EN VIVO PORTRAITS

A podcast by international contemporary artist Cruz Ortiz.

These are raw recordings combining oral history documentation and live portrait painting sessions. This is an attempt to present not just the visual representation of badass people but also the audio fireside chats that happen between the sitter and the artist. These conversations offer folks a unique opportunity to engage into what goes on in an artist’s studio while painting a portrait using direct observation. Hopefully the presentation of the portrait process helps us become even more curious in how we view art works from Art History.

Most of these of recording sessions take place in my studio. My studio is located in an old train station deep the heart of an old spanish colonial historic district located on the Southside San Antonio, Texas. At times throughout these sittings an occasional visitor, the shuffling of studio assistants, my neighbors Roy or Luis, and even a loud blaring train might disrupt the recording. But these are not interruptions but the sounds of a real artist studio in Texas. The portrait sittings usually take up to 2 hours.