The Artfully Podcast

*Episode 13 was recorded in March before the UK-wide lockdown began. We've been battling with disruptions caused by the Coronavirus and therefore the release of this episode was delayed.*

Whilst stuck at home, and hopefully staying safe, we offer a glimpse at exhibitions of the pre-lockdown era including: the early works of Alan Davie and David Hockney at the Towner Gallery, a slightly-problematic experience of Cao Fei at the Serpentine Galleries, and Aubrey Beardsley at the Tate Britain.

New developments at the US Supreme Court mean that the restitution of art looted by the Nazis during the Holocaust is back in the news again. In particular we discuss the appeal over the ownership of Picasso's The Actor, which is currently hanging at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

And we've gone back in history further than we've ever gone before for our Artist Focus, as we discuss the life and work of Italian Baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi. Unknown to many, the 17th century painter will be the subject of her own eponymous solo exhibition at the National Gallery in London later this year. As the world wakes up to her legacy, we celebrate her unique contribution to women artists, and her incredibly dramatic life.

SHOW NOTES:

Alan Davie and David Hockney: Early Works until 31 May 2020 at the Towner Gallery: https://www.townereastbourne.org.uk/exhibition/alan-davie-and-david-hockney-early-works/
BRINK: Caroline Lucas curates the Towner Collection until 10 May 2020: https://www.townereastbourne.org.uk/exhibition/caroline-lucas-curates-the-towner-collection/
Cao Fei 'Blueprints' until 17 May 2020 at the Serpentine Galleries: https://www.serpentinegalleries.org/exhibitions-events/cao-fei
Aubrey Beardsley, until 25 May 2020 at the Tate Britain: https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/aubrey-beardsley
The US Supreme Court's silence on Nazi art theft fails Holocaust survivors: https://www.theartnewspaper.com/comment/the-us-supreme-court-s-silence-on-nazi-art-theft-fails-holocaust-survivors
We also refer to the 2015 movie 'The Woman in Gold' starring Helen Mirren.
Get to know the Baroque painter, Artemisia Gentileschi: https://www.thegallyry.com/post/rachael-siddall-on-artemisia-gentileschi
Artemisia Gentileschi at the National Gallery: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/exhibitions/artemisia

Before we get started with Episode 12, please note this was recorded before the Coronavirus situation escalated in the UK. This will explain our proximity to each other, and the journeys around the UK to visit exhibitions. We plan to address how the art world can support itself and others in the face of this pandemic in future episodes. Please everyone, take care.

But before all the galleries did close, we were able to get in front of James Turrell at Pace Gallery, Among the Trees at the Hayward Gallery, and 'Friends of Derek' at the Lucy Bell Gallery.

We couldn't discuss art world news without touching on the impact of Coronavirus on the art world community. Since recording, the impact has increased further and has almost shutdown daily life. Now we turn to the digital realm in order to keep our cultural fix!

Episode 12's Artist Focus is Jean-Michel Basquiat. The American artist, of Haitian and Puerto Rican descent, used social commentary in his paintings to take on his experiences in the black community in 1980s New York. Well known for both his graffiti and his later neo-expressionist work, he is synonymous with a generation of New York celebrity creatives and for his relationships with fellow artists, Andy Warhol and Keith Haring.

SHOW NOTES:
(Note most galleries are now temporarily closed)

James Turrell at Pace Gallery, until 23 May 2020: https://www.pacegallery.com/exhibitions/james-turrell-9/
Among the Trees at Southbank Centre, until 17 May 2020: https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/hayward-gallery-art/among-the-trees
'Friends of Derek' at Lucy Bell Gallery, until 31 March 2020: https://www.lucy-bell.com/exhibition/friends-of-derek-fod
Vietnamese curator dropped because of Coronavirus prejudice: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/05/vietnamese-curator-dropped-because-of-coronavirus-prejudice
What toll will COVID-19 take on Europe's arts? A letter from Italy: https://frieze.com/article/what-toll-will-covid-19-take-europes-arts-letter-italy
Basquiat and Haring: unprecedented art show revives the 'manic draughtsmen' of 80s New York: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/nov/30/basquiat-and-haring-unprecedented-art-show-revives-the-manic-draughtsmen-of-80s-new-york
Black Art after Basquiat - Is Past still Present in the Art World?: https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/basquiat-impact-on-black-art-world/

Finishing February on a high, we're back with another art-filled episode. Exhibition highlights include France-Lise McGurn at Simon Lee Gallery, '9th St. Club' at Gazelli Art House, and a sculptural double-billing at Lisson Gallery in the form of Richard Deacon and Tony Cragg.

