Artist Profile Series 38: Hugo Ball featuring Jonathan Anderson

Hugo Ball was a German sound poet, theatrical performer and mystic. He and his partner Emmy Hennings were the original catalysts of the infamous Dadaist art movement which they started in Zurich, Switzerland around 1916.

What may be surprising to learn is that Hugo Ball was a Catholic and his bizarre forms of art were deeply informed by his theology.

Joining me for this episode is visual artist, writer and art critic Jonathan Anderson. Jonathan writes about Hugo in his book, Modern Art & the Life of A Culture.

Artist Profile Series 27: Salvador Dali

Salvador Dali remains one of the most complex and controversial figures within art history. His artistic mediums range from film-making, design, clothing and jewelry making, writing, even what he called an “erotic cookbook” which featured enticing recipes such as Thousand Year Old Eggs and Toffee with Pine Cones. Over the course of his lifelong career as an artist, he collaborated with other well-known figures such as Alfred Hitchcock, Alice Cooper and Walt Disney.

The common thread linking all of his artistic creations is the surreal and dream-like imagery that bends our perception of reality and presents the world through a lens of absurd, avant-garde and sometimes disturbing distortions. His paintings depict melting clocks, larger than life horses with exaggerated, giraffe-like legs, contorted faces hovering over vast, deserted landscapes, and daisies bursting out of cracked eggs.

S6 E10: Sole to Soul with John Fluevog

John Fluevog is a celebrated Canadian shoe designer known for his witty and unconventional style. Colourful, Art Deco-inspired and inscribed with uplifting messages, his distinctive footwear has graced dance floors and boardrooms alike and are worn by everyone from Alice Cooper to Lady Gaga to nurses, teachers, lawyers, bikers, baristas and someone down your street.

Today, John Fluevog owns 27 stores across North America, Australia and Europe. He lives in Vancouver, sketches new designs every day and he knows he's weird.

In this episode, Stephen travels to Tribeca, New York City to talk with John about his fifty-year legacy of shoemaking and the inspirations behind his work.