Dr. Lisa Gives a Sh*t

RIck Prol has a solo exhibition, Empty City up at at James Fuentes Gallery, 55 Delancey St, NYC, through Saturday, March 26, 2022, Prol has been a well-know artist for over 40 years with a consistent practice, His work is beautiful, engaging to look at with a dark spin. I dig into the emotional connection in Prol's life experience to find out where it came from. Rick Prol was a contemporary of all of the famous East Village Artists of that time and Rick articulates well what it felt like to live in the East Village and how genuinely dangerous is was. Also his Dad put A LOT of pressure on him! James Kalm has a great video of the opening of this show. You can see the work and feel the excitement in the room HERE. More about Rick Prol: Born: 1956, New York, NY. Cooper Union, BFA, 1980, also studied at New York Studio School, 1975-76. Currently lives and works in New York City.  Rick Prol started showing his work in 1982, during the heyday of the East Village art scene of the 1980s. The East Village scene embraced the idea of a community of experimental artists living in and thriving off of the grittiness and cultural richness of the area.  Prol quickly became an icon of the era, known for his dark yet vibrant, cartoonish descriptions of fantastical murder and mayhem in the rat-infested urban jungle. Prol's paintings incorporate various styles including Art Brut and Expressionism, laced with various art historical references and laden with sincere depictions of the urban human condition.  In addition to painting, Prol's studio practice includes work in a variety of media such as sculpture, drawing, installation and writing. Prol writes "My work is a form of self portraiture and is a kind of prophesy-voodoo, it is strongly influenced by my surroundings but only as a starting off point. My intent is for a universal message."  Termed as a "Veteran Master of Gothic Angst" by Edward Leffingwell of Art in America, March, 2004, Prol has exhibited widely over the years, as well as curated exhibitions including East Village A.S.U., 2004, at the B-Side Gallery in the East Village, in response to the exhibition East Village U.S.A. at the New Museum, in New York. Recent surveys of his work have been presented at the Ohio State University, Columbus, OH and The Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art, Peekskill, NY. He has presented solo exhibitions with Hal Bromm, B-Side Gallery, Willoughby Sharp, and Andrew Kreps in New York; Barbara Farber in Amsterdam; and Leeahn Gallery in South Korea; and has been included in group exhibitions at Artists Space and PS1, among others. Prol’s work is included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, Guggenheim Museum, Stedelijk Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Hirschhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Holocaust Museum, and Smithsonian Libraries. Follow RIck Prol on Instagram HERE: https://www.instagram.com/rickprol/

I invited Chris Gersbeck to be on the show mostly to chat about the huge career strides he's made in the last 2 years as producer, publicist, and podcaster and founder of DUMB Industries, but I inadvertently roped him into helping me with my own self-esteem issues. I felt much better at the end. But we did manage to squeeze some Chris info in. A great story of how he made DUMB Industries happen. Chris really is a special person—people feel better just being around him, but I can't say exactly why or how—he's just that way. I'm not the only person that feels that way, I'll bet a lot of the famous people he works with would say the same thing. There's too many famous people to list here and he's got plenty of his own following as well. Do your own research! Ok well I'll mention a few he's working with in April— Dave Hill, Frank Coniff, Trace Beaulieu, Mary Jo Pehl but that's it! ALSO you can learn a lot from listening to him talk about his approach to work. Think of it this way—Chris is the product of both parents his mother and father each had successful careers in project management at blue chip companies. Getting shit done well is definitely baked into his nature. So not sure if everyone can try this at home, but you will see what I mean and give it a whirl. More about Chris Gersbeck:  Chris Gersbeck, is a producer, publicist, and podcaster born and raised in Queens, NY. He is sometimes credited as C.S. Gersbeck. He attended college at SUNY Plattsburgh. Chris first became involved in the New York City comedy scene in 2014 as a stand-up comedian, but stepped back from performing in 2018 to focus on producing & promoting live comedy and podcasts under the banner of Dumb Industries. During that time, he began co-producing Open Riff Night with Frank Conniff, a live show where anyone could riff on clips of bad movies at QED in Astoria, Queens. He also produced Movies R Dumb, a live-riffing show that often featured Frank Conniff, and Dave Hill's Podcasting Incident (now known as The Dave Hill Goodtime Hour) along with comedian Dave Hill for the Maximum Fun network. Chris has since gone on to work behind-the-scenes for the podcasts RISK! and Keith and The Girl, as well as the Zoom reunion show for the comedy troupe The State in June 2020. Since July 2020, he has produced and hosted each of The Mads Are Back's monthly livestreams. He is also the producer of The Mary Jo Pehl Show.

Adam is a super talented, upcoming painter with a solo show that opens at Mother Gallery on March 18. More about Adam HERE and HERE. I met Adam Amram when I was spending a month in Beacon NY at my own DIY artist residency. A terrific artist, Adam Amram was nearby in an official residency at a prestigious gallery, Mother, nearby. In this session we dig into the head of Adam and how his childhood experiences—his family moved to the US from Israel when he was 4years old—may have influence on his work. Adam has a very tight relationship with his family and his partner. Dr. Lisa thinks he need to develop more boundaries and with his neighbors. Dr. Lisa is VERY IMPRESSED with this artist's work—very much worth a trip to Beacon for anyone who is curious about what is happening in the contemporary art world.