We were saddened to hear of the closure of commercial power-house Blain Southern. Known for representing the likes of Jake and Dinos Chapman, Mat Collishaw, and Sean Scully, the gallery announced its closure of all three spaces this month following the departure of co-founder Graham Southern in late 2019. We dissect what went wrong and what it means for the art world.

And from the sad to the ridiculous, we couldn't pass by the story of the disgruntled art critic who accidentally destroyed an artwork she openly disliked at Zona Maco fair in Mexico.

Finally, breaking from tradition our Artist Focus is actually a group: the Women Impressionists. We welcome the long-overdue attention given to the female artists who contributed to famous art movements, and this episode we celebrate two key Impressionists: Berthe Morisot and Mary Cassatt.

SHOW NOTES:

France-Lise McGurn 'Percussia' at Simon Lee Gallery: https://www.simonleegallery.com/exhibitions/176/
France-Lise McGurn 'Sleepless' at Tate Britain: https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/france-lise-mcgurn
'9th St. Club' at Gazelli Art House: https://gazelliarthouse.com/exhibition/9th-st-club/
Richard Deacon 'Deep Space' at Lisson Gallery until 29 February 2020: https://www.lissongallery.com/exhibitions/richard-deacon-deep-state
Tony Cragg 'Stacks' at Lisson Gallery until 29 February 2020: https://www.lissongallery.com/exhibitions/tony-cragg-stacks
Blain Southern closes all three galleries: https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/blain-southern-shuts-all-three-galleries
$20,000 artwork destroyed by a critic in Mexico: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/feb/10/gabriel-rico-a-20000-artwork-has-been-destroyed-by-a-critic-thats-nothing
7 Female Impressionists every Art History Lover should know: https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-7-female-impressionists-art-history-lover
The women impressionists forgotten by history: http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20180807-the-women-impressionists-forgotten-by-history

We're back! Following an Artfully hiatus at the start of the year, we're one month late, but our new year has officially begun. We've kicked off with gallery trips to Dora Maar and Kara Walker at the Tate Modern, a double-billing at Pilar Corrias, and Gill Button at James Freeman Gallery.

We've got the Tate on our mind this episode as we return to the controversial Head of Coffee job position at the Tate Britain that has sparked a lot of discussion in the art world this month. It's an unsurprising story for the pair of us, but we welcome the attention it has raised as to how badly paid museum curatorial positions can be.

Our first artist focus of 2020 goes to the major figurative painter Egon Schiele. Ever the figure of controversy we try and balance his art alongside his contentious personal life, but can you ever completely separate the two?

SHOW NOTES:

Dora Maar at the Tate Modern until 15 March 2020: https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/dora-maar
Kara Walker 'Fons Americanus' at the Tate Modern until 5 April 2020: https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/hyundai-commission-kara-walker
Sofia Mitsola 'Darladiladada' at Pilar Corrias: https://www.pilarcorrias.com/exhibitions/condo-2020-sofia-mitsola-sedrick-chisom/
Sedrick Chishom 'Westward Shrinking Hours' at Pilar Corrias: https://www.pilarcorrias.com/exhibitions/condo-2020-sofia-mitsola-sedrick-chisom/
Gill Button at James Freeman Gallery: https://www.jamesfreemangallery.com/artist/gill-button
Tate defends job ad for £40k 'head of coffee': https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-51310516
Five things to know: Egon Schiele: https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-liverpool/exhibition/life-motion-egon-schiele-francesca-woodman/five-things-know-egon

Episode 9 is a special one, a very different sound to usual - so you’re in for a treat. We joined the guys from the Delphian, ArtProof and Mizog podcasts to discuss art, our backgrounds and share some industry insights. It’s a fun introduction to a larger world of art podcasts, so delve right in:

The Delphian Podcast: @delphiangallery on Instagram
ArtProof Podcast: @artproofpodcast on Instagram
Mizog Podcast: @mizogart on Instagram

It’s December, nearly the end of the year and we’re in a reflective mood. We take a moment to think of what art we’d like to unwrap on Christmas Day, and ponder our New Year art resolutions.

