In this episode, we drop straight into Surrealism—where logic takes a back seat and the subconscious grabs the wheel. If you’ve ever seen a lobster perched on a telephone and thought, “Yep… that tracks,” you already understand the vibe.

Born in the 1920s after World War I, Surrealism wasn’t “random for random’s sake”—it was a rebellion against the idea that reason alone could explain (or prevent) catastrophe. Guided by André Breton’s manifesto and supercharged by Sigmund Freud’s dream theories, Surrealists chased the hidden forces underneath everyday life: desire, fear, memory, obsession—everything we pretend isn’t running the show.

We break down the movement’s signature tactics—automatism, chance-based games like Exquisite Corpse, and juxtaposition—then step into the worlds of three iconic Surrealists: Salvador Dalí, with melting clocks and the famously unsettling Lobster Telephone; René Magritte, quietly sabotaging reality with razor-clean images and mind-bending statements; and Leonora Carrington, expanding Surrealism into myth, transformation, and a symbolic language that refuses to shrink women’s inner worlds into someone else’s fantasy.

Surrealism endures because it tells a truth we don’t love admitting: we’re not as rational as we think. This episode is your invitation to let the weird out—not to escape reality, but to expose what it’s hiding.

“They painted dreams not to escape reality — but to expose it.”

If Surrealism lit a spark, pour another shot with Lattes & Art—where we talk to artists about how the magic actually gets made.

Lattes & Art Podcast

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Stay inspired with new episodes every week! Don’t miss out on deep conversations with artists, curators, and creators exploring the vibrant world of contemporary art.

Connect with Us:

J-Squared Aterlier (J2Atelier)
🌐 Website: J2 Atelier
📸 Instagram: @J2Atelier
James William Moore
🌐 Website: James William Moore
📸 Instagram: @the_jwmartist

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In this Artist Snapshot episode of Art Happens: The Divine Mess of Art History (presented by J-Squared Atelier), host James William Moore traces Jean-Michel Basquiat’s rise from the SAMO© tag on late-1970s Manhattan streets to the early-1980s gallery scene. The episode breaks down how Basquiat “samples” language and imagery—using words, cross-outs, repetition, crowns, skulls, and anatomy—to build paintings that feel like the city itself.

You’ll hear key milestones, including his first New York solo show at Annina Nosei Gallery (March 6–April 1, 1982) and the cultural collision captured by the 1985 New York Times Magazine “New Art, New Money” cover. The episode also highlights Basquiat’s direct engagement with race, power, and policing through “Defacement (The Death of Michael Stewart)” (1983), and reflects on his death in 1988 and how his legacy grew alongside the art market’s obsession with him.

Send us a text

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Follow & Subscribe to Art Happens
Stay inspired with new episodes every week! Don’t miss out on deep conversations with artists, curators, and creators exploring the vibrant world of contemporary art.

Connect with Us:

J-Squared Aterlier (J2Atelier)
🌐 Website: J2 Atelier
📸 Instagram: @J2Atelier
James William Moore
🌐 Website: James William Moore
📸 Instagram: @the_jwmartist

Leave a Review:
Love what you hear? Help us grow by leaving a review on your favorite podcast platform! Your feedback keeps us inspired. 🎙️☕

When the camera arrived in the 1800s, it didn’t just introduce a new gadget — it triggered a full-blown identity crisis for painters. In this episode of Art Happens: The Divine Mess of Art History, host James William Moore digs into the moment photography “kicks the door in,” forcing painting to choose: compete on realism… or reinvent itself.

We’ll travel from the ghostly early daguerreotype to Realism’s unfiltered truth-telling, then into Impressionism’s radical pivot toward light, atmosphere, and the feeling of seeing. The twist? Photography didn’t kill painting — it freed it, cracking open the path to experimentation, abstraction, and the modern art world as we know it.

Final Stroke: When painting met photography, it didn’t die—it evolved.

Presented by J-Squared Atelier. And if you want more creative origin stories, check out Lattes & Art.

Send us a text

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Follow & Subscribe to Art Happens
Stay inspired with new episodes every week! Don’t miss out on deep conversations with artists, curators, and creators exploring the vibrant world of contemporary art.

Connect with Us:

J-Squared Aterlier (J2Atelier)
🌐 Website: J2 Atelier
📸 Instagram: @J2Atelier
James William Moore
🌐 Website: James William Moore
📸 Instagram: @the_jwmartist

Leave a Review:
Love what you hear? Help us grow by leaving a review on your favorite podcast platform! Your feedback keeps us inspired. 🎙️☕