Conversations About Art: Guffogg/Tessier (Talk 3) “Proust Questionnaire”

Renowned artist Shane Guffogg and art historian and curator Thierry Tessier go head-to-head completing the Proust Questionnaire.

French novelist, critic, and essayist Marcel Proust created the “Proust Questionnaire” to better understand an individual. The questionnaire is still used by interviewers today.

In this episode, Tessier interviews Guffogg. The questions are direct, and Guffogg’s answers are quite surprising. This method, also used by Proust, is often considered a form of confessional. Just as the listener is surprised by the answers, so is Guffogg. This is the nature of this fascinating questionnaire, from "What is your most treasured possession" and "Who are your heroes in real life" to the probing question: "How would you prefer to die?" This makes for a very entertaining episode.

Other individuals who have answered the 'confessional questioinaire' are Oscar Wilde, Karl Marx, Arthur Conan Doyle, Stéphane Mallarmé, and Paul Cézanne, to name a few. (Wikipedia)

Shane Guffogg is an American artist who examines humanity through the lens of past and present civilizations, viewing time as a thread that connects all people. His work creates a visual language informed by the spiritualism of abstraction and the realism of the old masters. While these two concepts are often seen as separate, Guffogg seamlessly fuses them into works that transcend time, offering insights into our identity in the 21st century. His work is included in the collections of prestigious institutions such as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Fundación/Colección Jumex in Mexico City, The Imperial Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, The Gallery of the Museum Center in Baku, Laguna Art Museum, Long Beach Museum of Art, St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library at the University of Pennsylvania, and the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation in Los Angeles, among others. https://www.shaneguffogg.com

Thierry Tessier is an art historian, curator, lecturer, writer, and fashion expert. After studying at Christie's Education Paris in collaboration with Cambridge University, he worked for two years with fashion designer Paul Smith as a buyer for his private art collection. Upon returning to France, Tessier founded his own expertise company. In 2017, he co-founded Vanities Gallery, a Franco-Chinese art gallery focusing on artists from France and China. In addition to teaching art and fashion history, Tessier organizes various cultural events, including fashion shows, exhibitions, and lectures. https://www.vanitiesgallery.net

Music by Stevie Kincheloe and Steven Dayvid McKellar

Learn more visit: https://www.vcprojects.art/podcast-conversations-about-art