Interviews From Yale Radio / Artists, Curators And More

Photography by Balarama Heller Aaron Gilbert (b. 1979, Altoona, PA) lives and works between New York and Los Angeles. Gilbert received a BFA in painting from Yale University in 2005 followed by a MFA in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in 2008. Gilbert also holds an Associate of Science in Mechanical Engineering Technology from Penn State University (2000). Gilbert’s work has been exhibited with Sant’Andrea de Scaphis, Rome; PPOW Gallery, New York; Chris Sharp Gallery, Los Angeles; Lyles & King, New York; and Deitch Projects, New York. Gilbert’s work is in major public collections including the Whitney Museum of American Art, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Hammer Museum, Studio Museum in Harlem, Columbus Museum of Art, High Museum, and RISD Museum. Aaron Gilbert has also been the recipient of many awards including the Colene Brown Art Prize in 2022, Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Grant in 2015, and was named the 2010 “Young American Painter of Distinction” by the American Academy of Arts an

Rei Xiao was born in Istanbul, Turkey, and earned her BFA at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts, with additional study at Central Saint Martins at the University of Arts, London, United Kingdom. She has exhibited her works in shows in Istanbul, London, Boston, and New York City and has held artist residencies at ChaNorth, Vermont Studio Center, and The Macedonia Institute. Her first solo exhibition, "The Flea and the Acrobat," was shown in Fragment Gallery in 2025. She is also a recipient of the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant and a finalist for the Bennett Prize. CYCLONE V10 ABSOLUTE, 2024 Oil on linen 24 x 42 in | 60 x 106 cm IT WAS DARK INSIDE THE WOLF, 2022 Oil on canvas 48 x 60 in | 121 x 152 cm BALL AND CHAIN, 2022 Oil on canvas 28 x 36 in | 71 x 91 cm

At first glance, Mung'ora's work offers glimpses into everyday life in Nairobi, capturing moments ranging from bustling cityscapes to intimate portraits.Yet, upon deeper reflection, Mung'ora's canvases reveal a profound commentary on the fragmentation of urban landscapes, where physical and socialboundaries delineate diverse experiences from street to street. Through meticulously layered compositions, Mung'ora intertwines historical referenceswith modern-day scenes, highlighting the enduring imprints of past lives while emphasizing the disparities inherent in Nairobi's evolving environments. Mung’ora is a member of Brush Tu, a Nairobi-based artists’ collective, and has exhibited widely including: A Tapestry of Contemporary Africa, MoCaL.I., New York (2024); Common Ground, NCAI, Nairobi (2023); African Identities, AKKA Project, Venice (2022); Walking the Edge, Afriart Gallery,Kampala (2022); 1-54 Contemporary Art Fair, New York (2022); Fragments, Antoine Dupin, Rennes (2022); A Gathering of Small Fires, Montag

Graham Marks produces exuberant, coil-built ceramics adorned with vibrant glazes, which combine functionalism with visual delight. Of late, Marks has embraced loose, sinuous forms from which coils of clay spill in dynamic and improvisatory compositions. His candelabras and flower vases contain a wild energy all their own, full of brash, linear abandon. In their merging of pattern and embellishment, they recall the intricate crafts of eighteenth-century France, bringing rococo flourishes to the timeless theme of utilitarian vessels. Marks taught ceramics at Kansas State University, Rochester Institute of Technology, and the Cranbrook Academy of Art, where he was Head of Ceramics from 1986 to 1992. His work has been exhibited internationally and collected privately; it is held by numerous public institutions including the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Yale University Art Gallery, Detroit Institute of Art, the Everson Museum, the Museum of Art and Design, the Cranbrook Museum of Art, the Stedelijk Museum, the Herm

Adam Erlbaum received a BA in Mathematics from The Colorado College in 2002.  He has attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the University of the Arts, and the MFA program at the Vermont College of the Fine Arts. Erlbaum has exhibited in Philadelphia, Aspen, South Carolina, and St. Louis.  He paints at The Mill Studios in Philadelphia. Adam Erlbaum "Yellow Alleys," 2024 Oil on canvas. 24 × 30 × 2 1/2 in. Adam Erlbaum "Blue Break Vertical," 2024 Oil on canvas. 30 × 24 × 2 1/2 in. Adam Erlbaum "Yellow Over Blue," 2024 Oil on canvas. 30 × 24 × 2 1/2 in.  

