“I’m not trying to spell out a story. I still think you feel the painting, and the reason you read the mark is because you also feel the mark.”
—Julie Mehretu

Julie Mehretu, our current 100 Artists featured artist, is seen here in her Berlin studio working on the painting Middle Grey (2007–2009), one work in a suite of seven paintings commissioned by the Deutsche Guggenheim as part of the exhibition Julie Mehretu: Grey Area.

This scene is featured in the Art in the Twenty-First Century Season 5 episode, Systems (2009).

WATCH: Julie Mehretu in Systems [available in the U.S. only] | Additional videos

IMAGES: Production stills from the Art in the Twenty-First Century Season 5 episode, Systems, 2009. © Art21, Inc. 2009.

“It was important that people come to value light as we value gold, silver, paintings, objects.”
—James Turrell

New video from the Exclusive series: James Turrell, our current 100 Artists featured artist, describes the values and perceptions of light while revisiting one of his “skyspace” works, Second Meeting (1989).

WATCH: James Turrell: “Second Meeting”

IMAGES: Production stills from the Exclusive film, James Turrell: “Second Meeting”. © Art21, Inc. 2013.

“To have a certain new eight-and-a-half-minute-old light from the sun—to feel it physically, almost as we taste things—this is where you can work with light like that.”
—James Turrell

James Turrell, our current 100 Artists featured artist, discusses his work with Roden Crater, an extinct volcano in Arizona’s Painted Desert that the artist has been transforming into a celestial observatory for nearly forty years.

This scene is featured in the Art in the Twenty-First Century Season 1 episode, Spirituality (2001).

WATCH James Turrell in Spirituality: Preview | Full Segment [available in the U.S. only]

IMAGES: Production stills from the Art in the Twenty-First Century Season 1 episode, Spirituality, 2001. © Art21, Inc. 2001.

“I’m not a minimalist, I’m a maximalist. The more you throw at it, the better.”
—Walton Ford

Walton Ford, our current 100 Artists featured artist, is shown here in 2003 at his studio in Great Barrington, MA. Ford is working on the painting, The Sensorium (2003), inspired by a story that he read about mid-19th century explorer, Sir Richard Burton, and how the explorer kept forty monkeys in his quarters when he was a young British officer.

This scene is featured in the Art in the Twenty-First Century Season 2 episode, Loss & Desire (2003).

WATCH Walton Ford in Humor: Preview | Full Segment [available in the U.S. only]

IMAGES: Production stills from the Art in the Twenty-First Century Season 2 episode, Humor, 2003. © Art21, Inc. 2003.

ARTWORK: Walton Ford, The Sensorium, details, 2003. Watercolor, gouache, pencil and ink on paper; 60 x 119 in. Courtesy of Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York.

This morning, we previewed a pair of Paul McCarthy shows at both of Hauser & Wirth’s New York City locations.

Seen here are highlights from Paul McCarthy: Sculptures, on view at the 18th Street location through June 1, 2013. Included in the show is a recent series of black walnut wood sculptures depicting characters from the tale of Snow White.

IMAGES (clockwise, from top): Paul McCarthy, White Snow, Bookends, 2013. Paul McCarthy, White Snow, Flower Girl, 2012–13. Paul McCarthy, White Snow, Erection, 2012.

This morning, we previewed a pair of Paul McCarthy shows at both of Hauser & Wirth’s New York City locations.

Seen here are highlights from Paul McCarthy: Life Cast, on view at the 69th Street location through July 26, 2013. The ground floor of the exhibition features a series of full-scale platinum silicone life casts—one of the artist (Horizontal, 2012) and four of actress Elyse Poppers (That Girl/T.G. Asleep and three as part of That Girl/T.G. Awake, all 2012–13). The second floor features a pair of multi-channel video installations documenting the process behind That Girl.

IMAGES (clockwise, from top left): Paul McCarthy, That Girl/T.G. Asleep, detail, 2012–2013. Paul McCarthy, That Girl/T.G. Awake, detail, 2012–2013. Paul McCarthy, That Girl/T.G. Drawing Table - Drawing , detail, 2011–2013. Paul McCarthy, Horizontal, detail, 2012.

