Kysa Johnson's guest appearances

Kysa Johnson

The Conversation Art Podcast

What Artists Listen To : An Art & Music Podcast

Claire Colette

Stef Halmos

Anna Schachte

Joshua Cittarella

Lisa Soto

De Nichols

Tim Schneider

Anne Lindberg

Paolo Cirio

Claire Carter

Matt Gonzalez

Nick Brown

Jeff Weiss

Amy Kisch

Stephen Westfall

OwlTail

Born 1974 in Illinois  Works in Los Angeles    Kysa received her BFA from the Glasgow School of Art in Glasgow, Scotland. She has exhibited at, among other venues, The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Tang Museum, The DeCordova Museum, Dublin Contemporary, The Nicolaysen Museum, The Katonah Museum of Art, The Hudson River Museum, The 2nd Biennial of the Canary Islands, The National Academy of Science, Morgan Lehman Gallery, Von Lintel Gallery, Halsey McKay, and Roebling Hall. She is a NYFA fellow (2003) and Pollock Krasner Grant recipient (2010)   Kysa Johnson’s drawings, paintings and installations explore patterns in nature that exist at the extremes of scale.  Using the shapes of subatomic decay patterns, maps of the universe or the molecular structure of pollutants or of diseases and cures – in short, microscopic or macroscopic “landscapes” – it depicts a physical reality that is invisible to the naked eye. Often these micro patterns are built up to form compositions that relate to them conceptually.    Blur - Tender : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaHrqKKFnSA   Ratatat - 17 years : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be_pWWlf0xA   MIA - Sunshowers : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPd_eFNgzMA   Guided By Voices - Everywhere with Helicopter : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qh02dV0ao-w   Goldfrapp - Happiness : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnHlGONToIc   LCD Soundsystem - Losing My Edge : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUjDMdSwefk   Mogwai - Friend of the Night : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yC_3alnTE9g   Mozart - Number 40 in G Minor, K 550 : I Molto Allegro : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hJf4ZffkoI   Tame Impala - Let it Happen : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFptt7Cargc   Celestial Choir - Stand on the Word (Larry Levin mix) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMRq1Z_WyTc   You can find Kysa'w work and the work of all the other artists involved in this project on www.WhatArtistsListenTo.com. We're also on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. 

Born 1974 in Illinois  Works in Los Angeles  Kysa received her BFA from the Glasgow School of Art in Glasgow, Scotland. She has exhibited at, among other venues, The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Tang Museum, The DeCordova Museum, Dublin Contemporary, The Nicolaysen Museum, The Katonah Museum of Art, The Hudson River Museum, The 2nd Biennial of the Canary Islands, The National Academy of Science, Morgan Lehman Gallery, Von Lintel Gallery, Halsey McKay, and Roebling Hall. She is a NYFA fellow (2003) and Pollock Krasner Grant recipient (2010) Kysa Johnson’s drawings, paintings and installations explore patterns in nature that exist at the extremes of scale.  Using the shapes of subatomic decay patterns, maps of the universe or the molecular structure of pollutants or of diseases and cures – in short, microscopic or macroscopic “landscapes” – it depicts a physical reality that is invisible to the naked eye. Often these micro patterns are built up to form compositions that relate to them conceptually.  Blur - Tender : <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaHrqKKFnSA" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaHrqKKFnSA</a> Ratatat - 17 years : <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be_pWWlf0xA" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be_pWWlf0xA</a> MIA - Sunshowers : <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPd_eFNgzMA" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPd_eFNgzMA</a> Guided By Voices - Everywhere with Helicopter : <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qh02dV0ao-w" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qh02dV0ao-w</a> Goldfrapp - Happiness : <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnHlGONToIc" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnHlGONToIc</a> LCD Soundsystem - Losing My Edge : <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUjDMdSwefk" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUjDMdSwefk</a> Mogwai - Friend of the Night : <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yC_3alnTE9g" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yC_3alnTE9g</a> Mozart - Number 40 in G Minor, K 550 : I Molto Allegro : <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hJf4ZffkoI" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hJf4ZffkoI</a> Tame Impala - Let it Happen : <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFptt7Cargc" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFptt7Cargc</a> Celestial Choir - Stand on the Word (Larry Levin mix) : <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMRq1Z_WyTc" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMRq1Z_WyTc</a> You can find Kysa'w work and the work of all the other artists involved in this project on <a href="http://www.whatartistslistento.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.WhatArtistsListenTo.com</a>. We're also on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

In part 2 of 2, Kysa Johnson talks about: Why she and her family left NYC for Los Angeles, and how she's come to like L.A. after some initial concerns of leaving New York, including hating to drive; how she doesn't drive in L.A., but takes the bus and Lyft (not Uber); the finer points of Lyft surge charging; what she hates about American culture, including its classism and judgement of the poor and worship of the rich (after having lived for several years in Glasgow, which she loved and didn't want to leave but had to because her visa ran out); artists' day jobs, and the perception around them from others in the art world; her own day job working as a designer for Fashion Week shows, which she had to leave behind as a gig when she left New York, and isn't sure what she'll do should she need to her well dry up in L.A.; some reflections, as a former Mormon, that she had on the conversation with ambivalent Mormon Casey Smith; taking the bus, which she insists people are taking, is a great equalizer and finds bus-goers to be very respectful; her time in Glasgow, with its vibrant art and music scene, affording her 2nd hand connections with members of both Franz Ferdinand and Belle &amp; Sebastian; the self-deprecating humor of the Scots (which leads to a brief final (perhaps) analysis of the "P"-word ('practice')), and how she considers she might move back there after her youngest child is in middle school; and she points out that artists are well-suited to be activists, because of their perseverance, stamina and playing the long game.