Back to 2019, our gallery visits took us to Bridget Riley at the Hayward Gallery, the Photographic Portrait Prize at the National Portrait Gallery, and the End of Year show at The Royal Drawing School.

It’s been a big month of news for the art world, what with the Turner Prize nominees sharing the final prize, which of course we had to discuss. And one of the artists we’ve previously mentioned, Tal R, has been to court to try and stop his artwork being cut up to make watches. Yes we know, it’s a bonkers story. And, Liz wouldn’t let us finish the year without discussing ‘unseen’ artist Eric Tucker. We all need some feel good stories after all!

Our Artist Focus this episode is French-American artist Louise Bourgeois. Jessie enjoyed a 1989 feisty video interview with the artist and Tate Modern Director, Frances Morris, and we’re struck by the multiple similarities between Bourgeois and Yayoi Kusama.

Finally, a big MERRY CHRISTMAS to our listeners, and remember to look out for us once more before the end of the year: we have a Christmas Special podcast that comes out on 23rd December, where we sit down with fellow podcasters: Art Proof, Delphian and Mizog. It’ll be a Christmas Mash Up!

SHOW NOTES

Mollie Barnes: @mollieebarnes
Art Proof podcast: @artproofpodcast
Delphian podcast: @delphiangallery
Mizog podcast: @mizogart
Bridget Riley at the Hayward Gallery, until 26 January 2020: https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/hayward-gallery-art/bridget-riley
Olafur Eliasson ‘In Real Life’ at Tate Modern, until 5 January 2020: https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/olafur-eliasson
Delphian Gallery x Guts Gallery: https://delphiangallery.com/portfolio/delphian-x-guts/
Richard Woods ‘Door and Window Paintings’ at Albion Barn, by appointment only: http://www.albionbarn.com/currentexhibitions.php
Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize at the National Portrait Gallery until 6 February 2020: https://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/taylor-wessing-photographic-portrait-prize-2019/exhibition/
Snezhana von Buedingen: @snezhana_von_buedingen
End of Year Exhibition at the Royal Drawing School, until 15 January 2020: https://www.royaldrawingschool.org/exhibitions/drawing-year-2019-end-year-exhibition-gallery/
Turner prize awarded four ways after artists’ plea to the judges: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/dec/03/turner-prize-2019-lawrence-abu-hamdan-helen-cammock-oscar-murillo-and-tai-shani-shared
Are award winners and losers going out of fashion? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-50651827
Danish artist seeks to stop his work being cut up to make watches:

We're ending November on a podcast high! Welcome to Episode 7, and sit back as we talk you through our exhibition highlights. This includes Liz's trip to Lucian Freud's Self-portraits at the Royal Academy. This inspired some further reading into the Guardian's article on the discovery of Freud's plant paintings, and why plants have always ranked lowly in the art hierarchy.

Another month and another Banksy publicity stunt; we discuss his new online shop and who he really is trying to target with this new platform. We also check in on a previous news story that piqued our interest, as Instagram have recently held a round table with artists to discuss their censorship of art nudity on the platform.

And the creepily beautiful AI robot artist Ai-Da has caught Jessie's attention. AI might be the future of art, so if you want to know what the future will look like, take a glimpse at her profile.

Our Artist Focus this episode is Robert Rauschenberg, a man that cannot be defined by one artistic movement. We start in Pop Art, but then his art transports across styles, mediums and with a variety of different collaborators.

