighbors included both artists (such as Radcliff Bailey and Danielle Roney) and guys that refurbished Mack trucks. - - We got into some discussion of how gender has and has not affected her trajectory in a career where women have been historically underrepresented, learned the ins and outs of moving a 3000 pound sculpture over a three story house, and covered some of the family backstory and artistic and cultural influences that play into her current exhibition: Between the Deep Blue Sea and the Universe.