Rufus Tureen is a New York-based interdisciplinary artist whose work spans painting, performance, and time-based media. Drawing from experimental theater, trance practices, and visual art, he creates psychologically charged works that explore altered states, symbolic systems, and perception. Tureen’s work has been exhibited and performed internationally, including with Essex Flowers Gallery in New York. He earned his BA in Art Semiotics from Brown University and an MFA in Painting from Hunter College (CUNY). Recent highlights include a presentation at NADA New York 2025.

During this conversation, we talk about:

Marlon Brando, Stella Adler, and Sanford Meisner
Acting experience and impulses
The relationship between acting and painting
Trusting yourself
Folk art and lack of self-consciousness
Confidence vs ego
Comedy vs seriousness
Performance art
Zen painting and calligraphy
Doing less
Paul Dano vs Adam Driver
Artists and personas
His various characters including The Olde Man and The Lizard

And much, much more!

Links:

The Lizard
https://vimeo.com/255604287

The Olde Man
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/EoS3gbeYZaU

Rufus’s Acting Reel
https://vimeo.com/1085090372

Ningbo China TV Spot
https://vimeo.com/943339239

One-Eyed Jack’s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFtFvRGMzCs

Alan Watts - Zen in a Painting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOmpXAn1_cs