In part 2 of 2, Kysa Johnson talks about: Why she and her family left NYC for Los Angeles, and how she's come to like L.A. after some initial concerns of leaving New York, including hating to drive; how she doesn't drive in L.A., but takes the bus and Lyft (not Uber); the finer points of Lyft surge charging; what she hates about American culture, including its classism and judgement of the poor and worship of the rich (after having lived for several years in Glasgow, which she loved and didn't want to leave but had to because her visa ran out); artists' day jobs, and the perception around them from others in the art world; her own day job working as a designer for Fashion Week shows, which she had to leave behind as a gig when she left New York, and isn't sure what she'll do should she need to her well dry up in L.A.; some reflections, as a former Mormon, that she had on the conversation with ambivalent Mormon Casey Smith; taking the bus, which she insists people are taking, is a great equalizer and finds bus-goers to be very respectful; her time in Glasgow, with its vibrant art and music scene, affording her 2nd hand connections with members of both Franz Ferdinand and Belle &amp; Sebastian; the self-deprecating humor of the Scots (which leads to a brief final (perhaps) analysis of the "P"-word ('practice')), and how she considers she might move back there after her youngest child is in middle school; and she points out that artists are well-suited to be activists, because of their perseverance, stamina and playing the long game.

Ep. #182: Kysa Johnson, Los Angeles artist and activist,  Part 2 of 2, on artists and their day jobs, why Scotland is better than the States, and more

In Part 1 of 2, Los Angeles artist and activist Kysa Johnson talks about: Her roots in Mormonism, and how its very patriarchal structure led her to rebel, fighting with teachers and eventually, along with her mom and brother, leaving the church; the various platforms and outlets for her activism, and how donating money, signing petitions and watching protest-based movies gave way to attending the initial protest in L.A., the Women's March in Washington, a protest at LAX airport, artist political group meetings, phone calls to congress, and more; how her "being active" was a necessary reaction to the extreme change in the political landscape, and how protests – boots on the ground -- matter because the visibility and solidarity of resistance is a key arm of resistance that lets those in power know that you're angry, and then that you're still angry ; the phone calls she makes as a constituent, which she scripts beforehand since she gets stage fright (and her stage fright in general, which causes her some lost sleep before artist talks, etc.; how after the election (presidential), for a few weeks in the studio everything felt 'ridiculous, pointless and inconsequential,' and  so she pivoted to 'what can I do today' to address the new climate…and the research that she uses for her art translated to her research for political action; her top picks for movies about protest, most notably Selma, Gandhi, and Trumbo, the latter of which is especially appropriate because it's about artists/cultural figures being resisters; her series of 'Terrible Roman Emperors' paintings, echoing the fact that there are certain characteristics of a terrible leader that repeat throughout history; how she feels that visual artists have a niche and a platform to visually communicate information that is digestible in such a way (to the opposition) in order to create a shift; Kysa defines the difference between art that is beautiful (dark, sublime, etc.) and pretty (only for the eyes), and how one of her favorite movies, Amadeus, represents that dichotomy; how one is best served in their activism/actions by picking the thing that they're most interested in addressing, because everyone is wanting to do something different.

In Part 1 of 2, Los Angeles artist and activist <a href="http://www.kysajohnson.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Kysa Johnson</a> talks about: Her roots in Mormonism, and how its very patriarchal structure led her to rebel, fighting with teachers and eventually, along with her mom and brother, leaving the church; the various platforms and outlets for her activism, and how donating money, signing petitions and watching protest-based movies gave way to attending the initial protest in L.A., the Women's March in Washington, a protest at LAX airport, artist political group meetings, phone calls to congress, and more; how her "being active" was a necessary reaction to the extreme change in the political landscape, and how protests – boots on the ground -- matter because the visibility and solidarity of resistance is a key arm of resistance that lets those in power know that you're angry, and then that you're still angry ; the phone calls she makes as a constituent, which she scripts beforehand since she gets stage fright (and her stage fright in general, which causes her some lost sleep before artist talks, etc.; how after the election (presidential), for a few weeks in the studio everything felt 'ridiculous, pointless and inconsequential,' and  so she pivoted to 'what can I do today' to address the new climate…and the research that she uses for her art translated to her research for political action; her top picks for movies about protest, most notably Selma, Gandhi, and Trumbo, the latter of which is especially appropriate because it's about artists/cultural figures being resisters; her series of 'Terrible Roman Emperors' paintings, echoing the fact that there are certain characteristics of a terrible leader that repeat throughout history; how she feels that visual artists have a niche and a platform to visually communicate information that is digestible in such a way (to the opposition) in order to create a shift; Kysa defines the difference between art that is beautiful (dark, sublime, etc.) and pretty (only for the eyes), and how one of her favorite movies, Amadeus, represents that dichotomy; how one is best served in their activism/actions by picking the thing that they're most interested in addressing, because everyone is wanting to do something different.