Art

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.

Since 1987, Maya has been performing his one-man show at clubs and performance spaces, mostly around New York. His style of observational humor focuses on his suburbia, current events, and gay politics. Maya came out publicly this year; he believes its important to emphasize his identity in his act to boost representation of gay people in popular culture.

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.

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

The brothers team up to create strips, panels, and movie poster take-offs that appear in Spy Magazine, National Lampoon, and Raw. They are known for their realistic drawings and caustic wit. Their new book is called Warts and All.

Gray has a new piece called Monster in a Box, about the wending process of writing an as-yet unpublished, 1600 page novel, titled Impossible Vacations. He says that his autobiographical writing distances him from his real life, including his experience of pleasure.

O'Keefe, who wrote the performance piece Shimmer, returns to read excerpts from his newest work, VID.

Photographer and video artist Wegman is best known for his portraits of Man Ray, his pet dog. Man Ray has since passed away; Wegman has new dog named Faye Ray. A collection of his work is called William Wegman: Paintings, Drawings, Photographs, Videotapes.

Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Stephan Salisbury talks with Terry about the most recent news regarding the National Endowment for the Arts. The agency has been re-authorized by Congress, but some artists aren't satisfied by its revised provisions.

Parks directed the early black action film, Shaft. His son, who died in 1979, was also a director. The elder Parks began his career as a photographer for Vogue and Life, and documented difficult aspects of the African American experience. He's just written his memoir, "Voices in the Mirror."

The photographer is known for both her freelance work and portraits of famous and ordinary people in her home city. Aperture Press has recently released a new book of her photos.

Misrach has been photographing the American West since the mid-70s. His new collection, "Bravo 20," is a photo essay on a region of the Nevada desert that has been illegally used as a bombing range by the Navy for the past 30 years. He hopes that the site can eventually be turned into a national park.

Magnuson starred in the movies, "Making Mister Right," and "A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon," and on the TV series, "Anything But Love." She's had numerous one woman monologue shows in Manhattan. She joins Fresh Air for an interview, and shares an excerpt of one of her life performances, about groupies following Doors' frontman Jim Morrison.

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews a recent album by singer Shelly Hirsch and keyboardist David Weinstein. Their music draws from a diverse array of styles and traditions. Kevin says Hirsch is one of the most amazing singers in any genre.

Shawn co-starred in and co-wrote the movie, "My Dinner With Andre," and also appeared in "Manhattan," "The Princess Bride," and "Radio Days." Now Shawn is performing a one-man monologue called "The Fever," about a well-to-do man coming to grips with the world's poverty.

Current budgets are proposing massive cuts in the arts funding of many states. We examine this issue with Stephan Salisbury, arts reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer. We'll also have reaction from two officials in Michigan, where the cuts have been especially drastic.

Book critic John Leonard reviews a new Pablo Picasso biography, by the artist's friend John Richardson. The book reveals how Picasso was often cruel to women, deeply apolitical, and overworked.

Stephanie Barron curated of a new exhibit at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art called "Degenerate Art: The Fate of the Avant Garde in Nazi Germany." It recreates an exhibit the Nazis put together in 1937 to show the German public the types of art that they would no longer tolerate.

Documentary filmmaker Ross McElwee and editor Marilyn Levine. He made the film, "Sherman's March," in which he set out to trace William Tecumseh Sherman's march to the sea -- but it really traces his entanglements with Southern women along the way. During the editing of that film, he and Levine fell in love. McElwee's new film, "Something to Do With The Wall," began as a story about the eternal presence of the Berlin Wall, but ended up a story of the wall's breaking down.