A roundup of new sculptures by current 100 Artists featured artist, Jeff Koons, from last night’s opening of his solo show, Gazing Ball, at David Zwirner in New York City. Gazing Ball is on view through June 29, 2013.

(via @art21org on Instagram)

“The final strength in really great photographs is that they suggest more than just what they show literally. Photography and poetry both center on metaphor.”
—Robert Adams

Happy birthday today (May 8) to artist Robert Adams.

Seen here is the artist taking photographs in the areas surrounding his northwestern Oregon home and studio. This scene is featured in the Art in the Twenty-First Century Season 4 episode, Ecology (2007).

WATCH: Robert Adams in Ecology [available in the U.S. only] | Additional videos

IMAGES: Production stills from the Art in the Twenty-First Century Season 4 episode, Ecology, 2007. © Art21, Inc. 2007.

“Beauty, which I admit to being in pursuit of, is an extremely suspect word among many in the art world. But I don’t think you can get along without it. It’s the confirmation of meaning in life.”
—Robert Adams

Robert Adams, our current 100 Artists featured artist, is seen here taking photographs in the areas surrounding his northwestern Oregon home and studio. This scene is featured in the Art in the Twenty-First Century Season 4 episode, Ecology (2007).

WATCH: Robert Adams in Ecology [available in the U.S. only] | Additional videos

PHOTOGRAPHS: Kerstin, next to an old-growth stump, Coos County, Oregon (detail, 1999–2003; From the series Turning Back) and Southwest from the South Jetty, Clatsgo County, Oregon (detail, 1990–1995; From the series West From The Columbia). Courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco and Matthew Marks Gallery, New York. © Robert Adams.

IMAGES: Production stills from the Art in the Twenty-First Century Season 4 episode, Ecology, 2007. © Art21, Inc. 2007.

“Generally, we use light—we don’t really pay much attention to light itself. That’s my interest: this fascination with light and how we come to light.”
—James Turrell

Happy birthday today (May 6) to artist James Turrell.

Seen here is the The Light Inside (1999), commissioned by and installed at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. The Light Inside is installed in the underground tunnel that links the museum’s Caroline Wiess Law Building with the Audrey Jones Beck Building.

This scene is featured in the Art in the Twenty-First Century Season 1 episode, Spirituality (2001).

WATCH James Turrell in Spirituality: Preview | Full Segment [available in the U.S. only]

IMAGES: Production stills from the Art in the Twenty-First Century Season 1 episode, Spirituality, 2001. © Art21, Inc. 2001.

“If we forget what used to be, then we’ve lost an ability to really be sensitive to our surroundings.”
—Maya Lin

New video in Exclusive: Maya Lin describes the influence of New York City’s ecological history on her recent body of work, currently on view at The Pace Gallery in New York City.

WATCH: Maya Lin: New York

“It’s all about a play back and forth between inside works and outside works, all trying to capture the landscape.”
—Maya Lin

Maya Lin, our current 100 Artists featured artist, describes the role of “naturally occurring phenomena” in her work, noting an alignment with geology, landscape, and natural earth formations. The artist is seen here working in her Manhattan studio in 2000. This scene is featured in the Art in the Twenty-First Century Season 1 episode, Identity (2001).

WATCH: Maya Lin in Identity [available in the U.S. only] | Additional videos

“My plates are horribly flawed. But of course, it’s the flaws I like. So you pray, ‘Please don’t let me screw it up, but just screw it up a little bit, just enough to make it interesting.’”
—Sally Mann

Happy birthday to Sally Mann, who celebrates a birthday today (May 1).

Seen here is the artist working at her Lexington, Virginia home in 2000, using the wet plate collodion process that she has been practicing since the mid-1990s. This scene is featured in the Art in the Twenty-First Century Season 1 episode, Place (2001).

WATCH Sally Mann in Place: Preview | Full Segment [available in the U.S. only]

IMAGES: Production stills from the Art in the Twenty-First Century Season 1 episode, Place, 2001. © Art21, Inc. 2001.