EJ Hill on the Challenges of Artistic Visibility

Hosted by Paul Holdengräber, The Quarantine Tapes chronicles shifting paradigms in the age of social distancing. Each day, Paul calls a guest for a brief discussion about how they are experiencing the global pandemic.

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On this very special live episode of The Quarantine Tapes, Paul Holdengräber speaks with artist EJ Hill. This episode is part of a partnership with OXY ARTS. EJ and Paul are in conversation about EJ’s latest exhibition, Wherever we will to root, on view through April 22nd at OXY ARTS.

Recorded live on March 3rd, 2022, EJ and Paul have a deeply reflective conversation about EJ’s art practice. They discuss his reluctance to speak about his work, how his demanding performance work of previous years has affected him, and the challenges of visibility. EJ tells Paul about teaching, learning to play the piano, and how he is trying to take care of himself in this moment.

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EJ Hill is an artist whose practice incorporates painting, writing, installation, and performance as a way to elevate bodies and amplify voices that have long been rendered invisible and inaudible by oppressive social structures. This multifaceted approach often stems from an endurance-based performance practice in which Hill pushes his physical and mental limits as a way to expand the conditions, parameters, and possibilities that determine a body.

Paul Holdengräber is an interviewer and curator of public curiosity. He is the Founder and Director of Onassis LA (OLA), a center for dialogue. Previously he was the Founder and Director of LIVE from the NYPL, a cultural series at the New York Public Library, where he hosted over 600 events, holding conversations with everyone from Patti Smith to Zadie Smith, Ricky Jay to Jay-Z, Errol Morris to Jan Morris, Wes Anderson to Helen Mirren, Christopher Hitchens to Mike Tyson. He is the host of A Phone Call From Paul, a podcast for Literary Hub.