

Sound and Vision
Brian Alfred
Brian Alfred sits down with artists and musicians to discuss their process and inspiration in their creative life.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Sep 18, 2025 • 1h 25min
Maria Kreyn
Episode 492 / Maria KreynMaria Kreyn (b.1987) is an American artist known for evocative paintings that merge figuration, abstract geometries, and elemental atmospherics. She studied mathematics and philosophy at the University of Chicago and is self taught in painting. Maria’s work has been featured in Vanity Fair, the Wall Street Journal, The Art Newspaper, The Financial Times, and many others. Maria’s painting ‘Alone Together’ drives the plot of Shonda Rhimes’ ABC television show The Catch; and her Shakespeare Cycle paintings appear on the award-winning show The Crown. Her public works include a collection of 8 monumental paintings based on Shakespeare, commissioned by Andrew Lloyd Webber, now on permanent display in the lobby of London’s historic Theater Royal Drury Lane. Her solo presentation during the 60th International Venice Biennale (2024) was presented by the MoN Art Foundation, staged at St. George’s Church in Venice, Italy.

Sep 11, 2025 • 1h 3min
Peter Funch
Episode 491 / Peter FunchBorn 1974 in Denmark Peter Funch currently lives and works in Paris, France. He lived in New York for 13 years as a photographer. Funch graduated as a Photojournalist from the Danish School of Journalism in 1999 and combines the social commentary with a cinematic style. His still and motion work often combines storytelling with a perceptive social commentary in a cinematic visual language. He is working internationally with exhibitions, books, editorial and advertising clients alike, combining his technical perfection with a touch of his Nordic calmness and dry humour. Worked with international clients like IKEA, Sony, HSBC, Whitney museum. He has published seven monographs, where Babel Tales and 42nd and Vanderbilt, picturing routines and rituals in the public sphere in New York City. Recent exhibitions include Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, DAC, Cph, DK (2025), The Imperfect Atlas, Fotografisk Center, Cph (2024), DK, 42nd And Vanderbilt, Vevey, Swiss (2020), A History of Photography: Daguerreotype to Digital, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, United Kingdom (2018), In 2018, Funch received The Art, Design and Architecture Award of the Year, Dir. Einar Hansen and wife Vera Hansen Foundation for 42nd and Vanderbilt.

Sep 4, 2025 • 57min
David Huffman
Episode 490 / David HuffmanDavid Huffman is a painter who explores identity, memory, and the material implications associated with the Black diasporic experience.(b. 1963, Berkeley, CA) has work in the collections of SFMOMA, San Francisco; LACMA, Los Angeles; Berkeley Art Museum, CA; Studio Museum, Harlem; Minneapolis Institute of Art, MN; Oakland Museum of California; Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA; San José Museum of Art, CA; Denver Art Museum, CO; and the Embassy of the United States of America, Dakar, Senegal, among others. Huffman was the subject of a 2022 solo exhibition at the Museum of the African Diaspora, San Francisco and has been included in recent group exhibitions at the de Young Museum, San Francisco; Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, CA; Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY; and Birmingham Museum of Art, AL. He is the recipient of numerous awards and residencies including the Eureka Fellowship, ARTADIA San Francisco, Palo Alto Public Arts Commission, and the Barclay Simpson Award. He studied at the New York Studio School and received his MFA at California College of the Arts & Crafts, San Francisco. Huffman lives and works in Oakland, CA and teaches at California College of the Arts. David just had a show A Brilliant Blackout at Jessica Silverman in San Francisco, CA that closed September 3rd.

