Visual arts/museums

American artist Roy Lichtenstein. He was one of the inventors of pop art in the 1960's, finding inspiration for his paintings in comic books and advertisements. (More recently, he's found it in the yellow pages of the phone book). Lichtenstein's work often replicates the heavy black outlines, bright colors and dots of a color comic strip found in a newspaper. Called by one critic the "supreme virtuoso of pop", his work is filled with constant references to high and low arts as well as to his own work.

Artist Robert Irwin. He's been a pivotal figure in American Art for over 30 years. He was one of the creators in the late 60s of the "light and space" movement, using unobtrusive objects, such as light, tape, and string to alter the viewers perception of the space in which the work is found. His work can be found in public spaces throughout the country, often using material natural to that environment, and delving into the "character" of the place.

Children's book illustrator Ted Lewin. Lewin paid his way through art school in the 50's as a professional wrestler. His new memoir, "I Was a Teenage Professional Wrestler," (Orchard Books) includes Lewin's paintings of wrestlers. (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

One of the pioneers of the American underground cinema, film maker George Kuchar. He worked in ultra-low budget 8mm, and 16mm filming in and around the Bronx, where he lived, creating works that showed the disparity between the fantasy of Hollywood dreams and everyday reality. Kuchar's films include, "I was a Teenage Rumpot," "Pussy on a Hot Tin Roof," and "Lovers of Eternity." Now Kuchar is now working in a new form, the video diary. The American Museum of the Moving Image is holding a retrospective of his work (Aug. 6 - Sept.

Serrano's 1987 photograph, "Piss Christ," showed the figure of Christ on a cross in a pool of urine. It was one of the controversial art works which provoked a storm from the political-right. His work was denounced on the Senate floor by Senator Jesse Helms, who then began a crusade against the National Endowment for Arts. Serrano has a new exhibit of photographs taken of dead bodies, called "The Morgue."

Former Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the former Editor-in-Chief of "Connoisseur," Thomas Hoving. He's written a new book "Making the Mummies Dance: Inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art." The Met is probably the richest museum in the world, with three million works of art, and artifacts that span 50 centuries. Hoving was with the Met for ten years and has been credited with transforming it from a somber monolith into a friendly and exciting place.

Conservative cartoonist Wayne Stayskal's recents strips have focused on the Democrats, particularly Clinton. His syndicated cartoon appears weekly in the Tampa Tribune.

A Bush apointee, Frohnmayer ran the National Endowment for the Arts from 1989 until last May, when he was asked to resign. Frohnmayer was routinely attacked by the religious right for giving grants to what it deemed "obscene" art. He also angered many who thought he didn't question enough the administration's pandering to the right. Since his resignation, he's become a strong advocate for the First Amendment.

Rivers has a new autobiography, "What Did I Do?" He's known by art historians as "a great figurative painter," "the father of Pop Art," and is recognized as the first American artist to use vulgar objects in an artistic context. Rivers was part of a loosely knit association of poets and painters in New York in the 50's. His book looks back at his work as a jazz saxophonist, his drug use, and his unashamed interest in sexuality.

Children's book author John Scieszka's first book was "The True Story of the Three Little Pigs," a retelling of the classic tale told from the perspective of the big bad wolf. He and illustrator Lane Smith have created several books under their Time Warp Trio editions. The latest is "The Good, The Bad, and the Goofy," a cowboys-and-Indians story written for boys, and "The Stinky Cheeseman and Other Fairly Stupid Tales," written for "hardcore silly kids."