During the Covid lockdown of 2020, Maryam Eisler, a London-based photographer and author, interviewed 164 of the world’s most influential artists over video calls and photographed them by screenshot. An exhibition of her photographs and video stories from those conversations, organized by Pamela Willoughby, will be on view at LongHouse Reserve in East Hampton from next Thursday through Sept. 1.
The artists interviewed include Marina Abramovic, Ai Weiwei, Francesco Clemente, Rashid Johnson, Marilyn Minter, Shirin Neshat, Maria Qamar, Kenny Scharf, Mickalene Thomas, and Robert Wilson.
Like 21st-century miniatures, says LongHouse, each artist is contained within the frame of a mobile phone, which also affords glimpses into the homes and studios that had become their places of confinement. Ms. Eisler elicits their ideas, philosophies, and survival strategies.
“I very much hope this production provides a tiny ray of light on what and who we are as people and artists,” she says. All the artists have been included in a book, “Confined Artists — Free Spirits: Portraits & Interviews From Lockdown 2020,” published by Struktur Editions.
“As a sanctuary and place of respite during the pandemic, and founded as a place for artist conversations, LongHouse welcomes Maryam Eisler and looks forward to reprising her myriad of conversations from lockdown,” said Carrie Rebora Barratt, LongHouse’s director.
Coinciding with the exhibition, Ms. Eisler will host two artist talks. The first, set for next Thursday at 4 p.m., will be with Ms. Neshat and Ms. Thomas, moderated by the poet Max Blagg. Ms. Eisler will moderate the second conversation, with Eric Fischl, Harper Levine, Joel Mesler, and Sheree Hovsepian, on Aug. 28, also at 4. Tickets for each talk are $35, $25 for members.
In addition to exhibiting internationally, Ms. Eisler is the author and photographer of the books “Searching for Eve in the American West,” “Once Upon a Turquoise Past,” “The Sublime feminine” [sic], “Imagining Tina: A Dialogue With Edward Weston,” “If Only These Walls Could Talk,” and “Voices East London.” She co-produced the 2022 film “Love Infinity: When the Sun Goes Quiet,” a documentary about East London. It was directed by Tim Yip, who won an Oscar for best art direction for “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.”
Ms. Eisler sits on the advisory board of Photo London, an annual photography event. She is a nominator for the Prix Pictet photography prize and a judge for the Louis Roederer Photography Prize for Sustainability.