SHOW NOTES

Song Dong 'Same Bed Different Dreams' at Pace Gallery: https://www.pacegallery.com/exhibitions/song-dong/
Claire Tabouret 'Portraits' at Almine Rech Gallery: https://www.alminerech.com/artists/4769-claire-tabouret
Tai-Shan Schierenberg 'Men Without Women' at Flowers Gallery, Cork Street: https://www.flowersgallery.com/exhibitions/view/men-without-women
Kara Walker 'Black and White to Living Colour: The collected motion pictures and accompanying documents of Kara E. Walker, Artist.' at Sprueth Magers until 21 December 2019: http://www.spruethmagers.com/exhibitions/507
Lucian Freud 'The Self-portraits' until 26 January 2019: https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibition/lucian-freud-self-portraits
Forget Lucian Freud's nudes - he was a magnificent painter of plants: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/oct/24/lucian-freud-nudes-magnificent-painter-of-plants-climate-emergency
Banksy Online Shop: https://shop.grossdomesticproduct.com/
Instagram Holds Closed-Door Roundtable with Artists on Art and Nudity: https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/instagram-censorship-roundtable-13431/
Instagram profile recommendation: @Dynamisk
Abstract: The Art of Design: https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/80057883
Another Instagram profile: @aidarobot
Robert Rauschenberg: https://www.rauschenbergfoundation.org/

It's gunpowder, treason and plot season. And we're pleased to announce that from November onwards, following demand, we'll be coming at you with two episodes a month now.

Kicking November off, Jessie has tasted some of the top artistic sites in Edinburgh, including the Ingleby Gallery and highlights from the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. Meanwhile, back in London, Liz has visited Lisa Brice at Stephen Friedman, Adam Lee at Beers London, and Ai Weiwei's exhibition at Lisson Gallery causes us to ruminate over the question of originality in this world of unceasing creative output.

Leonardo da Vinci is rarely out of the news, and this Autumn Italian groups have tried and failed to block the loan of the Vitruvian man to the Louvre for the 500 year anniversary exhibition. Meanwhile, in Isleworth a couple have a stake in, what has been called, the 'early version Mona Lisa'. Will the academics bet their reputation on its authenticity?

This episode's artist focus is Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. We explore her tumultous life and career, including the important periods in New York and Japan. And we bask in the glory of her success today, and why she deserves it.

SHOW NOTES:
Garry Fabian Miller 'Midwinter Blaze' at the Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh, until 20 December 2019: https://www.inglebygallery.com/exhibitions/7133-garry-fabian-miller-midwinter-blaze/overview/
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art: https://www.nationalgalleries.org/visit/scottish-national-gallery-modern-art
Michael Armitage: https://whitecube.com/artists/artist/michael_armitage
Lisa Brice at Stephen Friedman Gallery: https://www.stephenfriedman.com/exhibitions/current/lisa-brice/
Adam Lee 'My Thousand Sounds' at Beers London, until 23 November 2019: https://beerslondon.com/exhibitions/forthcoming-adam-lee-my-thousand-sounds/
Ai Weiwei 'Roots' at Lisson Gallery: https://www.lissongallery.com/exhibitions/ai-weiwei-roots
Michele Oka Doner: http://www.micheleokadoner.com/#/
Vitruvian Man: Da Vinci piece to go on display in Louvre: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-50073099
Leonardo da Vinci until 24 February 2019: https://www.louvre.fr/en/expositions/leonardo-da-vinci
Salvator Mundi absent, but Louvre still hope world's most expensive painting will turn up: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/10/18/salvator-mundi-absent-major-leonardo-show-louvre-still-hope/
London couple claim they own a stake in an 'early version Mona Lisa': https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7587367/London-couple-claim-stake-early-version-Mona-Lisa-sold-4-000-1964.html
Kusama's autobiography 'Infinity Net': https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00B3MB76K/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
Yayoi...

We're serving BACK to BACK exhibition content for our listeners this month. It's October, when the art world wakes up in London and we've been running around soaking up as much content as our beady eyes can take in. Art from emerging megalopolises at the Palais de Tokyo, art in skips, William Blake at the Tate Britain, Tim Walker at the V&A and much more.

We then dissect the documentary that shook the art world: The $50 Million Art Swindle, and keeping our art detective hats on we ruminate over who stole Maurizio Cattelan's gold toilet, and where is it now? Stolen artworks lead us into our October Artist Focus, Anselm Kiefer. Join us as we attempt to summarise an artist who has captured the holocaust through painting, sculpture and photography, but if you didn't think he had anything in common with the sitcom Will and Grace, think again!

