Finding the Words cover art

Finding the Words

Finding the Words

Written by: Ken Kinsley
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 Delve into the overlooked and underappreciated artistic genre of text-based art. For centuries people have been using words in creative visual ways, but usually their work is either slotted into other genres or pushed aside completely, despite some of the biggest names in art fitting into this category. During each show we’ll sit down for a talk with an artist who uses words as a major focus in their practice for an in-depth look at where is their work is taking them next, what are the ways that using text helps them get their message across, and what was it that drew them to this style in the first place.Ken Kinsley Art
Episodes
  • Tony Lewis

    Tony Lewis
    Aug 26 2025
    From his breakthrough series "Anthology," which turned Calvin & Hobbes into poetry, to his epic installation pieces that transform William Buckley's arguments from his 1965 Cambridge debate with James Baldwin into graphite-coated strenography, Tony Lewis has carved a unique space for himself in contemporary drawing. Working mainly in graphite, Lewis' practice challenges the conventions of language and functions simultaneously as abstraction, text-based, conceptual, personal, and political, creating one of the more innovative bodies of work in art today. Tony joined me from his studio in Chicago to discuss the recent 4-person show he was a part of, What Drawing Can Be: Four Responses, at the Menil Drawing Institute in Houston, as well as how stenography found its way into his work, and what he had to sacrifice to create his Calvin & Hobbes-based series. Photo: Evan Jenkins https://massimodecarlo.com/artists/tony-lewis https://www.menil.org/exhibition/what-drawing-can-be-four-responses
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    1 hr and 4 mins
  • Michael James Schneider

    Michael James Schneider
    Aug 5 2025
    Michael James Schneider's quotes that promote positive mental health rendered in mylar balloons have become an online sensation. They seem somewhat destined to succeed, but his route to this point was far from assured. A self-taught artist, Michael has gone from retail management to now releasing his second book on August 5th, 2025, with a special book signing happening on Saturday, August 9th at Powell's Books in Portland. We discuss the new book, some of the bad advice he received along the way, and his symbiotic relationship with a very unexpected group of people. Instagram: @blcksmth X: @BLCKSMTHdesign Online store: https://blcksmth.dashery.com/ Powell's book signing event: https://www.powells.com/events/michael-james-schneider-8-9-25 Penguin Books: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/728757/the-writings-on-the-wall-by-michael-james-schneider/
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    59 mins
  • Jesse Duquette

    Jesse Duquette
    Jul 8 2025
    Jesse Duquette has been skewering DJT, and the various boot lickers in his orbit, since day one of the first Trump administration. He started the Daily Don in 2017, by posting one drawing everyday detailing all the lies and buffoonery. His current Instagram account continues that same mission and has been a consistent target for the political right. Jesse is threatened consistently by online trolls and Meta has harassed him with an onslaught of shadow bans, and even removing all of his accounts, along with his 200K+ followers, from all Meta platforms right before the election back in October of 2024. I sat down with Jesse to discuss all of this, as well as the fate of his archive after he was banned by Meta, the current state of political cartooning, and how far is too far for his art. jesseduquette.com jesseduquette.substack.com
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    1 hr and 3 mins
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