Seven Questions with Brian Calvin:

1. What is your connection to Los Angeles?

I exist just on the periphery of Los Angeles' gravitational pull.

2. Name a living painter that you admire.

Maureen Gallace, Charles Garabedian, Jane Freilicher, John Wesley, Jim Nutt, Tomma Abts.

3. Name a dead painter that you admire.

Many of my waking hours are spent contemplating painters who were dead before I was born: Giotto, Piero, Fra Angelico, Manet, Cezanne, Bonnard, Vuillard, Matisse, Balthus, Milton Avery, Marsden Hartley, Forrest Bess, Morandi.  And what about Guston, Joe Brainard, Alice Neel, Fairfield Porter, de Kooning, Agnes Martin, Warhol, Christina Ramberg, Roger Brown, CPLY?  But somehow "dead painter" makes me think of more recent deaths (Richard Artschwager, Raoul De Keyser).  And yet, getting back to my initial response to the question, I particularly admire Albert York!

4. How much did you sell your first painting for?

$50

5. Of the paintings you have made, which is your favorite?

That's a terrible question!

6. LACMA, MOCA, Getty, or Hammer?

Getty.

7. Why make paintings?

I have no idea. Channeling David Foster Wallace, to keep my head from exploding.

Interview by T.S.

Brian Calvin studio visit images for Muse Magazine by Douglas Neill.