A brush with...

A brush with... Somaya Critchlow


Listen Later

Somaya Critchlow talks to Ben Luke about her influences—from writers to musicians, film-makers and, of course, other artists—and the cultural experiences that have shaped her life and work. Critchlow, born in London in 1993, makes paintings and drawings of Black women, often nude, that are rooted in the present and yet draw on a wealth of imagery from the recent and distant past. The women are fictional but can be informed by anything from self-portraits and other life studies to images from pop culture and depictions of women in the history of art. They engage frankly with what it means to represent the female body and with power relations: between the artist and her subject, between the subject and the viewer, and ultimately between Critchlow and us. Depending on your perspective, her art offers different degrees of delight and discomfort. But her balance of fine drawing, a time-honoured approach to paint and colour, and arresting imagery means that her work is endlessly intriguing. She discusses the breakthrough moment where she realised that she was her own first model, being “comfortable with feeling uncomfortable”, the influence on her of Angela Carter’s response to the Marquis de Sade, her engagement with a wealth of visual artists, from Käthe Kollwitz to Francesca Woodman, Leonor Fini, Titian and Francesco de Goya, the power of David Lynch’s films and the consistent importance to her of Japanese manga. She gives insight into her life in the studio and responds to our usual questions, including the ultimate: what is art for?


Somaya Critchlow: The Chamber, Dulwich Picture Gallery, London, until 20 July. Group shows: A Room Hung with Thoughts British Painting Now, Green Family Art Foundation, Dallas, US, until 11 May; Woman in a Rowboat, Olivia Foundation, Mexico City, until 28 September.


This podcast is sponsored by Bloomberg Connects, the arts and culture app. The free app offers access to a vast range of international cultural organisations through a single download, with new guides being added regularly. They include the Dulwich Picture Gallery, where Somaya Critchlow is showing her work between February and July of 2025. If you download Bloomberg Connects you’ll find that the guide to the gallery has a section on the exhibition, with pictures of Somaya’s work in situ in the historic gallery spaces. There is also extensive content on the gallery’s other exhibition, Tirzah Garwood: Beyond Ravilious, the first major exhibition of the British artist. You can explore the works while listening to the actor Tamsin Greig reading excerpts from Garwood’s autobiography. Elsewhere, the guide features an animated film telling the story of the gallery and a guided tour of the many masterpieces in its collection. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

A brush with...By The Art Newspaper

  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7

4.7

122 ratings


More shows like A brush with...

View all
Arts & Ideas by BBC Radio 4

Arts & Ideas

295 Listeners

The Modern Art Notes Podcast by Tyler Green

The Modern Art Notes Podcast

478 Listeners

London Review Bookshop Podcast by London Review Bookshop

London Review Bookshop Podcast

116 Listeners

Hyperallergic by Hyperallergic

Hyperallergic

143 Listeners

Talking with Painters by Maria Stoljar

Talking with Painters

66 Listeners

The Week in Art by The Art Newspaper

The Week in Art

194 Listeners

Dialogues: The David Zwirner Podcast by David Zwirner

Dialogues: The David Zwirner Podcast

387 Listeners

Talk Art by Russell Tovey and Robert Diament

Talk Art

476 Listeners

Art Juice: A podcast for artists, creatives and art lovers by Louise Fletcher/Alice Sheridan

Art Juice: A podcast for artists, creatives and art lovers

759 Listeners

Time Sensitive by The Slowdown

Time Sensitive

145 Listeners

The Great Women Artists by Katy Hessel

The Great Women Artists

494 Listeners

The Art Angle by Artnet News

The Art Angle

310 Listeners

NOTA BENE: This Week in the Art World by Benjamin Godsill & Nate Freeman

NOTA BENE: This Week in the Art World

137 Listeners

This Cultural Life by BBC Radio 4

This Cultural Life

96 Listeners

Art Problems by Paddy Johnson

Art Problems

125 Listeners