Thomas Nozkowski

In this episode, David Humphrey interviews Thomas Nozkowski, the late New York painter who has been written about frequently, but the writers always seem to struggle to describe what he does. Tom discusses his love for soul music, which he heard for the first time when he arrived in New York City in the 1960s. He describes that music as a model for his art-making because it's clearly defined form seems to give freedom to explore ideas. Tom shares three soul songs by Maxine Brown, Baby Washington, and Bettye LaVette, and discusses how his work is an attempt to squeeze emotion into these narrow idioms.  Thomas Nozkowski (b. 1944-2019) is recognized for his richly colored and intimately scaled abstract paintings and drawings that push the limits of visual language. Image: Untitled (9-55), 2016. Courtesy of Pace Gallery.