Museums

Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Stephen Salisbury returns to Fresh Air to discuss the state of proposed legislation affecting the National Endowment of the Arts.

Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Stephan Salisbury discusses the internal reforms that are redefining the mission of the National Endowment for the Arts, including an elimination of smaller grants and a reconsiderations of what topics and images are acceptable. In the long term, such changes may influence facts Congressional action.

Baldessari was a painter, but his recent work incorporates unusual materials like found photographs and video clips. His success has allowed him to resign from a long-running teaching position at CalArts.

Performance artists Karen Finley and Holly Hughes, whose work is often sexual and political in nature, recently had their NEA grants vetoed, despite a recommendation by the organization's peer review board. Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Stephan Salisbury speaks to Fresh Air about the controversy.

A new edition of photographer David Douglas Duncan's 1951 book This is War, which captures images of Marines in Korea, has just been published. Duncan is also known for his several photos of Pablo Picasso.

Artist David Wojnarowicz (voy-nah-ro-vich). His work has twice been the cause of controversy, once, when a political essay accompanying his work caused the NEA to suspend funding to a gallery, and more recently, when a conservative organization excerpted parts of his work to dramatize what it calls pornographic art. Wojnarowicz is now suing that organization for copyright infringement and libel.

Sculptor Duane Hanson. His life-size sculptures look almost real, and are of everyday folks -- tacky tourists, cleaning ladies, blue-collar workers. His first solo-exhibition is currently running at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

A remembrance of master woodworker George Nakashima, who died Friday at age 85. (Rebroadcast of 12/11/1985 interview)

Photographer William P. Gottlieb. In the 40s, Gottlieb learned photography and took hundreds of shots of the jazz greats of the time. Many of those shots are now well known through album covers, books, and posters. 200 of those photos appear in Gottlieb's new book, "The Golden Age of Jazz." It's published by Da Capo Press

Art critic and philosopher Arthur Danto. His latest collection of essays is called "Encounters and Reflections." It's published by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.

Painter Leon Golub and writer Gerald Marzorati. Golub's known for his paintings of torturers and death squads; Marzorati's book asks if works such as Golub's can really change things.

Cartoonist and Animator Bill Plympton. His work combines the humorous and the grotesque. Most recently his "Plymptoons" have been showing on MTV. His award-winning animated cartoons, "25 Ways to Quit Smoking," "How to Kiss," "Your Face," and "Drawing Lesson," have appeared in numerous animated film festivals. Before he took up animation, Plympton's political cartoon strip was syndicated in 25 newspapers. His other illustrations and cartoons have been featured in Harpers, Rolling Stone, Newsweek, The New York Times, and others.

Photographer Jan Staller. His photographs capture the well-traveled outskirts of cities. His subjects are viaducts, tunnels, piers, and subway entrances - the places we pass on the way to somewhere else. He's just published a new collection of such photographs taken around New York over the past ten years, "Frontier New York" published by Hudson Hills Press. In the book's introduction Paul Goldberger writes, "To look at New York through Staller's photographs is to feel that the familiar city has become somehow mystical, ephemeral, almost haunted."

Political cartoonist Pat Oliphant. His jabs at the high and mighty are seen in more than 500 newspapers and numerous collections. Oliphant's depictions of American politics have earned him the anger of presidents and a Pulitzer Prize. The National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC, has just opened an exhibit of 41 of Oliphant's cartoons, as well as his lesser-known sculpture, lithographs, and color work. The exhibit runs through November 25th, then tours nationally.

Animator Paul Fierlinger (FEAR-ling-er). His animated documentary film, "And Then I'll Stop" won the best film award from the International Association of Animators. It's the first animated documentary to explore the issue of alcoholism. (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Soviet-born artists Vitaly Komar and Aleksandr Melamid. The pair are the creators of two huge, multi-paneled works called "Yalta 1945" and "Winter in Moscow 1977." Both works are being shown in America for the first time at the Brooklyn Museum. "Yalta 1945" is made of 31 4x4 foot panels depicting Lenin and the four leaders from the Yalta Conference. "Winter in Moscow 1977" uses 26 panels to show Komar and Melamid's home town shortly before they fled to the West. (The exhibit runs until June 4th).

Underground cartoonist Kim Deitch. In 1967 he began doing comic strips for the "East Village Other" where he introduced his more famous characters, Waldo the Cat, and Uncle Ed, the India Rubber Man. Since then he has contributed to dozens of underground comics.

Critic Laurie Stone comments on a successful little book being sold at bookstore cash registers. It's called "A Kiss is Just a Kiss" and it's a collection of photographs of people kissing. Laurie says the book could have been too sappy, but it's not.

Photographer and adventurer Galen Rowell. Rowell has been called a cross between Sir Edmund Hillary and Ansel Adams. He's made a career out of traveling to the world's wild places and capturing them on film. An accomplished skier and mountaineer, Rowell has made more than 20 trips to the Himalayas and hundreds of climbs throughout the world.

Critic Laurie Stone reviews the latest show by photographer Cindy Sherman. Sherman's known for disguising herself and then featuring herself as the subject of her photos.