This week Anna is joined by Joséphine Bailey who runs the Instagram account - Procrastinarting. Joséphine studied Art History at Oxford University and has now gone on to studying a Masters in Curating at Goldsmiths. Joséphine is passionate about championing female contemporary artists through exhibitions and interviews. Also listen in to hear Joséphine’s thoughts on art institutions, the commercial gallery world and the importance of supporting artists from all backgrounds. Whilst studying at Oxford Joséphine wrote her dissertation on Georgia O’keefe and was really interested in the Tate’s lack of representation of her whole sexuality in her 2016 retrospective, this fired her desire to learn more about the artist. Be sure to follow Joséphine at @procrastinarting to keep up to date with her interviews and a very exciting new project which is launching soon.

Luke Silva is a London based artist who is currently completing a BA in Fine Art at Central Saint Martins. Luke works in watercolours on paper and canvas, his work investigates video games and escapism. Luke used video games as a child to escape his reality and has family members who have used the games to escape their own mental health struggles. Luke speaks about how games create a window into another world. Luke’s work tends to be in portrait to create distance from a landscape shape seen in Televisions and laptops. Luke’s work takes a concept that could be regarded as low culture and kitsch in art, yet transports it into fine art through his painting technique and personal relationship to the games. Check out Luke’s Instagram at @lukesilve__ and thank you for listening !

This weeks guest Marcus Nelson is a painter who is currently completing a BA at Central Saint Martins. Marcus’ paintings explore male representation in masculinity and male mental health. Marcus talks about his own struggles with mental health and how he uses painting as an outlet. Last year Marcus did a placement year and worked at Mall Gallery and Parasol Unit before taking part in a residency at The Fores Project. In the last year Marcus has really started to investigate the medium of painting and sees himself as a sculptor making paintings. Away from his painting practise Marcus also co founder Boys Don’t Cry with Brooke Wilson. It is an art collective raising awareness and funds to support mental health through art. The collective has over 30 members who have all been affected by mental health. Be sure to check out Marcus’ amazing paintings and work with Boys Don’t Cry on Instagram. Thank you for listening!

Manon Steyaert is a London based artist who recently graduated from a masters at Chelsea College of Art. Manon’s work investigates contemporary painting through materiality and how to approach painting as a contemporary medium. She creates abstract silicon paintings that investigate texture, colour and form. Manon recently went to Pada Studios residency in Portugal where she explored the idea of creating freestanding silicon works. In her studio she has been prepping work for a serie of solo shows and is about to start making work for a large scale installation show curated by Cassandra Bowes and Anna Woodward called ‘After Hours’, in a disused department store. Check out Manon’s Instagram to keep up to date with all her exciting exhibitions, projects and works. Thank you for listening!

In this episode Anna is joined by her studio partner Amélie Peace. They meet while both studying at City and Guilds of London Art School. Listen to learn more about Amélie’s practise and how it has developed over the past couple of years. Amélie’s work investigated human touch and the idea of embrace, a concept which is so natural to embrace your friends and family but at the moment we aren’t allowed to. Amélie’s figures hold each other so tightly they become one. What further distorts her work is her bright contemporary palette which really developed over lock down. Learn more about why Amélie finds Elsa Rouy’s work so inspiring and ground breaking. Thank you so much for listening and please follow Amélie at @amelie_peace.

Learn more about Curator Cassandra Bowes and Bowes - Parris Gallery. In this episode Cassandra talks about her role as Gallery Manager at international gallery Robilant + Voena, her experiences of studying Art History at UCL and setting up her own gallery. Find out what is Cassandra’s favourite piece in her own collection and which emerging artists and exhibitions you should check out. Find Cassandra on Instagram at @the_arts_editor and @bowesparrisgallery.

In this episode Anna interviewed Ocki from Blue Show Cottage in south London, a gallery that champions emerging artists. Learn more about Blue Shop Cottage and it’s ethos, the latests exhibitions and the advice Ocki has for emerging artists. This episode is a part of Ocki’s Blue Shop Cottage takeover on The Artists Contemporary for Frieze Week 2020. Thank you so much for listening.

Listen to the first episode of The Artists Contemporary Podcast with host Anna Woodward. This episode is all about why The Artists Contemporary was created, its ethos and who Anna Woodward the creator is. Learn more about Anna as an artists and her experiences of graduating in 2020.