Emil Lukas Infinite Edge 6 February – 15 March 2025 New York, NY – 9 January 2025: Sperone Westwater is pleased to present new work by Emil Lukas. His fifth solo exhibition at the gallery is comprised of paintings and works on paper utilizing materials which have characterized his practice: thread, acrylic, ink and larvae. Lukas’ circular thread paintings, Fuse and In Wave (each 60 inches in diameter) combine an actively painted reflector behind an accumulation of thread. The artist’s new series of lattice paintings, including Glass in Moving Water, explores what happens when we process two complementary paintings at the same time. The artist creates an underpainting on the canvas, then layers a second composition on a raised pattern of dots. The combined acrylic-on-canvas works engage the viewers’ position and distance in the surrounding architecture of the gallery. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1964, Emil Lukas has exhibited throughout the United States and abroad. Solo museum shows include “Emil

Stephanie H. Shih in the studio, Brooklyn, NY, 2025. Photo: Robert Bredvad Stephanie H. Shih (b. 1986, Philadelphia, PA) renders outdated consumer goods as trompe l’oeil sculptures that reveal the tensions within American domestic life. Turning everyday items—a Thighmaster, a self-help book, many pantries’ worth of condiments—into intricately painted ceramic objects transforms each into a permanent artifact. Seen together, the works play with notions of timelessness and obsolescence, nostalgia and disillusionment. Shih has exhibited work at James Cohan, New York, NY; Jeffrey Deitch, Los Angeles, CA; Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA; Alexander Berggruen, New York, NY; Cantor Arts Center, Stanford, CA; Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA; Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA; Bradbury Art Museum, Jonesboro, AR; and the American Museum of Ceramic Arts, Pomona, CA. The artist has also been the recipient of numerous awards and residencies including the NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow

David Humphrey has maintained a forty-year commitment to making formally inventive, psycho-socially engaged paintings. Over this time he has  continued to transform images from the public realm into imaginative hybrids of the social and eccentrically individual, the historic and vividly contemporary. His work celebrates the peculiar nesting within the familiar.  Mixing various representational schema with improvisational abstraction, he tells stories of vexed intimacy, political/ socio reality, and imaginative projections crashing into the real. David Humphrey (b. 1955) has been the subject of 44 solo exhibitions including McKee Gallery, NY; Sikkema Jenkins, NY; Fredric Snitzer Gallery, Miami; and Contemporary Art Center, Cincinnati. His work is in the collections of several museums and public collections including Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston as well as the Saatchi Gallery, London. He is currently teaching

Amy Stober (b. 1994, New Jersey) lives and works in New York. Recent solo exhibitions include PAGE (NYC), New York (2024); A.D. NYC, New York (2022); and Springsteen Gallery, Baltimore (2021). Recent group exhibitions include Hesse Flatow, New York (2024); ensemble, New York (2024); Brunette Coleman, London (2023); Mickey, Chicago (2023); Chapter NY, New York (2022); T293, Rome (2022); Mickey, Chicago (2022); and Chris Andrews, Montreal (2022). Amy Stober, Good Luck Charm, 2024 Cast polyurethane and metallic pigments, 8.5 x 8.5 x 17 inches 21.6 x 21.6 x 43.2 cm. Courtesy of the artist and PAGE (NYC). Amy Stober, I

Irina Lotarevich’s (*1991, lives and works in Vienna, Austria) sculptural practice is shaped by the intersection of her own subjective experience with larger systems. The minimal yet complex and specific forms of her sculptures reference architecture, bureaucracy, labor, language, and parts of her body, as well as the production and circulation conditions of the material itself. Lotarevich was born in Rybinsk, Russia in 1991 and immigrated to New York City as a child. She studied at Cornell University, Hunter College, and the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. She currently teaches metalworking at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. Solo and duo exhibitions include: Settings, Silke Lindner, New York City (2025); Modular Woman, SOPHIE TAPPEINER, Vienna (2023), Refinery, SOPHIE TAPPEINER, Vienna (2020); Galvanic Couple, FUTURA Centre for Contemporary Art, Prague, Pensive State a two-person show with Anna Schachinger, SOPHIE TAPPEINER, Vienna (2019); Schemas, Kevin Space, Vienna (2017). Recently, her work has be

