Damian Loeb

The painter Damian Loeb describes his work as "suburban, North American scenes mixed with David Lynch surrealism."

MOBY: I came over here to your studio six months ago and it was the first time in all the years that I've known you--and we've been friends since 1988--that I've actually seen you painting.

DAMIAN LOEB: That was the day I couldn't get the elves to come in and do it for me.

M: It really blew me away, just how much effort Is Involved in making one of your paintings. You do everything yourself, and it takes you a month to do each work.

DL: But I feel I'm getting away with murder, because I am able to paint all the time. In the world I grew up in, in Connecticut, people got real jobs--doctor, lawyer, banker. I thought, If I work hard enough, at least I'll get blue-collar wages for what I do.

M: Deep down, I think that no matter how successful we may become, we're always going to feel inadequate. Like we're doing second-rate careers. Maybe that's why we work so hard. Most people view work as something to be endured. It's separate from their real life. Whereas our work is incredibly more intense and vibrant than the rest of our lives.

DL: I have to work twice as hard at what I am good at because it's the only thing I am good at.

M: I get asked the musical version of the following question a lot: Are there any contemporary artists whose work you like?

DL: There are a great deal of filmmakers and cinematographers and musicians and writers and photographers who are doing amazing work. But contemporary artists? I don't know where to start. When I look at most contemporary art, it doesn't satisfy me.

M: Yeah, it's hard to talk about a lot of contemporary art without sounding like a pretentious jerk.

DL: The difficulty there for me is that I'm an artist, but I'd rather watch anything on television than go to most art openings. I've seen some amazing, hysterical commercials recently that have kept my attention for the whole thirty seconds. Whereas, when I'm looking at art, I sometimes have to force myself to look for that long.

M: For your first show at the Mary Boone gallery, the reviews were rather mixed. A lot of the art establishment really wringed you. But what was interesting was that the paintings were also quite expensive and sold out before the show opened its doors.

DL: The press I got before the show may have contributed to that.

M: I just wish that all of the critics who gave you unfavorable reviews could come over and see you painting; they would be humbled. I think that they are used to glamorizing lazy art.

DL: I don't really read art criticism. It's just not a way of talking that I understand. Even with books about artists I love, I prefer to look at the pictures.

M: A lot of people resent you. They see you In the press as this guy who Is tali, attractive, whose paintings sell for a lot of money. But the one thing that should qualify everyone's resentment of you is that deep down you're pathologically insecure and quite unhappy. My friend Alexandra, after one of the first times she and I came over to visit you here, said that you and I were "cool" guys. And I was like: If you only knew. Having grown up In Connecticut, we'll be, as far as I can tell, nervous, insecure adolescents for the rest of our lives.

DL: Maybe that's why whenever I get a break from painting, I just fix up my home and studio, making it my ideal space.

M: You work on your atelier.

DL: My what?

M: Atelier. That would be a good pickup line If you were in a nightclub.

DL: "Would you like to come back to my atelier?"

M: When I do British press, all they ask is: "Who are you sleeping with?" and "What is the strangest sex experience you've ever had?" And since I want to be friends with everyone, I tell them.

DL: So ask me some British-type questions.

M: You're single now, right?

DL: Yes.

M: Assuming that you like girls, as I happen to know that you do--

DL: Women! I like women!

M: What are some of the qualities you find attractive In a woman?

DL: I like someone I don't feel uncomfortable with, with whom there are a minimum of awkward silences.

M: The awkward silence Is the death knell of any relationship.

DL: More British questions.

M: No. I think your work life Is a lot more interesting than your sex life. Your sex life Is pretty average.

DL: [feigns crying]

M: OK, your sex life Isn't average, but it's not anecdotal. You meet nice women who are smart and fairly interesting, and you have affairs with them.

DL: And I teach them to hate me.

M: And then you have sex with them.

DL: And then they really hate me.

M: You Invite them over, ply them with DVDs, then introduce them to your ... penis.

DL: "Hello, I don't believe we've had the pleasure."

M: Moving on. What is your social life like?

DL: I don't know how to have a successful social life, because I've never had a lot of friends. I just like having a few. When I do go out, I'd rather go somewhere and feel genuinely uncomfortable because of a juxtaposition of different worlds.