Fig - Inside the Artists Studio

Self Portrait: Collinsville
2013, Mixed media, 121/2 x 311/2 x 21 inches

Published by
Princeton Architectural Press
37 East Seventh Street
New York, New York 10003

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2015 Princeton Architectural Press
All rights reserved

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission from the publisher, except in the context of reviews.

Every reasonable attempt has been made to identify owners of copyright. Errors or omissions will be corrected in subsequent editions.

Editor: Sara E. Stemen
Designer: Paul Wagner
Design assistance: Mia Johnson

Back cover: Joe Fig, Leonardo Drew: September 24, 2013, 2013.
Mixed media, 27 1/2 x 20 1/4 x 17 1/4 inches.

Special thanks to: Nicola Bednarek Brower, Janet Behning, Erin Cain, Megan Carey, Carina Cha, Andrea Chlad, Tom Cho, Barbara Darko, Benjamin English, Jan Cigliano Hartman, Jan Haux, Stephanie Leke, Diane Levinson, Jennifer Lippert, Jaime Nelson, Rob Shaeffer, Marielle Suba, Kaymar Thomas, Joseph Weston, and Janet Wong of Princeton Architectural Press
Kevin C. Lippert, publisher

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Fig, Joe, 1968
Inside the artists studio / Joe Fig.
pages cm
ISBN 978-1-61689-304-0 (paperback)
ISBN 978-1-61689-468-9 (epub, mobi)

1. Art, American21st century. 2. ArtistsUnited StatesInterviews. 3. Fig, Joe, 1968 4. Artists studios in art. I. Title.
N6512.7.F54 2015
709.2273dc23
2015000441

Image credits
bottom: Courtesy of the Huntington Art Collections, San Marino, California
: Photograph by Ken Heyman, courtesy of Allan Kaprow Estate and Hauser & Wirth
: Collection of John and Ronnie Shore
left: The Barnes Foundation, BF811
right: Museo del Prado / Museo Nacional del Prado / Art Resource, NY

Jonathan T. D. Neil

What was your path to becoming an artist? Was there a moment in your childhood of artistic recognition? How did you get your first gallery show? Is there a correlation between your studio setup and the work you make in that space? These are some of the questions I ask when I go inside an artists studio. This book is in part a follow-up to the success of my 2009 publication Inside the Painters Studio as well as a continuation of a project begun in 2002. Since that time Ive interviewed over one hundred and twenty artists. Inside the Artists Studio focuses on twenty-four artists working in a variety of media: sculpture, video, photography, performance, painting, and/or a combination of all.

My artwork is an investigation into the creative process of the artist and the space where art is made. The resulting paintings and sculptures, which are included in this book, are a type of portraiture, a celebration of the wonders of this process and a revealing look at the real, intimate, and sometimes mundane tasks involved in making art.

The interview is essential to my process, and thats where my work begins. It is the determining factor for whether Im to make a painting or a sculpture of each artists space. Through the questioning I slowly enter the artists world, beginning with their younger selves, following their development up to today. I gain insight into how they go about their day, the content of their current work, and their choreography within the studio space. Ultimately, a portrait evolves.

I am very grateful and indebted to the artists who allow me to visit them, to sit in their studios, and to discuss their personal and professional lives. Their hospitality, generosity, and kindness is always far greater than expected. To share in the experience of a studio visit is a privilege most do not get. My aim, through this book, is to bring you along for the studio visit in the hope that you will find the same inspiration and feel the same sense of awe that I do. Inside the Artists Studio was over three years in the making. It is a historical document, a portrait of the contemporary art world. It is an artwork in itself.

The door of Joe Figs studio

There are many people who have helped bring this project together. I am extremely grateful to Cristin Tierney, whose friendship, humor, guidance, and support have meant more to me than can be expressed. I am honored to include Jonathan T. D. Neils insightful essay as a part of this publication; Im a huge fan. Special thanks to Princeton Architectural Press: Kevin Lippert, Jennifer Lippert, Paul Wagner, and especially Sara Stemen. Thanks to all those at Cristin Tierney Gallery, including Jasper Goodrich, Candace Moeller, Julie Kreinik, William Petroni, and Derrick Foust. My appreciation for the helpful assistance of Donna Fleischer, Raymond Foye, Lauren Haskell, Maria Kucinski, Teresa LoJacono, Ashley Ludwig, Jessica Maliszewski, Andria Morales, and Meaghan Steele. Thanks to Rusty Tilney and my support group in Collinsville, especially the camaraderie of Cary Smith. Thanks to my friends at the Hartford Art School for welcoming me into the community. Special thanks to Joseph Carroll and John and Ronnie Shore. This project was made with the support of Connecticuts Department of Economic and Community Development.

Lastly, this book is dedicated to my wife, Rosie; our children, Charlie and Henry; and our dog, Casey, for their unconditional love, support, encouragement, and companionship.

Jonathan T. D. Neil

Studio. Post-studio. Post-post-studio. Since the early 1990s we have seen a growth in the amount of attentionartistic, critical, academic, curatorialpaid to the idea of the studio and the role it plays in work that visual artists do and make. One need look little further than Joe Figs mature work, which began in 2000 (the same year he began the MFA program at the School of Visual Arts in New York City) and is exemplary of the return to the studio that the rather inelegant adjective post-post-studio has sought to indicate. Primarily through an intricate dialogue between sculpture, photography, and painting, Fig has offered one of the most sustained and intensive engagements with the artists studio and the creative process that happens in it. Fig deals with the artist and the studio, and the artist in the studio (from Matisse to Pollock to Matthew Ritchie to himself) as a problem ofand forrepresentation and mediation.

In 2009 Fig published Inside the Painters Studio with Princeton Architectural Press, an anthology-cum-catalog that gathered images of Figs work alongside responses to a questionnaire that he followed when visiting the contemporary artists who would become his subjects. Inside the Painters Studio begins with an account of Figs first studio visit, itself the genesis of the book. When he began requesting to visit significant contemporary artists, his intention was to get a clearer understanding of the real, day-to-day practicalities of being an artist. Michael Goldberg was the first to accept, as Fig describes: The studio visit was unique in that the artwork was not the main focus of discussion. I was interested in everything else: the making of the artwork, his creative process, the studio setup, his daily routine, and in particular his painting table. I photographed everything. Goldbergs studio on the Bowery had once been Mark Rothkos, and Fig was, understandably, enamorednot just of the space but of Goldbergs many stories of his days as a second-generation abstract expressionist. It was an amazing experience for a young artist just starting out, writes Fig. When I left I wanted to get to my own studio and workexcept I had one great, nagging regret: if only I had recorded our conversation! Hence the questionnaire and a voice recorder on every subsequent visit.