Writers as diverse as D.H. Lawrence, Jean Cocteau, and Sylvia Plath have all practiced visual art in addition to writing. Oscillating between the image and the word, what is lost and gained in the process of crossing forms? Two writers who studied fine art at CalArts Bernard Cooper (author of the hilarious and deeply moving new memoir My Avant-Garde Education ) and Benjamin Weissman (author of Headless, which Bret Easton Ellis described as “Brilliant. Wildly inventive, profane and hilarious”) discuss their personal transitions as visual artists to writers now returning to visual art. Poet and essayist Amy Gerstler guides this illustrated discussion among three friends and colleagues who have closely observed each other’s creative shifts and artistic evolution over several decades.