Tess Bilhartz grew up in Dallas, Texas and currently lives and works in New York City where she teaches art at Borough of Manhattan Community College - CUNY. Recent solo exhibitions include  ‘What on Earth’ at Below Grand (2020) and ‘Follow Me Down’ at Rubber Factory (2022), which was reviewed in the Brooklyn Rail and BOMB magazine. Her work has also been exhibited at Embajada, San Juan, PR, Primary, Miami, FL, and Island, New York, NY. Residencies include the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (2017), and the Sharpe Walentas Space Program (2013). Tess Bilhartz, Green, 2024 Oil on canvas 30 x 52 in 76.2 x 132.1 cm Tess Bilhartz, Pink Flash, 2024 Oil on canvas 30 x 52 in 76.2 x 132.1 cm Tess Bilhartz, Spin, 2024 Oil on canvas 30 x 52 in 76.2 x 132.1 cm

Taher Asad Bakhtiari (Iranian, b. 1982)  Tribal Weave Project offers a contemporary distillation of the kilim flatweaves and densely-knotted gabbeh rugs that have long defined Iran’s cultural traditions. Asad-Bakhtiari’s tapestries are often built around large-scale triangular patterning and crossed by striated bars and lines—minimalist forms which interrupt the logic of warp and weft with jagged diagonals and vivid abstractions. They recall shimmering landforms, lines of motion, and the iconography of nomadic handicrafts, while also nodding to the simple geometries of mid-century avant-garde design and craft movement like those at Black Mountain College. Woven from hand-spun and naturally-dyed wool with the occasional inclusion of contemporary materials, these lace-like works seek to spur new creative wrinkles within a craft tradition dating back centuries. While Asad-Bakhtiari’s textiles honor his namesake heritage in the nomadic Bakhtiari Lur tribe and are realized in concert with today’s artisan weavers,

Marcelle Reinecke in the studio, 2024 Marcelle Reinecke (b. 1989, New Orleans, LA) received an MFA from The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA), Philadelphia, PA and a BFA from Marywood University, Scranton, PA. Reinecke also completed studies at the Studio Arts College International, Florence, Italy and was a Resident Artist at the Royal Drawing School, Dumfries House Trust, Cumnock, Scotland, U.K. Recent exhibitions include Monya Rowe Gallery, NY; Steven Harvey Fine Art Projects, NY; Margot Samel, NY; and Ruffed Grouse Gallery, Narrowsburg, NY. Reinecke lives and works in Philadelphia, PA, and is represented by Monya Rowe Gallery, NY. MARCELLE REINECKE,  Offset Hook, 2024 acrylic and flashe on panel,  30 by 24 inches Courtesy of Monya Rowe Gallery, NY MARCELLE REINECKE,  Meet In The Kitchen, 2024 acrylic and flashe on panel, 36 by 48 inches Courtesy of Monya Rowe Gallery, NY MARCELLE REINECKE,  In The Pines, 2024 acrylic and flashe on panel 24 by 30 inches Courtesy of Monya Rowe Gallery, NY

Leo Frontini , Photo by Scott MacDonough Leo Frontini (b. 2000, Cleveland, OH) has found painting to be an escape from reality while also bringing him closer to the world, relationships, and himself. His practice combines his complicated exploration of the subconscious mind and emotional tumult with an exhaustive knowledge of human anatomy, oil painting techniques, and draftsmanship that is unique in its range of influence. Exploring his work is like embarking on a journey that engages both the senses and intellect. His paintings are often accompanied by evocative poetry, an instrumental part of his practice in exploring the hidden allegories of his work. Frontinis’ compositions hold the viewer in captivation and contemplation—a kindling of transcendence. Leo Frontini received a BFA from Otis College of Art and Design (2023), studying great masters of the past in between frequent Life Drawing sessions. Frontini was raised in a creative household. In the solitariness of quarantine, Frontini began an intensiv

Antonia Caicedo Holguín photographed by Imogen Forte. Antonia Caicedo Holguín (b. 1997 in Colombia) is deeply influenced by her hometown of Cali, Colombia, from the people who inhabit the city to the vibrant salsa music and dance culture of the region. By exploring everyday life, memory, and imagination, Caicedo Holguín chronicles her life, friends, and family. “A key component of my practice is the playfulness of writing narratives. The characters I build hold the charm, depth, and presence of literary protagonists.” Drawing inspiration from contemporary painters like Paula Rego and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, as well as old masters like Degas and Manet, her work often depicts fleeting moments of intimacy and moments of solitude. Often the subjects of Caicedo Holguín’s paintings seem to be in a state of introspection, or lost in reverie. She works with a variety of materials, including oil paint and unconventional materials like coffee grounds, coffee dyes, natural Latin American pigments, and found objects. Ca

