Museums

Cartoonist Howard Cruse. He draws a comic strip called "Wendel" that follows the life of a young gay man. The strip is a regular feature in the gay and lesbian newsmagazine The Advocate. Recent "Wendel" strips have just been collected in the book Wendel On The Rebound, published by Saint Martin's Press.

Photographer Larry Sultan. In a photography exhibit now on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, Sultan is represented by work from a project he began in 1983 about his family's history. A key feature of the work, and a feature that appears in all of Sultan's work, is capturing subjects at "off" moments, situations where they least expect, or wish, themselves to be photographed.

Artist Chris Burden. He gained fame as a conceptual artist in 1971 when he had a friend shoot him in the arm as part of a performance piece at a Santa Ana gallery. Burden's concern with realism (one critic calls it his greatest strength and greatest weakness) is reflected in a touring retrospective of his works, which include sculpture, and also artifacts of his conceptual pieces.

Callahan was paralyzed in a drunk driving accident. Since then, he's become comic strip artist whose irreverent cartoons focus on the experiences of the disabled. Callahan's new memoir is called Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot.

Spiegelman edits the underground comics magazine Raw. He is best known for graphic novel Maus, about his father's experiences in Nazi concentration camps, which was widely celebrated. Raw recently featured a new chapters in that story.

The Canada-based Rybczynski sought to build a shed, but ended up designing a house for himself. He details the design and construction of his home in a new book, The Most Beautiful House in the World.

Lasseter began his career as a traditional animator; now he works for the production studio Pixar, founded by Steve Jobs. He joins Fresh Air to talk about the mechanics of computer animation, and how he tries to get audiences to look past the novelty of his approach and focus on the story.

The avant-garde artist has a retrospective exhibition at the Whitney Museum in New York City. Growing up, she divided her time between the United States and Japan, before and during World War II. Her marriage to John Lennon made her a celebrity, but overshadowed her own work.

Rather than simply include more women artists into the canon, Nochlin believes art critics and historians should rethink the way artistic greatness has been constructed in such a way that has prevented women from achieving a particular model of success. Her new book about this topic is called Women, Art, and Power.

Photographer Robert Adams documents the changing landscapes of the West. He says development in the region is slowly but surely overtaking the natural environment.

Roger Black is a graphic designer who recently revamped the look of Newsweek magazine -- he even changed the logo. Black joins Fresh Air to explain how good layout can highlight text and enhance the reading experience.

One of Ireland's most recent works is his own house, which he preserved in its present, run-down state. He is interested in how everyday materials and objects convey personal stories and the passage of time.

Wilkinson says she is one of three women cartoonists on the national scene. She works for the Philadelphia Daily News and contributes to Ms. Magazines. Wilkinson joins Fresh Air to discuss the efficacy of her work, and the legal and editorial risks involved with her trade.

Michals works as both an artistic and commercial photographer. He says he doesn't believe in the reality of photography, and instead tries to capture the essence of dreams on film. Michals' new book, a collection of portraits, is called Album.

Erwitt got his start early, shortly after he left the Army. He's worked as a photojournalist and commercial photographer, and takes personal pictures as well. Erwitt's new book is called Personal Exposures.

Critic-at-large Laurie Stone explores the work of the AIDS activist organization ACT UP, and the artist collective associated with them, Grand Fury. In light of the recent rise of inaccurate and hateful messages about people with the disease, Grand Fury launched a street art campaign throughout New York City to educate the public.

New Yorker art writer Calvin Tompkins looks at the state of the art world. He says there has been a rise in corporate-owned collections, which often exclude more provocative or sexually-themed works.

Cruikshank's newest work, Face Like a Frog, is now playing at film festivals. It features a soundtrack by composer Danny Elfman. She joins Fresh Air to talk about some of her earlier works, and what it takes to make a career in cartoons.

Musa Mayer's memoir explores her relationship with her father, painter Philip Guston. Mayer and Guston were close; she says she was his confident. But Mayer didn't really know who he was as a person until she interviewed family members after Gunston's death.

Critic-at-large Laurie Stone reviews the photographer's new exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art. Nixon's photos document the progression of sickness and disease -- including AIDS -- in his subjects. Stone says Nixon's moving work neither sentimentalizes nor intrudes.