Aug 28, 2025 • 46min
Alexis Rockman
Episode 489 / Alexis RockmanBorn in 1962 in New York, Alexis Rockman has depicted a darkly surreal vision of the collision between civilization and nature – often apocalyptic scenarios on a monumental scale – for over three decades. Notable solo museum exhibitions include “Alexis Rockman: Manifest Destiny” at the Brooklyn Museum (2004), which traveled to several institutions including the Wexner Center for the Arts (2004) and the Rhode Island School of Design (2005). In 2010, the Smithsonian American Art Museum organized “Alexis Rockman: A Fable for Tomorrow,” a major touring survey of his paintings and works on paper. Concurrent with Rockman’s 2013 exhibition at Sperone Westwater, the Drawing Center mounted “Drawings from Life of Pi,” featuring the artist’s collaboration with Ang Lee on the award-winning film Life of Pi. His series of 76 New Mexico Field Drawings was included in “Future Shock” at SITE Santa Fe (2017-18). “Alexis Rockman and Mark Dion: A Journey to Nature’s Underworld” was presented at the Bruce Museum, Greenwich, CT (2023) and traveled to the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art (2024). It will be on view at the Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY until 5 January 2025, and at the Palmer Museum of Art at Penn State from August 30th through December 7th. His work is represented in many museum collections, including the Baltimore Museum of Art; Brooklyn Museum; Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art; Grand Rapids Art Museum; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; New Orleans Museum of Art; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Smithsonian American Art Museum; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; and Whitney Museum of American Art. Rockman’s first solo exhibition with Sperone Westwater, “Evolution,” was presented in 1992. He has had subsequent solo exhibitions at the gallery in 2013, 2018, 2020-21 and 2023. He lives and works in Warren, Connecticut.

Aug 21, 2025 • 1h 2min
Shu Hua Xiong
Episode 488 / Shu Hua Xiong Shu Hua Xiong (b.1994) born in Shanghai, China, currently lives and works in New York. She holds both BFA and MFA from School of Visual Arts in NYC. Her first solo in NY opens on Sep.4, with Island Gallery.

Aug 14, 2025 • 1h 7min
Logan T. Sibrel
Episode 487 / Logan T. Sibrel Logan T. Sibrel (b. 1986; Jasper, Indiana) is a Brooklyn-based painter. He received his BFA from Indiana University in 2009 and his MFA from Parsons the New School for Design in 2011. He has exhibited at Kornfeld Gallery in Berlin, Beers London, Vardan Gallery in Los Angeles, Monti8 in Rome, Eleftheria Tseliou Gallery in Athens, 1969 Gallery and Auxier Kline in New York, and is represented by Galerie Thomas Fuchs in Stuttgart. He has participated in the Palazzo Ventidue Artist Residency in Nardò, Italy, The Palazzo Monti Artist residency in Brescia, and the inaugural Wildfjords Artist Residency in Ísafjörður, Iceland. One of his paintings was used for the cover of Brandon Taylor's The Late Americans, and he illustrated Meg Remy's book Begin by Telling. Aside from visual art, he is 1/2 of the Brooklyn-based band, Sister Pact.upcoming shows:1. Armory with Galerie Thomas Fuchs; September 5-72. Thought Cage (solo) at Auxier Kline in NYC opening September 13th3. Art Athina (fair) with Eleftheria Tseliou Gallery; September 18-224. Intimität: Queere Kunst der Gegenwart (group show) at Kunstmuseum Albstadt in Germany; November 7th - April 12, 2026

Aug 7, 2025 • 51min
Mathew Zefeldt
Episode 486 / Mathew Zefeldt Mathew Zefeldt (b. 1987, California) is Associate Professor of Painting and Drawing at the University of Minnesota. He received his MFA in studio art from UC Davis in 2011 and received his BA in Art at UC Santa Cruz in 2009. He has had solo exhibitions at The Hole, NY; Celaya Brothers, Mexico City; Hair + Nails, Minneapolis; Big Pictures, Los Angeles; 5-50 Gallery, Long Island City; The Soap Factory, Minneapolis; Circuit 12, Dallas; Verge Center for the Arts, Sacramento; Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis; Hap Gallery, Portland; and Santa Monica Museum of Art, Santa Monica. He has exhibited in group exhibitions at Lisa Cooley, NY; The Hole, Los Angeles; Better Go South, Berlin; Night Club, Minneapolis; MOHS Exhibit, Copenhagen; Galerie Fran Reus, Palma de Mallorca; Dreamsong, Minneapolis; Joshua Liner Gallery, NY; Left Field, San Luis Obispo; The Minnesota Museum of American Art, Saint Paul; Akron Art Museum, Ohio; Currier Art Museum, New Hampshire, and The Oklahoma Contemporary, Oklahoma City. In 2022, Zefeldt was an international resident at the Cob x Plop Residency in London, UK, and in 2023 was an artists in residence at the Moosey Residency in Norwich, UK. Mathew has a forthcoming book titled Mathew Zefeldt: Painting Constructed Virtual Worlds, and currently has a solo exhibition titled Reflections at The Hole in New York City.

