Join us for Experience Talks Online, exclusive podcast interviews posted on our website. Carrying on the same tradition as our KPFK-FM/Pacifica Network syndicated radio show, the podcasts feature talented, creative people with experience worth talking about. Find our podcasts on the Listen Page of our website. They’ll post on an intermittent basis, so read this blog for updates about new podcasts as well as new Experience Talks radio shows. You can also like Experience Talks on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to get the latest news. ET Online is produced and hosted by John Semper Jr. and Cynthia Friedlob.
Sunday, 11/4: Host John Semper Jr. talks with artist Andre Miripolsky
Part One is posted now! Click here to listen!
Miripolsky – n. 1. World-renowned artist who pushes the limits in many media, creating his own brand of expression in painting, sculpture, mobiles, graphics, sets and costumes; groundbreaking provocateur who marries idioms of art, music, and film; name translated from Russian means “fields of peace.” 2. The Cole Porter of Pop.
Andre Miripolsky’s keen understanding of pop imagery and energy has resulted in collaborations with Elton John (famous Central Park “Piano Key” costume and 1997 stage acts for his “Tonight Show” appearance), Bette Midler (album package/visual design for her worldwide “DeTour”), Quincy Jones, Rolling Stones, Gato Barbieri, Robin Williams, Beastie Boys, Cheap Trick, MTV, and “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno. His work has also been seen on the Absolut Vodka bottle as part of one of the most successful advertising campaigns of all time, featuring famous artists interpreting the brand for the label. UCLA’s center basketball court at Pauley Pavillion got a makeover for MTV when Miripolsky painted a colorful mural on it for MTV’s “Rock and Jock B-Ball Jam.”
More recently, Andre has turned his attention to projects that promote the revitalization of Los Angeles, including a large 3-D wall sculpture depicting his vision of the exploding Downtown L.A. skyline for the Central City Association of L.A. This image, coupled with his phrase “Viva L.A., ” has blossomed to much acclaim and is very well on its way in the branding of the new and improved Downtown L.A. His long-lasting stained glass “L.A. Historama” mural proposal is pending final approval for inclusion in the planned new Convention Center.
He continues to be celebrated in gallery shows and other special projects, including this year’s world-wide installation called “Play Me, I’m Yours,” a public music and art program. Literally hundreds of working pianos were placed in very public areas in major cities throughout the world. The program’s intent is to continue to beautify the world through the arts. The Miripolsky/Hollywood arts piano, decorated in a mosaic of mirror tiles to best reflect the glamour of Hollywood, resided in the forecourt of the Egyptian theatre.
Learn more about the artist’s “Kingdom of Color” at his website.
From Wired Science:
Few people have the opportunity to be as spectacularly generous to the arts as Glorya Kaufman. “Her groundbreaking gift [well over $20 million] for the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance will establish the first new endowment-funded school at the university in 40 years.” Read more 
