Ep. 68-Reflection & Action—my conversation with Brett Cook

Interdisciplinary artist Brett Cook's current exhibit, at The Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, is profound. In this episode, we talk about the history of some of the installations, including the stunning self-portrait that greets visitors as they enter. Brett explains in detail why and how the show, a collaboration with choreographer Liz Lerman, came to be what it is—the relationships built through interviews with family members of portrait subjects, the deliberate audience engagement. To be an artist in the world, he says, means creating time and space for contemplation and opening oneself to others' experiences. Join us.Cook has received numerous awards, including the Lehman Brady Visiting Professorship at Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the Richard C. Diebenkorn Fellowship at the San Francisco Art Institute. Recognized for a history of socially relevant, community engaged projects, he was selected as a cultural ambassador to Nigeria as part of the U.S. Department of State’s 2012 smARTpower Initiative and an inaugural A Blade of Grass Fellow for Socially Engaged Art in 2014. Cook’s work has been featured in private and public collections including the Smithsonian/National Portrait Gallery, the Walker Art Center, and Harvard University.About the exhibit-At first glance, visual artist Brett Cook and choreographer Liz Lerman are an unlikely match. Although divergent in presentation and aesthetic, both have spent their careers guided by an intuitive desire to forge new paths, reshape their respective fields, and encourage the exploration of artistry as a catalyst for enacting change. This exhibition is the culmination of Cook and Lerman’s three-year residency as senior fellows at YBCA, focusing on centering artists as leaders inside the organization and in the communities they serve. Their pairing asks the public to consider the role of an artist within an institution—and in the public sphere—as urgent and responsive.https://www.brett-cook.comhttps://ybca.org