SHOW NOTES

The Art Gorgeous September 'Sheroes': https://theartgorgeous.com/september-art-sheros/
Palais de Tokyo 'Prince/Princesses de Ville': https://www.palaisdetokyo.com/fr/evenement/princesses-des-villes
V&A LGBTQ Monthly Tours: https://www.vam.ac.uk/event/96W7yE6o/lgbtq-tour-2019
After Jessie's tenuous knowledge of Britain's gay kings, here's a more informative guide: https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2017/12/19/the-gay-royals-you-arent-taught-school/
Skip Gallery: https://www.skipgallery.com/
Clare Woods 'Doublethink' at the Simon Lee Gallery: https://www.simonleegallery.com/exhibitions/168/press_release/
Jasmine Thomas-Girvan & Chris Ofili 'Affinities' at David Zwirner: https://www.davidzwirner.com/exhibitions/affinities
Tim Walker 'Wonderful Things' until 8 March 2020 at the V&A: https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/tim-walker
'It's Her Factory: Helen Beard' at Unit London: https://theunitldn.com/whats-on/44/
Peter Doig 'Paintings' at Michael Werner, until 16 November 2019: http://michaelwerner.com/exhibition/5790/
Rhiannon Salisbury 'Habitual Submission' at Delphian Gallery: https://delphiangallery.com/portfolio/habitual-submission/
William Blake at the Tate Britain until 2 February 2020: https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/william-blake-artist
Bored Panda's A Silly But Accurate Guide on How to Recognize Famous Painters by Their Art: https://www.boredpanda.com/famous-paintings-artists-how-to-recognize/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic
The $50 Million Art Swindle on BBC2: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0008rt3 and disclaimer, yes we know Steinbeck is the novelist, and Steinway is the piano! Slight slip of the tongue there.
The stolen golden toilet: the perfect punchline to an 18-carat joke:

Got them back to school blues? Not us, we love September and we've got some tasty art treats to placate you with this autumn: Lee Krasner at the Barbican, Olafur Eliasson at the Tate Modern, and the BP Portrait Award. We then get into the nitty gritty of who is Super-Curator HUO (Hans Ulrich Obrist) and his insane work ethic and distaste for sleep. We ponder if creatives are now expected to be working to such extreme levels of productivity, and what do we lose because of this? Our September artist focus is the queen of the line, Bridget Riley. Now in her 88th year, this British artist hasn't stopped teasing our optic nerves since the 1960s. Ahead of a major retrospective exhibition coming to the Hayward Gallery this autumn, we've taken a moment to reflect on her epic career.

SHOW NOTES
Lee Krasner at the Barbican (sadly now closed): https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2019/event/lee-krasner-living-colour
Olafur Eliasson 'In Real Life' until 5 January 2020 at the Tate Modern: https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/olafur-eliasson
Will Gompertz's review of 'In Real Life': https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-48965313
Olafur Eliasson and Minik Rosing 'Ice Watch': https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/olafur-eliasson-and-minik-rosing-ice-watch
Visit the Art Newspaper podcast episode on 26 July 2019 that includes an interview with Eliasson.
Instagram recommendations: @campbell.hector
Sky Ladder: The Art of Cai Guo-qiang: https://www.netflix.com/title/80097472
Bauhaus 100: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0007trf
Bauhaus Rules with Vic Reeves: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0007tqs
'Curationism: How Curating Took Over the Art World and Everything Else' by David Balzer: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Curationism-Curating-Took-World-Everything/dp/0745335977
Hans Ulrich Obrist's morning ritual on Nowness: https://www.nowness.com/story/hans-ulrich-obrist-morning-ritual and via the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2016/aug/28/hans-ulrich-obrist-tastemakers-maria-balshaw-fabien-riggall-inspirations
BP Portrait Award until 20 October 2019 at the National Portrait Gallery: https://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/bp-portrait-award-2019/exhibition/
Vanessa Garwood: http://www.vanessagarwood.com/about/
'Messengers' by Bridget Riley at the National Gallery: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/whats-on/messengers-by-bridget-riley-a-new-work-at-the-national-gallery
Bridget Riley's exhibition coming to Hayward Gallery 23 October 2019 - 26 January 2020: