Exhibitionistas – Conversations about Contemporary Art Exhibitions, Artists and Theory –For Everyone

Contemporary drawing is one of art's best kept secrets: associated with sound, language and writing, it turns contemporary art into a meditative form of art-making engaging the spectator in a poetic and existential voyage. Led by Blank's discovery of sound within the daily practice of drawing, this episode is a sonic wandering and a philosophical exploration of the artist's work, engaging with recent technological changes. How can a minimal and poetic practice face such specific issues? What is the role of the artist facing a global net of information which connects us as much as it separates us? And what is the value of communication – and of silence? Irma Blank has taught me that and much more.The avant-gardes of the 1960s–70s were proliferous in innovative and minimal methods of creativity engaging the breath, the whole body and graphic deconstructions of language. Irma Blank was one of those artists with a subversive take on traditional artistic languages. Have you ever wondered how artists and curators work together? This episode muses upon the relation between me, a young-ish curator and the artist Irma Blank, who'd reached the age of 80 when we met, along with my co-curator Johana Carrier. This episode is an excerpt of a lecture given by me on the 3rd of February  2025 at ABK Stuttgart whose title was "The Paper is Impatient", under the invitation of the drawing department, and their teachers Katrin Ströbel and Hanna Hennenkemper.The « drawing sounds » are excerpts of Irma Blank’s recordings of the sound of each series. For Radical Writings, she recorded herself, breathing in and out, because that was the basis of the image’s structure.Music by Sarturn.>>>>>>>For more information about the artist visit her gallery's website: P420, Bologna, Italy.DID YOU ENJOY THE EPISODE?Support us through a donation or membership.DID YOU ENJOY THE TEXT?Follow me on Substack for more topics on art, society, artists and exhibitions.SUBSCRIBE , RATE AND FOLLOW US. IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE.FOLLOW US ON:Instagram:   @exhibitionistas_podcast  Bluesky: @exhibitionistas.bsky.socialExhibitionistas websiteGET IN TOUCH: exhibitionistaspod@gmail.com///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////If you enjoy Katy Hessel's The Great Women Artists Podcast, this episode is for you. It is centred around the artistic practice of female German artist Irma Blank, who never stopped producing her art, whether it was shown in prestigious events such as the Venice Biennale in 1977, or it wasn't, like when her Radical Writings on canvas were deemed a form of yielding to the 80s trend of the return to painting... whereas Blank was, on the contrary, more militant than ever for her elemental forms of the line and the minimal gesture by deeply engaging with the meditative breath in relation to the line and the colour blue, which for her represented infinity. Blank passed away in 2023, leaving a potent body of work whose incredible energy leaves no spectator or curator indifferent.

A pioneer of experimental cinema, but also conceptual technology (yes, I made this one up), Anthony McCall has built a unique place in the recent history and present of contemporary art. From the UK to the US, from analogue to digital, McCall has created a body of work as playful as it is culturally relevant.For more information about the exhibition go here.My co-host is Liberté Nutti, who you can follow here for good tips about modern and contemporary art: @libertenuti.To know more about her, you can check her website.Support Exhbitionistas here.Follow us:⁠Substack⁠⁠Website⁠⁠Website⁠Bluesky: @exhibitionistas.bsky.social

Emily is the co-host of this episode about art, transgression, female desire and the male gaze through photo montage, as cultural commentary and self-exploration. We re-visit the exhibition "Danger Came Smiling" at Hayward Gallery. A punk goddess whose image was used in the Buzzcocks’ EP Orgasm Addict (1977), Linder is an under-exposed contemporary artist. 99p glue, a scalpel, vintage magazines, and she “travel(s) in time”, to bring back cyber domestic goddesses and anachronistic deepfakes. Her work seems to be at its peak, and always timely, as she enters her 7th decade on earth.Support us: here.Check out Linder on social media: @lindersterling.Listen to Linder's band Ludus.More about the exhibition here: Hayward Gallery.

