Mike Kelley

We had the chance to do this museum show towards the end of our career, like, in 2008 and 2009.

We did this massive, uh, show that took over museums in five different countries in Europe, and it was part stuff we had done, like, they exhibited a bunch of our guitars and, uh, you know, artwork that individual members made, but we also had, like, Allen Ginsberg photographs and the Wolf Eyes guys' drawings and crazy, uh, paintings, and there were, like, 50 or 60 different peo- Like, at that point, we were associated with all these artists, so we had, we had Pettibon and Mike Kelley and Gerhard Richter paintings, and, uh, it was this really amazing, massive show.

Dan Graham sculptures, and, uh, so it was kind of a mix of, like, artwork from some of our indie rock friends and then, like, really heavy stuff from, like, really, you know, well-known, uh, artists and, and musicians.

And our whole thing was always, like, bringing more people to the party.

'Cause you guys have always had great covers, but that one definitely just captured the imagination of people in a super unique way.

You never...

I mean, the Mike Kelley images on Dirty also-

Yeah

So anyway, Ben Venom is my guest today.

Uh, if you don't know who he is, he's a San Francisco-based textile artist, and he's got some amazing pieces out there.

His work has been shown in museums globally and, uh, nationally, and he's got some really cool stuff coming up because he is doing a solo exhibition in February of next year, so 2027, and he's working on some collaborations with people.

He's gonna be doing some metalwork and some furniture-making with collaborators, and it's just gonna be so exciting to see what he comes up with.

But anyway, it was really cool to see your work in there.

And, um, well, so you are Ben Venom, if anybody doesn't know.

Um, you are a San Francisco-based textile artist.

Mm-hmm.