This is our last regularly-scheduled episode for WOWD-LP Takoma Park, although we may, from time to time, present a special unscheduled episode. After almost 150 shows, we decided to take a break and figure out where we’re going from here. In

Vermeer’s Secrets

Oct 23rd, 2022 1h

The National Gallery of Art, in Washington DC, has mounted a small exhibition showing three sublime Vermeer paintings and three false Vermeers. Our episode discusses: what makes Vermeer so good (a little art criticism/theory) the scientific re

Sargent and Spain

Oct 9th, 2022 1h

Sargent, as revealed in Sargent and Spain, the new exhibition at the National Gallery of Art, gives us visions that are full of desire and celebration – both documentary and dreamlike. John Singer Sargent was, in his day, one of the most celebr

Robert Rauschenberg and John Cage

Oct 2nd, 2022 1h

We explore the art of Robert Rauschenberg, the influence of John Cage, and two of Rauschenberg’s paintings, Factum 1 and Factum 2, currently on view at the National Gallery of Art in their current exhibition, Then Double: Identity and Differenc

We are Made hof Stories: Self-Taught Artists at the SAAM

Sep 10th, 2022 1h 4m

Hosts Sheila and Peter Blake visit the outsider/folk/self-taught art exhibit at the Smithsonian American Art Museum: We are Made of Stories: Self-Taught Artists in the Robson Family Collection. This is perhaps our third show on folk art, and ev

The Double

Aug 27th, 2022 1h 2m

Sheila and Peter Blake use the current exhibition, The Double, Identity and Difference in Art Since 1900, at the East Wing of the National Gallery, to explore art over many decades, mixing famous masters with contemporary artists, all creating

American Portraiture Today

Aug 3rd, 2022 1h

Sheila Blake and Peter Blake discuss portraiture as a art form, and the current exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, the finalaists of the Outwin 20221 competition. You can find images of the exhibition works here: https://portraitcompe

New Ways of Being Together: Laurie Anderson and John Cage

Jul 18th, 2022 1h

With insights from our recent episode on postmodernism, we reprise our conversation about the Laurie Anderson exhibit currently at the Hirshhorn Museum of Art in DC. We draw out the connections between Anderson’s work and that of John Cage: ev

Postmodernism

Jul 3rd, 2022 1h

Sheila and Peter Blake discuss postmodernism in the visual arts and architecture: what it is, in plain terms, and how it followed from and differs from modernism. Our facebook pages has pictures of what we’re talking about:

Marsden Hartley

Jun 18th, 2022 1h

We’re posting a lightly edited rebroadcast of last year’s popular program on the American modernist painter, Marsden Hartley. Peter and Sheila are hosts, and take an excursion into discussions of Emerson and Transcedentalism. Pictures of what w

Afro-Atlantic Histories

Jun 4th, 2022 1h

We visit the new exhibit at the National Gallery of Art, Afro-Atlantic Histories, an in-depth look at the historical experiences and cultural formations of Black and African people since the 17th century. More than 130 powerful works of art, in

Learning to Draw

May 22nd, 2022 58m 13s

We examine the practice of learning to draw, the advantages to non-professionals in learning to draw, and some tips.

Gregory Gillespie

May 7th, 2022 1h

Gregory Gillespie (1936-2000) was a major American painter. Sheila was a friend of his, beginning in art school in NYC. Sheila and Tom recollect his life and his art. [LBS id=xx]

The Camera Never Lies

May 2nd, 2022 1h

Sheila, Tom, and Peter discuss the use of photography by painters.

Guarding the Art at the Baltimore Museum of Art

Apr 11th, 2022 59m 30s

The Baltimore Museum of Art has just put up a show curated by the guards. The works repay long observation, as you might expect for the choices of the museum guards, who look at art for long periods of time. Tom, Sheila and Peter visit the ex

Joan Mitchell

Mar 27th, 2022 1h 1m

Joan Mitchell at the Baltimore Museum of Art. Sheila, Tom, and Peter discuss Abstract Expressionism.

Picasso: Painting the Blue Period

Mar 12th, 2022 58m 58s

We visit the new exhibition at the Phillips Collection, in Washington DC: Picasso: Painting the Blue Period. We discuss the transition of Picasso, at the age of nineteen, from painting scenes of the Paris nightlife to the paintings known as t

Picasso: The man and the artist

Feb 26th, 2022 58m 39s

Tom, Sheila, and Peter discuss the dark side of Picasso’s life, and give an introduction to his innovations in art, and how the revelations of Picasso’s treatment of women might influence our understanding of his art. Along the way,we touch on

Legacies of the Harlem Renaissance

Feb 13th, 2022 1h 1m

We discuss several major Black visual artists from before, during, and after the Harlem Renaissance (with a nod to philosopher Alain Locke): Henry Ossawa Tanner, Aaron Douglas, William H. Johnson, Lois Mailou Jones, Charles White, Kerry James M

Charles Ray, Tacita Dean, Jeff Wall, and Vija Celmins at Glenstone

Jan 30th, 2022 1h

Our hosts, Sheila and Tom, with Peter Blake, visit Glenstone, discuss issues in contemporary art brought up by sculptures by Charles Ray, chalk drawings by Tacita Dean, large-scale photographs by Jeff Wall, and drawings by Vija Celmins.

Laurie Anderson

Jan 15th, 2022 1h

After several visits to the Laurie Anderson Exhibit at the Hirschhorn Museum, in Washington DC, Sheila and Peter discuss this avant garde artist and her exhibit. Music by Laurie Anderson and Lou Reed.

Alma Thomas

Jan 5th, 2022 58m 57s

Alma W. Thomas: Everything Is Beautiful is the title of the retrospective of Alma Thomas at the Phillips Collection, in Washington DC. Sheila and Tom respond to her brilliant color-field paintings to explore the topic of color. The exhibit

David Driskell

Dec 20th, 2021 1h

Sheila, Tom, and guest Peter Blake discuss the David Driskell exhibition at the Phillips Collection in Washington DC. Driskell was a painter and the whirlwind center of energy and attention to established and emerging African American artists

The Puppet Lab at Rhizome DC, with Rachel Gates

Dec 12th, 2021 1h

We interview local puppeteer, Rachel Gates.

Juan Gris, Color, and Cubism

Nov 21st, 2021 1h

Sheila and Tom discuss the Spanish painter, Juan Gris, a compatriot, contemporary, and rival of Picasso – on the occasion of a current exhibition of gorgeous cubist paintings by Gris at the Baltimore Museum of Art. Themes include cubism, modern