Do You Know Who You Are?

“Only by trying on other people’s clothes do we find what size we are.”

-John Lennon, Sky Writing by Word of Mouth and Other Writings

We go through life with only our perspective, witnessing the world through the lens of our own experience. But we can do our utmost to learn about how others see the world, witnessing their truths to the best of our ability in addition to our own. In this way, we begin to reshape how we approach things, perhaps shifting long-held beliefs and learning new ways of thinking. So, while indeed we spend our lives rooted in our own experience, there is no reason to exclude the experiences of others in the vast resources from which we draw to make sense of the world.

Andrew Edlin joined us to discuss his gallery, including a recently-run show titled Unaccompanied Conversation. The idea for the show has been germinating for a long time, beginning with Edlin’s representation of the John Byam estate. Byam was a completely unknown artist who lived in Upstate New York, working in his family’s trailer park. Listen to the complete interview to hear more about this exhibition and outsider art in general.

Mark Yang sat down to talk about his show, Birth, which ran until February 17 at Kasmin Gallery. Yang originally didn’t want a title for the show, finding it difficult to come up with a word that encompasses all the various works he’s made. This title came from the first painting he made for this show. Titled Birth, 2023, the painting was created around the time when Yang himself became a father. To learn more about this show and other aspects of Mark Yang’s work, listen to the complete interview.

Read the summary of this week's interviews and resources.