Jesse Welles people. With some career advice.

My fall newsletter is out and it's about different notions of the self, and how they intersect with the act of creation. The newsletters go out quarterly and contain thoughts on current art and ideas, and information on recent work in the studio and upcoming events. Please sign up if you enjoy it.

AOC: I think there's two things that are happening at once: One, there absolutely is an unprecedented abuse of power, destruction of norms, erosion of our government and our democracy in order to prop up an authoritarian style of governance However, they are weaker than they look…

Adam Serwer: "The people, it turns out, are far more courageous than their leaders." Read it.

GRANT ALERT The Puffin Foundation funds projects in the arts, generally related to environmental/political concerns. Their applications portal for 2026 grants is open through 21 November. For the 2026 cycle they are accepting applications in fine art, music, and photography. More at the link.

Great evening at @walshpeter.bsky.social opening at IFAC Arts at the Yard on Friday. Superb and thought-provoking work, up until 8 November at 85 Delancey Street on the LES in NYC. Go see! More here: ifacarts.com/show/ifac-ar...

Jamelle Bouie lays it out. The "inevitability" is a facade. This message so important to keep in mind, and it's why I have zero tolerance for doomers on this platform or elsewhere. Keep working, keep connecting, keep pressuring your reps, keep showing up, keep resisting. "Stand up, and say no."

These are brutal poll numbers and this is not an outlier. Underwater on every major issue. Majority of Republicans (!) say country is on wrong track, 75% overall. Very, very weak.

This is what the Supreme Court is empowering.

"Double Vision" (Katalogos 2849) in-progress and final images. Oil on canvas with gold metallic paint on the forms and sprinkled throughout, 3 x 4 feet, 2016. The base is primarily poured liquid color. I did a pair of these. If you would like more info please let me know in the comments!

Watch one thing today: THIS. “Despair is not an option. Giving up is not acceptable.”

Am I fun at dinner parties? Depends if you think hanging out in the other room while I silently peruse the host's bookshelf and pet their dog is fun.

Maybe a landscape - homage to Ryder (Katalogos 3114). From 2022. An experiment perhaps. Essay. Followed the path, ended up here.

Very cool.

My great friend Peter Walsh with a solo show at IFAC in NYC. Opens 18 September and I am so looking forward to seeing it! Also, freight elevators.

Some drawings in pencil and colored pencil. They're all 9x12 in. on lovely Stonehenge Light paper. Drawing is discovery for me. Foraging in the infinite. #contemporaryart #contemporarypainting #abstractart

My department at Hunter College, which combines studio art & art history, has just posted a job listing for an assistant professor of ceramics. Please share widely, thanks! cuny.jobs/new-york-ny/...

Current status: some perplexity. (Sean Caroll's "The Biggest Ideas in the Universe: Space, Time, and Motion." Great starter for nonscientists.)

John Cage. #johncage #contemporarymusic #mobilephonemoire #contemporaryart #yesandagainyes

Photo from a few years ago of our Pippa, looking like a little lupa, in the studio. She may not fully approve of the goings-on.

Quick vid from recent open studio. Paintings are (first) 6 ft x 5 ft and (second) 5 ft x 4 ft, oil on canvas, from my current In Medias Res series. Drawings are studies for paintings in the series. There's some background on the series in my recent newsletter: mailchi.mp/23769d271029...

Jeebus mercy. 38-60. Dropping like a stone and under water in every demographic.

15 states of the painting of Swerve (Katalogos 3026). Painting is 3 x 4 ft., oil on canvas. Worked on this for probably several months on and off. Drop a note in comments below if you are interested in more info.

"While media attention is often focused on actors acquiescing to Trump’s demands, in the streets the popular protest movement continues to push back against the administration with notable persistence over time...2025 so far has seen far more protests than were recorded at this time in 2017."

#johnvonneumann #mathematics #maniac #benjaminlabatut #mobilephonemoire

I love paper as it's a fast surface and easy to mix with drawing. I've put pencils through 2 canvases of late. Not fun. Untitled (Katalogos 2842), 22 x 30 in. Acrylic, metallic acrylic, and pencil on paper, 2015. #contemporaryart #contemporarypainting #abstractpainting

Back to the rack: Another from a group of acrylic paintings on paper with warm colors/ landscape tones/drawing. Untitled (Katalogos 2841), 22 x 30 in. Acrylic, metallic acrylic, and pencil on paper, 2015. #contemporaryart #contemporarypainting #abstractpainting

Back to the rack: From a series of acrylic paintings on paper featuring hot colors and landscape tones, with drawing. Untitled (Katalogos 2840), 22 x 30 in. Acrylic, metallic acrylic, and pencil on paper, 2015. #contemporaryart #contemporarypainting #abstractpainting

Large paintings from Dona Nelson's phenomenal show at Locks Gallery in Philadelphia last year. Dona also had a recent show at Thomas Erben in NYC. Many of the paintings were two-sided, mounted on metal braces in the middle of the gallery. #abstractpainting #contemporaryart #contemporarypainting

Back to the rack. This one is from 2013, untitled (Katalogos 2723), acrylic and pencil on paper, 22 x 30 in.

Can someone please explain in terms an abstract painter can understand how this is not an act of criminal conspiracy?

Advertise your account with a GIF.

I love this so many ways.

@bot.astronomy.blue signup

Can we just have Powell follow him around for real-time fact checks 24/7?

Sen. Wyden: "My investigators also found that several ultra-wealthy Wall Street financiers, including Leon Black, paid Jeffrey Epstein hundreds of millions of dollars. There's a clear paper trail here between Epstein and these guys, and DOJ needs to follow the money to figure out why." Call yr sens

Wow. I did not even know this was possible. Kudos.

You've inherited a movie theater, what's your first double feature? If we're talking this weekend, A Man Escaped (Bresson, 1956) and Not Reconciled (Straub + Huillet, 1965)

Cogent analysis. www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/who-actual...

Jack Whitten show up at MoMA until 2 Aug (3 Aug for members). You want to see this. Went with dear friend ‪@walshpeter.bsky.social‬ and it led to a 3-hr conversation across 2 midtown bars. BTW MoMA has artist membership for $35 but you have to call 888-999-8861. And lets you buy guest tix for $5

This is so smart.

New York Times smear campaign going really well apparently.

Democrats need to hire this person, stat.

I am not super optimistic that the Dem gerontocracy will learn the right lessons from Mamdani’s win but here’s my analysis anyway: newrepublic.com/article/1972...

In 2021, progressives in NYC failed to come together and the result was four years of a disastrous, corrupt Adams administration. In 2025, Lander and Mamdani formed a united front, and the result is that they beat Andrew Cuomo. Give this man his flowers, he put the city above his ego.

Hellgate NYC election live stream www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFqq...