March 12, 2026

Ep 87: Book Talks: Notes from the Woodshed by Jack Whitten w/ Mandolyn Wilson Rosen

Show Notes

In this new Book Talks episode, Mandolyn Wilson Rosen is back to help me review a new art book: Jack Whitten: Notes From the Woodshed, Edited by Katy Siegel for Hauser & Wirth. Equal parts profound, strident and hilarious, Jack Whitten's (1939-2018) 50 year studio log packs a wallop. And it's meaty at 581 pages, so we had lots to discuss! Stick around to hear some sage advice, inspiring tales of studio experimentation and even some positive affirmations from this incredible painter and sculptor.

Links to shows, videos, articles mentioned:⁠"

Jack Whitten: The Messenger" Exhibition at MOMA 2025⁠

⁠"Jack Whitten: Ready-nows" Two Coats of Paint Blog⁠

⁠⁠Xerox PARC Artist-in-Residence (PAIR) program⁠⁠

⁠Jack Whitten – ‘The Political is in the Work’ by TateShots⁠

⁠Jack Whitten: An Artist's Life | Art21 "Extended Play"⁠

⁠Uncovering Jack Whitten’s mysterious abstractions | HOW TO SEE (MOMA)⁠

Artists mentioned: Willlem DeKooning, Robert Blackburn, Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence, Norman Lewis, Barnett Newman, Franz Kline, Gerhard Richter, Richard Serra, Ron Gorchov, Sol Lewitt, Frank Stella, Caravaggio, Berrisford Boothe, Kerry Downey, Amy Sillman, Jake Berthot

Whitten works mentioned: "The Messenger: For Art Blakey," "Homecoming: For Miles," "Black Monolith 2: Homage to Ralph Ellison, The Invisible Man," "Head IV Lynching," Homage to Malcolm," "King's Wish (Martin Luther's Dream)," "King's Garden," The Slab Paintings, "Asa's Palace," Gray Paintings, Greek Alphabet Paintings, "Dead Reckoning I," "9-11-01," "Apps for Obama," "Nine Fire CDS: For the Fire Spitter (Jane Cortez)," "Zeitgeist Traps (For Michael Goldberg)," "Quantum Wall VIII for Arshile Gorky (My First Love in Painting)," "Crystal Palace: For Jeanne Siegel"

Philosophers Jack loved: Immanuel Kant, Martin Heidegger, Edmund Husserl, Taha Hussein (Egyptian, Arab Renaissance), Friedrich Nietzsche, Slavoj Žižek

Other artist logs:

Day Book by Anne Truitt

The Andy Warhol Diaries Edited by Pat Hackett

Philip Guston: Collected Writings, Lectures and Conversations Edited by Clark Coolidge

Agnes Martin: Painting, Writings, Remembrances Edited by Arne Glimcher

Where to get the book:

Hauser & Wirth , Abe Books, Thrift Books, Ebay, Amazon

Please find Mandolyn Wilson Rosen online here: ⁠⁠mandolynwilsonrosen.com⁠⁠ and IG ⁠⁠@mandolyn_rosen⁠⁠

Thank you, Mandy! Thank you, Peps Listeners!

All music by Soundstripe

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