In episode 49 of The Great Women Artists Podcast, Katy Hessel interviews the incredible data journalist and artist, MONA CHALABI!!!!

[This episode is brought to you by Alighieri jewellery: www.alighieri.co.uk | use the code TGWA at checkout for 10% off!]

Currently the Data editor of the Guardian US, a position she has held for the past seven years, the London-born but now New York-based Chalabi is known for her outstanding data-informed visualisations and drawings that range from addressing stats around gender imbalances in museums, to hate crimes and immigration issues to what time of day Americans might eat pizza.

Bold, full of colour, and often hand-drawn directly onto graph or square paper, it is with humour and wit that Chalabi pushes boundaries to challenge societal assumptions and habits that have come to affect the way we live and think. 

Having exhibited at the Tate, Design Museum, the V&A Glasgow and more, and created illustrations for the New Yorker, New York Review of Books, Netflix – as well as to her 400,000+ strong Instagram following, where you can find so much of her work – Chalabi has also written and presented for the BBC, National Geographic, Channel 4 and VICE, and was nominated for an Emmy for her video series Vagina Dispatches for the Guardian. 

Commended by the Royal Statistical society, nominated for a Beazley Design of the Year award, and a former columnist for Five Thirty Eight called Dear Mona, Chalabi is translating spreadsheets into written pieces, illustration, audio and film for the modern-day consumer, allowing us all to enjoy, interact with her reliable data sources, as she breaks down the wall between complex information, art and illustration. 

And on a personal level, it has been this year more than ever, with the current Coronavirus pandemic, Black Lives Matter Movement and the American election, that Mona’s data-informed works have resonated with people around the world. By using the power of art and illustration, she has allowed us to consume complex information in ways that I never thought possible. 

WORKS + CHART DISCUSSED IN THE EPISODE!

MONA'S INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/monachalabi/

MONA'S WEBSITE: https://monachalabi.com/

Trump's Federal Income Tax: https://www.instagram.com/p/CFr6e73lkK6/

Mandatory paid vacation: https://www.instagram.com/p/CE1kpM5FhWR/

Rectal bleeding: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bc-WtaRF-zg/

Mark Zuckerberg's donation to Coronavirus: https://www.instagram.com/p/B-StLvnFtOE/ 

Museum statistics: https://www.instagram.com/p/BxGBMU7HuUh/

100 New Yorkers: https://www.instagram.com/p/CBTKeNNl4NZ/

US Police Training: https://www.instagram.com/p/CBLWZM8lmUL/

Understanding Police Brutality: https://www.instagram.com/p/CAz86y0FYqM/

Breonna Taylor: https://www.instagram.com/p/CFh6Uu1Fpn8/

Active KKK Groups: https://www.instagram.com/p/BYMAj-xFJOf/

Follow us:

Katy Hessel: @thegreatwomenartists / @katy.hessel

Sound editing by Laura Hendry 

Artwork by @thisisaliceskinner

Music by Ben Wetherfield

https://www.thegreatwomenartists.com/