David Kramer is a very accomplished, original, hilarious artist and a close friend. He has a show opening at the prestigious Freight + Volume Gallery the next day, I've seen the work, so this is a good chance to check in with David about how he feels about his new work and career. I love giving David shit so I dole it out pretty liberally here. We make a connection between his imagery and his parents going out in Manhattan leaving young David behind in the boring suburbs of New Rochelle. Check out/follow David's work on his instagram HERE: https://www.instagram.com/dkramer5000/ View David's current show online at Freight + Volume HERE: VISIT IN PERSON HERE: DAVID KRAMER ...I Am The Boss of Me 39 Lispenard St. February 25 – April 2, 2022 David Kramer ...I'm The Boss of Me February 25th - April 2nd  Opening Reception February 25th 4 -6pm If you want to take a deep Kramer dive, here's the previous episodes: 2015_ 1523_https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/RADIO6413307743.mp3 2016_DLG1642_https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/RADIO3553091892.mp3?updated=1629298932 2018_DLG188_https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/RADIO1908055909.mp3 2019_DLG200_https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/RADIO3640250017.mp3 2020_DLG254_https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/RADIO5166403587.mp3 2019_DLG208_And here's a DLG session with David's son, MARTIN KRAMER when he first went to film school in Montreal: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/RADIO6042795578.mp3

I have been a long time fan of Guy Richards Smit and his work, so I was thrilled when he asked for a therapy session on my show. Guy has a myriad of talents and accomplishments which range from painting to music to comedy to performance. How does he even focus on one thing—or does he really want to? We dig into Guy's childhood and there is a really complex person in there. We discuss his most recent monograph, A Mountain of Skulls (and Not One I Recognize) Available HERE. More about Guy and his work HERE.

I became a HUGE FAN of Tom's work on Insta so I invited him in to meet him and discuss his work. It was unexpected but lovely—he brought his wife Meg. In this session, I got to see the big picture of how Tom, his wife, their relationship and their 9 year old son all come together to help make Tom's work as fabulous as it is. I loved hearing how Tom brought his work to the public and how it was so positively received. His son definitely a big influence. If you struggle with relationships (I do!) there's a lot to learn here. Most importantly check out Tom's work!!! https://www.instagram.com/mancostudio/ https://www.mancostudio.com/ And drop by his BRAND NEW GALLERY and studio: Mancostudio, 199 Ave. B, between 12 + 13 Street.

I take personal pride in Ben Louis's success as I met him 5 years ago when he first started his career in radio at Radio Free Brooklyn. I encouraged Ben as I watched him get his dream career on track at Sirius XFM with hard work, careful planning and tenacity. I got to know Ben and talked him off of a ledge occasionally when he would get frustrated cause I believed in him. You can follow his journey with me by listening to the past 4 years of Ben being my first guest of the year here. This time Ben is exploding with so much great news—a promotion, an apartment, a wonderful relationship! But there are challenges—one in particular that we discuss. As usual Ben doesn't hold back. He's 31 now with adult stuff to deal with. Here's the earlier episodes— Ben Louis: First session DLG1204 - 2018 Ben Lous: 2nd Session, DLG1840 2019 Ben Louis: Third Session - DLG220 2020 Ben Lous: Fourth Session DLG260 2021

EPISODE DESCRIPTION The easiest way to describe what Joseph Keckler makes is music. But that doesn't begin to cover it-the Vice Articles, videos, books and EVERYTHING.. The New York Times declared him a “major vocal talent” who “shatters conventional boundaries. In this session we explore Joseph's creative process and how he handles the press making such a fuss about him. He is very genuine the whole time I am asking him bull-in-a-china-shop questions. I got to meet him because he is the talent for the Art F City Benefit this year and I am helping plan it. LISTEN TO THIS MUSIC - completely unique and undescribable: http://www.josephkeckler.com/

Hnry Flwr's bio reads like this: “My mother gave psychic readings to new friends in new towns all through my childhood, she meditated, we fled a cult, practiced Judaism for a year, and then she became a born again Christian. She was and still is a seeker. At fourteen, I went to a punk show. There I witnessed and felt the drive to save people with music, performance, and experience, the way I was saved as a young adult. At sixteen I left home and have been writing songs and practicing a sort of secular spirituality, where music is the prayer, ever since.” Hnry and We Color Live's Jocelyn Simone come to the studio where Hnry and I go deep into what his experience was like and how it affected him, creatively and otherwise. It seems that Hnry has taken fairly extreme circumstances and put them to great use in his own weird development. More about Hnry Flwr HERE YOU CAN SEE Hnry Flwr LIVE Jan. 29!!! - TICKETS HERE We Color Live PRESENTS: WAITING ROOM OF THE GREAT BEYOND In celebration of HNRY FLWR’s first official release since 2017’s “Brilliant” (GoldFlakePaint) FLOWERAMA EP, We Color Live presents WAITING ROOM OF THE GREAT BEYOND— A carefully curated bill of the top up and coming crooners, JW Francis, Big Bliss and Viktor Longo of New York City to celebrate the release of the “Waiting Room” single. Julia Cumming (Sunflower Bean) will be hosting and DJ-ing throughout the evening. ***Please come dressed to express your highest self

I've interviewed a lot of natural born comedians, but Jim seems to have had no other paths or detours since birth and had been doing his craft and passion for more than 3 decades. Also, Jim had a great story in response to my question about his favorite comedy experience. Jim performed for the troops stationed in a top secret base—so secret—the soldiers families didn't know where they where! http://www.jim-mendrinos.com/ #Comedy #psychotherapy #DrLisa Jim is pictured here with RFB station director, Tom Tenny. From May 20, 2016