Jul 31, 2025 • 1h 2min
Estefania Velez Rodriguez
Episode 485 / Estefania Velez RodriguezEstefania Velez Rodriguez is an artist born in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. She received her BFA from the University of South Florida (painting)and her MFA from Brooklyn College (painting).Solo shows: Auxiliary Projects (brooklyn), Praxis Gallery (chelsea), Fordham University (midtown), Other notable shows (group shows): Marc Strauss (Manhattan), Elizabeth Foundation for the arts (manhattan), Field of Play (brooklyn), Below Grand (manhattan), Soil Gallery (seattle), University of Arkansas, Cuntshaus (tampa), Queens College, Norte Maar (brooklyn), Paradise Palace, Praxis Gallery (manhattan), Art Fair Miami (during basel, satellite location fair).She’s participated in residencies at: Hidrante (puerto rico), Ucross (Wyoming), Goldeyhouse (New York), and the Vermont Studio Center. Mural Project with Norte Maar Organization & more. Her work has been covered by:Two Coats of Paint , Brooklyn Rail, Revista Marvin (mexico), Art as Form, Epicenter NYC, Centro Puerto Rico (Hunter college center for puerto rican studies artists spotlight and book cover), I like your work podcast, and Interlocutor magazine. She has taught at:Rutgers University, Pratt Institute, and Montclair State University. She has a current Group Exhibition at Marc Straus Gallery (Lower East side location), "Past Tense / Future Perfect" up until August 8th.

Jul 24, 2025 • 49min
Léni Paquet-Morante
Episode 484 / Léni Paquet-MoranteLéni Paquet-Morante (1962) is an artist based in New Jersey. Motivated by process driven imagery in paint, sculpture, and printmaking projects, her abstractions reconfigure familiar landscape elements, extracted then rearranged in a manner that speaks to the architecture of memory. Born in Canada, Léni is a Hamilton, New Jersey based artist. Recent recognition includes a New Jersey State Council on the Arts Finalist Grant for Painting in 2024; residencies at Vermont Studio Center Residency for Painting in 2024 and Peter’s Valley Visiting Artist Residency for Printmaking in 2023. Recent solo exhibitions include Princeton University Art Museum’s Bainbridge Gallery scheduled for summer of 2025. She earned a BFA in painting from Mason Gross School of Art in1992 and studied bronze casting techniques at the Johnson Atelier Technical Institute of Sculpture from 1984 to1985. Her current show Extract / Abstract, Landscape a& the Architecture of Memory at the Princeton Univeristy Art Museum is up until November 9th.

Jul 17, 2025 • 1h 13min
Steven Cox
Episode 483 / Steven CoxSteven Cox (b. 1986, Aberdeen) is a Scottish artist who lives and works in Edinburgh, Scotland. He holds a BA in Painting from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, University of Dundee, and an MA in Curating and Contemporary Art Theory from the University of Edinburgh.Cox is known for his vibrant abstract oil paintings, which explore materiality and mark-making. Over the past decade, he has developed a distinctive process involving the transfer of thick layers of oil paint onto canvas using plastic sheets. His work is deeply informed by an interest in the built environment, topography, and defaced surfaces, resulting in a visual language that oscillates between colour field painting and abstract expressionism. Cox is represented by Halsey McKay Gallery in New York. He has held numerous solo exhibitions internationally, including at Halsey McKay Gallery and A Hug From The Art World (New York, USA); Galerie Jérôme Pauchant (Paris, France); Annarumma Gallery (Naples, Italy); and Galleri Benoni (Copenhagen, Denmark). He has also exhibited in various international group exhibitions and artist residencies. His work has been featured in publications such as Modern Painters Magazine, ArtNews, ArtInfo, Wall Street International, Copenhagen Contemporary, Art F City, and Dust Magazine.More information: www.stevencox.co.ukInstagram: @studiostevencoxIn addition to his art practice, Steven Cox is the founder of Hunted Projects, a contemporary art gallery and curatorial platform based in Edinburgh. Established in 2011, Hunted Projects fosters unique collaborations with both emerging and established artists. Central to its ethos is a commitment to conducting in-depth interviews that provide insight into each artist’s creative process and conceptual approach. These dialogues often inform the curation of site-specific solo and group exhibitions that amplify the artists’ voices in compelling and innovative ways. More information: www.huntedprojects.comInstagram: @huntedprojects