The Conversation Art Podcast

Ep.#160: East Village-based art writer Emily Colucci on James Franco's art, Nightclubbing as activism, and her culture blog Filthy Dreams, for "minorities who don't even fit into our own minorities"


Listen Later

Manhattan-based art writer and budding curator Emily Colucci talks about:

Her place on Avenue C in the East Village, and how she's managed to live in a Manhattan that's now cheaper in many cases than Brooklyn; the C Squat next door to her place, which has existed since the '70s and the city allowed them to permanently inhabit if they brought it up to code (which they did), and which also runs the Museum of Unclaimed Urban Space, which does walking tours of former squats and community gardens and non-profit art spaces in the neighborhood; the heydays of St. Marks Place and the East Village, and how each generation looks down on newer generations' scenes as not having the same level of artistic relevance; her cultural blog Filthy Dreams, which she founded as a place for "minorities who don't even fit into our own minorities," inspired by John Waters' quote, and for the queer and LGBT communities; writing about (and taking down) James Franco's show at Pace gallery, which was his attempted version of re-creating Cindy Sherman's iconic Untitled Film Stills series…why Pace had the show in the first place, what Cindy Sherman's reaction to it was, plus Emily brings Filthy Dreams' take on Franco's history of appropriating Queer culture while simultaneously publicly declaring that he's not gay; her curatorial projects, including a past show Nightlife as Activism (which was about nightclubs, activism and AIDS), and an upcoming show on Disco's legacy, and the two years of work that goes into each show, including relying on oral histories from eras where many of its notable participants have passed away; how exhibitions, unlike articles on art, can actually make a tiny difference in exposing people to things and even changing minds; how it's terrifying at times being a freelance writer, but because she's allergic to office work, she wouldn't trade it for anything, and she always has Filthy Dreams to write for when the other gigs aren't happening, and how even though she knows there are more readers, she always assumes there are two people reading her blog: her mom and her best friend (though she did get to experience what it's like for your article to get some serious attention, after her piece on James Franco was picked up by Live Journal).

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

The Conversation Art PodcastBy Michael Shaw

  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5

4.5

252 ratings


More shows like The Conversation Art Podcast

View all
Arts & Ideas by BBC Radio 4

Arts & Ideas

290 Listeners

World Book Club by BBC World Service

World Book Club

364 Listeners

The Modern Art Notes Podcast by Tyler Green

The Modern Art Notes Podcast

473 Listeners

The New Yorker Radio Hour by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

The New Yorker Radio Hour

6,675 Listeners

The New Yorker: The Writer's Voice - New Fiction from The New Yorker by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

The New Yorker: The Writer's Voice - New Fiction from The New Yorker

2,118 Listeners

The Lonely Palette by Tamar Avishai

The Lonely Palette

827 Listeners

The Week in Art by The Art Newspaper

The Week in Art

192 Listeners

Dialogues: The David Zwirner Podcast by David Zwirner

Dialogues: The David Zwirner Podcast

416 Listeners

Talk Art by Russell Tovey and Robert Diament

Talk Art

493 Listeners

The Great Women Artists by Katy Hessel

The Great Women Artists

513 Listeners

Learn to Paint Podcast by Learn to Paint Podcast

Learn to Paint Podcast

291 Listeners

The Art Angle by Artnet News

The Art Angle

342 Listeners

Joshua Citarella by Joshua Citarella

Joshua Citarella

248 Listeners

A brush with... by The Art Newspaper

A brush with...

133 Listeners

Critics at Large | The New Yorker by The New Yorker

Critics at Large | The New Yorker

607 Listeners