Gaurav Kapadia: belief

Transcript context

…Salman Toor — why is he an interesting painter? Salman Toor, for those of you who don’t know, there’re two articles I’d encourage. There’s a New York Times article about his work, and there’s a New Yorker article about his work. Salman, I find both interesting in a general manner and a very specific manner as well. I am very drawn to virtuosity and excellence, and I think he is technically one of the most talented painters ever. He’s incredible. The second thing is, I’m fascinated by his practice. He paints and draws entirely from memory. He does not use a reference image. It’s all in his mind’s eye. He takes this technical virtuosity and puts it on canvas or wood in a way that’s almost mind-boggling. The level of detail, the level of excellence, the level of precision. It’s really refreshing to see someone almost with the technique of an old master’s working on a contemporary work. I think he’s extraordinarily talented in a general artistic manner. I would say, for me, it’s actually also been really meaningful because I’m Indian American. The first work I saw of Salman Toor — he had a series called The Weary Traveler or The Traveler, which was basically about people who look like me going through TSA post-9/11. If any of you have traveled with me through TSA, it’s not the most pleasant experience, or it certainly wasn’t post-9/11. Just seeing the feelings that I often felt on a painting were absolutely crazy to me. Now, there’s something in Jain philosophy that emphasizes the importance of multiple perspectives. Do you think you got any of that from your upbringing?…

Stored transcript either side of the excerpt. The highlighted words are the published quote; the surrounding text is unedited source, never generated.