Show Notes
Joe Coleman, the legendary artist whose work digs into the darkest corners of the human psyche, joins us in the Crypt to discuss everything from painting serial killers like Carl Panzram, Albert Fish, and Ed Gein, to sharing the secrets of his controversial art. Join us as we delve into the contradictory beauty of the grotesque and the divine.
Joe takes us inside his Odditorium, a personal collection as eerie as his paintings, where he houses macabre artifacts like a painting by John Wayne Gacy, the actual letter Albert Fish sent to Grace Budd's mother, a lock of Charles Manson's hair, and a Christmas card from Ed Gein. These relics serve as a tangible connection, DNA, to the energy that Joe channels into his art.
We explore the paradoxes of life and death that permeate Joe's art, discuss his fascination with the redacted stories of the Bible, the corruption of the soul and flesh, and dive into his experiences selling art to icons like HR Giger, Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Iggy Pop.
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00:00 – Intro
01:10 – Embracing the Dark Side of Humanity Through Paintings
10:31 – The Lighter Subjects of Joe's Paintings, Filming Rest in Pieces, Professor Momboozoo
16:51 – When Joe's Work Got Global Recognition, His First Art Gallery
29:10 – The Darker Subjects of Joe's Paintings: Carl Panzram, Mary Bell, Ed Gein, Albert Fish, Charles Manson, Swift Runner, Conducting Research and Meeting Harold Schechter
37:14 – Identifying with Serial Killers, Giving a Voice to Them. Within every man is the Christ and Anti-Christ. Channelling trauma and rage into art.
45:23 – The Common Theme of Joe's Paintings: Carl Panzram
52:31 – Life is a Prison in Which We Are Sentenced for The Crime of Being Born
59:22 – The Redacted Stories of The Bible, The 'Virgin' Mary's Secret, Jesus Christ's Childhood
01:15:06 – Selling Art to HR Giger, Johnny Depp, Iggy Pop, Leonardo DiCaprio
01:20:42 – TV is a God, Losing Faith in Evil and Death, A Look at Mortality, Performing an Autopsy in Budapest
01:33:15 – Quick Break, Doing Podcasts
01:35:32 – Making Art for Yourself and No One Else
01:37:48 – Death & Searching for a Soul
01:41:03 – The Odditorium
01:46:44 – How Joe Got The Real Letter Albert Fish Wrote
01:52:43 – The Mirror Side of Saint's Relics, Objects Housing the Soul
01:56:27 – "Outsider" Art
01:59:00 – Joe's Belief in the Paranormal & The Commodification of the Word
2:00:51 – Is it better to paint from the scar or the wound?
2:03:52 – A Doorway to Joe
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