Art

Don Glen Vilet is a painter who recorded experimental, blues-inflected music under under the name Captain Beefheart. Rock historian Ed Ward says that, while Beefheart was never a commercial success, his influence can be heard in everything from pop to heavy metal.

Critic-at-large Laurie Stone reviews the photographer's new exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art. Nixon's photos document the progression of sickness and disease -- including AIDS -- in his subjects. Stone says Nixon's moving work neither sentimentalizes nor intrudes.

Musa Mayer's memoir explores her relationship with her father, painter Philip Guston. Mayer and Guston were close; she says she was his confident. But Mayer didn't really know who he was as a person until she interviewed family members after Gunston's death.

The writer has also worked as a diplomat. Artistically and professionally, he has explored the cultural and political identity of his home country. His new book is about the poet Sor Juana; Paz says her life mirrors his own in several ways.

Erwitt got his start early, shortly after he left the Army. He's worked as a photojournalist and commercial photographer, and takes personal pictures as well. Erwitt's new book is called Personal Exposures.

Critic-at-large Laurie Stone recently saw performance artist Michael Moschen's newest act, Moschen in Motion, which features expert and sometimes improvisatory juggling, as well as homages to abstract expressionist painters. Stone says she was awed by the end.

Michals works as both an artistic and commercial photographer. He says he doesn't believe in the reality of photography, and instead tries to capture the essence of dreams on film. Michals' new book, a collection of portraits, is called Album.

One of Ireland's most recent works is his own house, which he preserved in its present, run-down state. He is interested in how everyday materials and objects convey personal stories and the passage of time.

Critic-at-large Laurie Stone reviews the actor and playwright's latest performance piece, about growing up and a teenage stint in a juvenile home.

Rather than simply include more women artists into the canon, Nochlin believes art critics and historians should rethink the way artistic greatness has been constructed in such a way that has prevented women from achieving a particular model of success. Her new book about this topic is called Women, Art, and Power.

After leaving England, Cale rose to prominence as a storyteller in the same New York scene as Spalding Grey. He has a new book called Redthroats.

The avant-garde artist has a retrospective exhibition at the Whitney Museum in New York City. Growing up, she divided her time between the United States and Japan, before and during World War II. Her marriage to John Lennon made her a celebrity, but overshadowed her own work.

Lasseter began his career as a traditional animator; now he works for the production studio Pixar, founded by Steve Jobs. He joins Fresh Air to talk about the mechanics of computer animation, and how he tries to get audiences to look past the novelty of his approach and focus on the story.

The New York-based Hughes is known for her daring, lesbian-themed work. Critic Laurie Stone reviews her newest piece, about the incestual relationship between a mother and daughter.

Joe Frank produces the long-running program Work in Progress, which features improvised monologues and dramatic conversations about his fears and insecurities. Recently, Frank has been drawing inspiration from in-depth interview with his friends.

Playwright John O'Keefe has a new one-man show called Shimmer, about his adolescence. He joins Fresh Air to perform a short excerpt.

Artist Chris Burden. He gained fame as a conceptual artist in 1971 when he had a friend shoot him in the arm as part of a performance piece at a Santa Ana gallery. Burden's concern with realism (one critic calls it his greatest strength and greatest weakness) is reflected in a touring retrospective of his works, which include sculpture, and also artifacts of his conceptual pieces.

Photographer Larry Sultan. In a photography exhibit now on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, Sultan is represented by work from a project he began in 1983 about his family's history. A key feature of the work, and a feature that appears in all of Sultan's work, is capturing subjects at "off" moments, situations where they least expect, or wish, themselves to be photographed.

Critic-at-Large Laurie Stone reviews the work of the young singer Alva Rogers. Rogers has performed in clubs throughout the New York City area over the last several weeks.

Film Critic Stephen Schiff reviews "Shirley Valentine," the adaptation of the hit Broadway play. The film stars the British actress Pauline Collins, who also starred in the play.