Wearing denim, workwear, or sharp tailoring makes a statement about how we think of ourselves. Charlie Porter has been exploring the relationship between artists and clothes. He joins writer Olivia Laing and Ekow Eshun for a conversation about clothing, bodies, and our expression of our sexuality, hosted by Shahidha Bari.

Olivia Laing's latest book is called Everybody: A Book About Freedom

Charlie Porter has published What Artists Wear. A former Turner prize judge, he writes and curates and is a visiting Fashion lecturer at the University of Westminster.

British-Ghanaian photographer James Barnor's work is on show at the Serpentine Gallery in London from 19 May - 22 October 2021.

Ekow Eshun has curated An Infinity of Traces, which runs at the Lisson Gallery in London from 13 April – 5 June 2021, featuring UK-based established and emerging Black artists whose work explores notions of race, history, being, and belonging.

Jade Montserrat, one of the artists featured in Ekow's show, talked to Free Thinking in a programme about collage and Dada https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000k9ws

Producer: Emma Wallace

You can find more conversations in the Free Thinking archive and available to download as Arts & Ideas podcasts, including;

Olivia Laing on her novel inspired by Kathy Acker, and a discussion of Alison Bechdel's Fun Home - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b7mryz

Image Credit: Getty Images/Jonathan Knowles