Ana Gonzalez, Photo byJuan Moore Ana González’s artistic practice celebrates the landscapes of her native Colombia and her partnerships with the indigenous communities dedicated to their preservation. Her work serves as a vibrant tribute to the sensory richness and cultural significance of these environments whilst highlighting their crucial role in historic ecosystems. Her oeuvre bridges multiple disciplines, including painting, photography, and sculpture. In her work González references to the 18th-century naturalist Alexander von Humboldt and his exploration of the interconnectedness of all living systems. Her Devastations series features textiles onto which the artist prints photographs of Colombia’s vulnerable environments which she then partially unravels by hand. The works preserve these spaces as sites of power, abundance, and renewal while referencing the slow disappearance of ancient ecologies. González has worked closely with Colombian Indigenous communities, leading social and humanitaria

Benjamin Bertocci has been living and working in N.Y.C. since 2005. He was raised in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, attended Bard College at Simon’s Rock, UMASS Amherst, and Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville. He now works out of his studio in Long Island City Queens, and lives with his small family in nearby Astoria.   Philosopher VII; Abomination Parent Transfixed Between Planes, Frozen, Destroyed (Fiscally Appreciative Parasitoid) 14”x11” Oil on Panel. The Last Beasts in the Sky Still Need to Play, Oil on Panel, 16”x20”. Promession III, oil on plastic entombed canvas 12” x 12” 2022.

Matthew Leifheit, Photo by Shala Miller Matthew Leifheit is an American photographer, magazine editor, and professor based in Brooklyn, New York. A graduate of Rhode Island School of Design and the Yale School of Art, Leifheit is Editor-in-Chief of MATTE Magazine, the journal of emerging photography he has published since 2010. Leifheit's photographs have appeared in publications such as The New York Times, The New Yorker, Aperture, TIME, and Artforum, and have been exhibited internationally. His work has been supported by residencies at the Corporation of Yaddo and The Watermill Center, receiving grants from the New York State Cultural Council and the Fund for Lesbian and Gay Studies at Yale, where he was awarded the Richard Benson Prize in 2017. He is currently full-time faculty at Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston. Gay Archive was presented at Union College Crowell and West Galleries and at Massachusetts College of Art and Design's Brant Gallery in the fall of 2024. "Matthew Leifheit: Gay

Mark van Yetter (b. 1978) lives and works in the Poconos, PA. Van Yetter co-founded exhibition space Marquise Dance Hall (2007-2015), which started as a book and record store in New York, before transitioning to an itinerant gallery in Istanbul. Current and previous solo exhibitions include Plunderbund Charity, Ebensperger, Berlin, GE (2022); Damn View, Ebensperger Rhomberg, Berlin, GE (2019); False Friends... and Six Bottles, Kunsthalle St. Gallen, St. Gallen, CH (2019); Drawings 2005 - 2018: 20 Propositions at Salzburger Kunstverein, Salzburg, AT (2018); You can observe a lot by just watching, Bridget Donahue, New York, US (2018); We are what we walk between, Micky Schubert, Berlin, DE (2016); The Terrifying Abyss of Skepticism, Bridget Donahue, New York, US (2016); The mere knowledge of a fact is pale, Kunsthall Stavanger, Stavanger, NO (2016); Relentless Compassion, VI, VII, Oslo, NO (2015). Selected group exhibitions include Catechism, Bridget Donahue, New York, US (2022); Freedom & Independence, Ebensp

Gretchen Scherer  (b. 1979, Indianapolis, IN) received a MFA from Hunter College, NY and a BFA from The University of Illinois at Chicago, IL. Scherer has been awarded residencies at Skowhegan School of Sculpture and Painting, ME and Vermont Studio Center, VT. Recent exhibitions include Richard Heller Gallery, LA; Patricia Low Gallery, Gstaad,Switzerland; Gowen Contemporary, Geneva, Switzerland; Taymour Grahne, London; and Monya Rowe Gallery, NY. Scherer’s work was highlighted in Harper’s Bazaar Latin Art Issue in “Artists to Follow in 2022”, and in New York Magazine by Jerry Saltz in “The Best Art Shows of 2021”. Scherer’s work was recently profiled in the Spring 2024 issue of Juxtapoz magazine (“Gretchen Scherer: If Rooms Could Talk”). Her work is also included in “New Surrealism: The Uncanny in Contemporary Painting” by Robert Zeller, published by Monacelli Press (2024), an imprint of Phaidon. The artist lives and works in West Creek, NJ and Brooklyn, NY. GRETCHEN SCHERER Sir John Soane's Museum, Drawing