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What’s My Thesis?: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Javier Proenza
Every week, artists teach Javier Proenza.
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- 6 days ago1h 10m
306 Alex Gonzalez: Painting MacArthur Park, Sign Painting & Narrative Art in Los Angeles
In this episode, Javier Proenza speaks with Los Angeles painter and sign painter Alex Gonzalez about the relationship between place, labor, and artistic practice. Drawing from a lifetime spent in the MacArthur Park neighborhood, Gonzalez describes how its density, street life, and changing social landscape have become the foundation of a narrative painting practice built on observation, symbolism, and allegory. The conversation explores the value of professional sign painting as both a craft and a sustainable career, the realities of maintaining an independent studio practice outside the gallery system, and the challenges of balancing artistic ambition with financial stability and family responsibility. Throughout, Gonzalez reflects on the ways everyday experience can be transformed into contemporary painting without losing sight of the community from which it emerges.
- 1 weeks ago57 min
305 Sterling Wells on Plein Air Watercolor, Contemporary Painting, Water Systems & the Art Market
Sterling Wells is a Los Angeles–based painter represented by Night Gallery whose practice combines plein air watercolor with ideas drawn from conceptual art, environmental systems, and site-specific observation. In this conversation, Wells reflects on growing up in St. Petersburg, Florida, studying painting and sculpture, living in New York after the 2008 financial crisis, and developing an interdisciplinary approach through graduate study at ArtCenter College of Design. The discussion examines the role of water as both material and metaphor, the relationship between documentation and painting, and the evolution of Wells' practice from sculptural installations to large-scale outdoor watercolor works. Wells also speaks candidly about gallery representation, artistic community, financial uncertainty, and the practical realities of sustaining a contemporary painting practice while remaining committed to a slow, labor-intensive process.
- 2 weeks ago1h 13m
304 Moon | Chicago, HBCU Education, DMS Atelier, Community Building & Contemporary Art in Los Angeles
Moon is a multidisciplinary artist, educator, art handler, and co-founder of DMS Atelier, an artist-run space in Los Angeles dedicated to exhibitions, artist residencies, and community programming. Originally from Chicago and a graduate of Grambling State University, he discusses the experiences that shaped his path from athletics and hip-hop culture to contemporary art and arts education. The conversation explores artistic practice, teaching, community-building, and the development of DMS Atelier's residency program and community feed initiative. Along the way, Moon reflects on regional identity, the cultural differences between Chicago, Louisiana, and California, and the importance of creating spaces that foster sustained artistic practice, accessibility, and meaningful relationships within contemporary art.
- 3 weeks ago1h 5m
303 Azole Njengele | Photography, Architecture & South African Contemporary Art at Otis College of Art and Design
In this episode, Javier Proenza speaks with South African interdisciplinary artist Azole Njengele, an MFA candidate at Otis College of Art and Design, about the relationship between architecture, drawing, and photography in her evolving practice. Reflecting on her education and professional experience in South Africa before relocating to the United States, Azole discusses how architectural training continues to shape her understanding of space, image-making, and artistic process. Their conversation explores contemporary photography, portraiture, consent and ethics, South Africa's art communities, and the differences between artistic life in Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Los Angeles. They also consider the practical realities of sustaining a creative practice, the opportunities afforded by graduate study, and the role of observation, collaboration, and interdisciplinary thinking in contemporary art.
- Jun 23, 20261h 29m
302 Manny Valdez on Participatory Art, MFA Education, Institutional Critique & the Los Angeles Art World
Interdisciplinary artist Manny Valdez joins What's My Thesis? to discuss his participatory practice, recent projects, and experiences as an MFA graduate from Otis College of Art and Design. Drawing on performance, installation, screen printing, and artist participation, Valdez examines how artists construct identity, navigate institutional structures, and create opportunities within the contemporary Los Angeles art world. The conversation explores the realities of art education, grant applications, rejection, networking, retail labor, and teaching, alongside broader questions about artistic ambition, community, and sustaining a practice outside conventional career pathways. Throughout, Valdez reflects on the value of collaboration, resilience, and creating work that invites dialogue rather than certainty.
- Jun 16, 20261h 20m
301 Ioanna Sakellaraki on Photography, Grief, Archives, Greek Ritual, and Contemporary Art Practice
Javier Proenza speaks with Ioanna Sakellaraki, a Greek visual artist, photographer, and Fulbright Scholar currently conducting research with the Smithsonian, about the development of her interdisciplinary practice across photography, collage, embroidery, and archival work. The conversation examines Sakellaraki’s transition from a career in communications strategy with EU institutions into contemporary art, the influence of personal grief and the discovery of her late father’s archive on her work, and her engagement with Greek mourning traditions, Orthodox ritual, memory, and the unstable boundary between documentary and conceptual image-making.
- Jun 9, 20261h 35m
300 Art World Gatekeeping, Internet Culture, and Creative Survival - Dakota Noot & Christopher Anthony Velasco
For the 300th episode of What’s My Thesis?, Javier Proenza is joined by Los Angeles-based artists and cultural workers Dakota Noot and Christopher Anthony Velasco for an informal conversation shaped by friendship, shared history, and long experience in contemporary art communities. The discussion reflects on public visibility, social media hostility, reputation, and the shifting dynamics of creative life in increasingly online cultural spaces. The episode also examines practical questions of artistic survival, including teaching, freelance writing, collaborative creative work, and the limitations of traditional institutional pathways. Moving between humor and critical reflection, the conversation offers a grounded portrait of how artists build careers, relationships, and parallel forms of legitimacy outside conventional gallery structures.
- Jun 2, 20261h 5m
299 Dave Young Kim — Asian Mythology, Immigrant Narratives, and Curating Contemporary Art in Los Angeles
In this episode, Dave Young Kim, a Los Angeles–based muralist and curator, discusses his recent exhibition at the USC Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena. Developed around the theme of Asian mythical creatures, the project reframes historical material through the structure of the immigrant experience, pairing objects from the museum’s collection with contemporary artworks and newly commissioned pieces. Kim reflects on the research process behind the exhibition, including the cultural specificity of pan-Asian mythologies and their evolution across regions. The conversation also addresses Korean American identity, family migration histories, and the challenges of curating within institutional frameworks, alongside the practical considerations of maintaining a sustainable art practice beyond traditional gallery systems.
About What’s My Thesis?
Every week, artists teach Javier Proenza.
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