Art Matters

On this episode of Art Matters, we speak with Katy Hessel, the woman behind the Instagram account, The Great Women Artists. We discuss how digital tools can help champion women artists, and how social platforms offer a voice to underrepresented communities. With this year marking 100 years since women began to gain voting rights in the UK, and International Women’s Day approaching on 8 March, it’s the perfect time to highlight and celebrate great, overlooked women artists.

This episode's guest:

Katy Hessel is the woman behind the Instagram-based blog @thegreatwomenartists. Having completed a BA in Art History at UCL in 2015, Katy began the account in October 2015 to highlight and celebrate female artists through daily posts. The women featured range from emerging artists to lesser-known women artists from the Baroque and Renaissance periods, as well as well-known female artists like Frida Kahlo. The Great Women Artists seeks to reinsert women back into the art historical narrative in an accessible way, and Katy has written this subject for numerous publications including i-D, It's Nice That, and Dazed. In November 2017, Katy curated her first exhibition, ‘The Great Women Artists: Women on Instagram’ at Mother London, showcasing a range of women artists who use Instagram as a platform for their artistic careers. Katy lives and works in London.

Images:

https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/in-spinster-salts-collection-231094

https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/self-portrait-in-a-straw-hat-115310

https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/cane-river-cotton-gin-40920

In the second episode of Art Matters, we’re talking to the creators of Tabloid Art History, a Twitter account that joins up the celebrity images of today with paintings from art history. We discuss how Lindsay Lohan gives off Caravaggio vibes; the artistic merit to be found in the Real Housewives of Atlanta; and how Lady Gaga and Beyoncé have used art historical images to promote themselves and their music.

This episode's guests:

Elise Bell, Chloe Esslemont and Mayanne Soret are the brains behind Tabloid Art History. TAH was created in November 2016 by University of Edinburgh students Elise and Chloe, has built a community of over 40,000 followers over the last year, and has been featured in Vanity Fair, Dazed, Vogue, i-D and Vox. In April 2017, the duo were commissioned an exhibition piece by art collective CWDT. They produced a zine looking at the intersection of pop culture and art history, through which Mayanne, a UCL graduate, joined the team. The zine sold over 180 copies worldwide, and is still available to read online for free through the website. In 2018, Tabloid Art History is extending to Instagram, and will work to produce more art history content to help democratise the subject.

Images:

https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/the-virgin-of-guadalupe-126418

https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/marilyn-diptych-117797

https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/joan-collins-158768

We talk to Dr Justin Bengry about queer culture and art history. Dr Bengry is a Lecturer in Queer History at Goldsmiths, University of London and convenor of the first MA in Queer History.

2017 marked 50 years since the beginning of decriminalisation of male homosexuality in the United Kingdom. It also saw Tate Britain put on a landmark exhibition, ‘Queer British Art’, looking at the impact queer culture and people have had on the art world: from Simeon Solomon through to the Bloomsbury Group, up to the work of Francis Bacon and David Hockney.

We talk about coded expressions of queer identity – from when it was still illegal through to today – artists who challenged gender norms, and how more informed attitudes towards gender and sexual identity today impact the way that we approach the discussion of art.

https://artuk.org/discover/stories/art-matters-podcast-queer-culture