This is a special live episode that was recorded at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, Texas. The event was centered around the museum’s ongoing exhibition titled Trespassers: James Prosek and the Texas Prairie, and the episode features a fascinating on-stage conversation with artist and past podcast guest James Prosek and art curator Spencer Wigmore.
Trespassers is an exhibit about grasslands– specifically, James examines how we think about and define America’s imperiled prairie ecosystem. Over the course of more than two years, James traveled throughout Texas and the Southern Plains, visiting private ranches and urban restoration sites, and he was often accompanied by some of Texas’s most well-renowned grasslands experts. He investigated ideas around how our man-made boundaries and concepts attempt to define grasslands, and how grasslands often do not conform to our desires to control them. He examines ideas around fire, species classification, conservation, and natural history, and the end result is a collection of more than twenty mind-blowing paintings and sculptures.
As the curator for this exhibit, Spencer played a very unique role throughout the entire project– he was the one who initially approached James with the idea, he accompanied James on many of his grasslands road trips, and he even arranged the exhibit in its stunning space within the museum. So I loved learning about the collaboration between artist and curator, how they complimented each other’s personalities, and how they ultimately worked together to bring this spectacular collection of meaningful art into the world.
As you probably remember from my first podcast conversation with James, he’s a deep thinker who has spent his entire career digging into the nuances of our natural world. And Spencer’s depth of understanding of art history and the artistic process– as well as his ability to communicate his knowledge in a fun and engaging way– is second to none. So I know you’ll enjoy this conversation that covers everything from broad, big-picture ideas around the philosophies of defining species, all the way down to the details of how James created such intricate, delicate sculptures. Be sure to check out the episode notes below for a full list of everything we discussed.
The episode starts with a kind introduction from The Carter’s Manager of Adult Programming, Madeleine Fitzgerald and then James, Spencer, and I begin our conversation. I hope you enjoy!
Photos of Trespassers:
All photos courtesy of The Amon Carter Museum of American Art
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RESOURCES:
Topics Discussed:
- 3:00 – Welcome statements
- 10:45 – How the Trespassers exhibition came about in Spencer’s mind, and how it landed for James
- 19:15 – Comparing American grasslands to the Great Pyramids
- 23:45 – James’ painting process
- 29:15 – Spencer’s role as curator
- 34:00 – Discussing the work Fort Worth Composition No. 1
- 37:45 – Discussing James’ interest in silhouettes
- 42:30 – James’ use of bronze to depict burn logs
- 47:00 – James’ clay flowers
- 50:15 – The biggest surprise in this project for Spencer
- 54:00 -What James has learned about grasslands since finishing the project
- 1:01:15 – James’ read on the state of western grasslands conservation
- 1:06:15 – James’ book recommendations
- 1:09:30 – How Spencer sets up the gallery space
- 1:14:00 – Audience questions begin
- 1:14:45 – Spencer’s and James’ relationship to Fort Worth, and whether or not they found remnant prairies there
- 1:20:00 – Where Spencer and James feel the anti-fire bias came from?
- 1:23:30 – Inquiring about the significance of a Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout in one of James’ works
- 1:26:15 – Whether or not James or Spencer did some fly fishing as a part of their research for this project
Information Referenced:
- Amon Carter Museum of American Art
- Spencer Wigmore
- James Prosek
- Trespassers exhibition
- Big Bluestem
- Fire in America by Stephen Pyne
- Heath Hens
- Pliny the Elder
- Prairie Time by Matt White
- Changes in the Land by William Cronon
- Forgotten Fires by Omer C. Stewart
- Jaime Gonzales, when featured in M&P epsisode
- The Big Burn by Timothy Egan
- Trout by James Kersec
Enjoy this episode? Then you might like these too:
- Live from Maxwell Alexander Gallery
- Nick Offerman – Empathy, Nuance, & Good Hard Work
- David James Duncan – Live at the Old Salt Festival
- Live with the Cowboy Artists of America
- Beau Alexander – Paying Homage to the Past, While Focusing on the Future
- Frances Ashforth – Art, Water, and Wide-Open Spaces
- Kelsey Johnson – Chasing Her Artistic Ambitions
Visit the podcast page for a full, searchable list of episodes
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