Exhibitionistas is a conversational art podcast created by me, visual arts curator and writer, Joana P. R. Neves, as an invitation for everyone to engage with contemporary art. Some episodes are centred around solo exhibitions; others are guest interviews engaging with the real art world beyond sensationalist auction sales and obsolete art review styles; and, finally, I also produce special episodes about chosen art angles. As an art professional with a 20 year experience in the art world with galleries, museums, artist creative processes, and the art market, I provide access to visual arts from the inside. So, I bring up art theory, art history and professional takes on exhibitions and art-making but, as an art lover, I avoid art jargon. Contemporary visual arts engages with popular culture, life experiences, singular perceptions, as much as with ideas and concepts. Exhibitionistas stands at the intersection of life, theory and art. I also write essays and short art insights on Substack.To remain on top of our episodes and to get a glimpse behind the scenes, follow us on our socials:Instagram: @exhibitionistas_podcast  Bluesky: @exhibitionistas.bsky.socialOr, alternatively, get in touch by email:  exhibitionistaspod@gmail.comAnd our Exhibitionistas website.It might be a bit too early at this stage but if you want to support us, it would be much appreciated. Go to our donation and membership page.Exhibitionistas is a mix of Ben Luke's A Brush With, The White Pube and Sarah Marshall's You're Wrong About, which are huge inspirations for me as a podcast lover. Big fan.So if you think someone else might enjoy it too, by all means, share it. Don’t forget to rate and follow Exhibitionistas, it seems trivial but it can make a difference. All kinds of support count, and contribute to more investigation and better episodes. Thanks to all of those who’ve taken a leap of faith and have become our patrons. From a 5 start review to a substantial donation, Exhibitionistas considers you one of those rare unicorns who support independent journalism. And finally: I’d also love to start a conversation with you. You can now leave comments on Spotify which is great way to know what you want more of or if you’d like to add something to the topic developed, the artist discussed or simply if you want to leave a note of appreciation. It’s a sad world when only the trolls and the bullies interact with journalists and art critics. So why not bring positivity, ideas, and your own perspective to the digital art village. 

SUPPORT INDEPENDENT PODCASTING OR, AS I CALL IT, INTELLECTUAL ENTREPRENEURSHIPIf Hogarth and Mario Bros had a son, it would be Hardeep Pandhal, the artist whose drawings sprawl on the walls, on paper and on canvas at the Drawing Room until until the 13 April. Half auto-biography, half hybrid character-driven cross-temporal fantasies, one thing is certain, we loved “Inner World”.If you’re not in London, and you want to know more about the artist, he is represented by Jhaveri Contemporary in Mumbai, who I profusely thank for all the information they sent me.This time, my two co-hosts, interdisciplinary movement artist Naissa Bjørn and visual artist Constança Saturnino, are YOUNG.  So we have an Gen X versus Gen Z episode. And it’s a delight. We talk also talk about: neurodiversity, the spectator experience, drawing, community, aphantasia, dyslexia, synesthesia, contemporary drawing, exhibitions, art galleries. Follow Naissa, and Naissa's hairdressing business. Follow Constança, and Constança's tattoo business.We also mention Milo's song An Encyclopedia. Listen here. It's great.Follow us:SubstackWebsiteWebsiteBluesky: @exhibitionistas.bsky.social

Alfredo Cramerotti and Auronda Scalera are a curatorial duo specialising in art and technology, dedicated to bridging digital and contemporary art.We either speak over-enthusiastically about AI or in fear of its impact on creativity. My guests stand somewhat in between, advocating for a better understanding of its potential as a tool which they base upon their experiences with artists. The latter have always been irreverent regarding technologies since pigment was blown onto a hand leaving its mysterious mark on a cave wall… So what happens now, with the metaverse, AI and virtual reality? Are these new exhibition spaces? And how to they affect the existing ones? Our discussion took us to lots of places, amongst which the installation created by artist duo Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst, THE CALL for the Serpentine, which enabled spectators to interact with an AI who had trained with choirs across the UK; we talk about artists who connect writing with sculpture, performance, and new technologies, such as Ana María Caballero, (who just sold a poem in an online auction of Bitcoin Ordinals inscriptions called Natively Digital, for 0.28 Bitcoin or $11,430 at Sotheby’s), and much more. I also mention the great Jan Hopkins, an artist and writer based in Sheffield.Cramerotti and Scalera both teach at MA IESA University Paris & Kingston University London. They co-curated the Lumen Prize x Sotheby's plus this year and the Art Dubai Digital Section 2024. As a duo, they form the International Selection Committee of the Lumen Prize and work as nominators for the Maxxi-Bvlgari Prize for Digital Art. While co-directing Multiplicity-Art in Digital, an online platform promoting women artists with a focus on diversity and inclusion, they spearhead Web to Verse, a project dedicated to fostering research on the evolution of digital art from the 1960s to the present day.This multifaceted profile has led them to speak at prestigious events such as the UK House of Lords’ All-Party Parliamentary Group, the House of Beautiful Business, the AI House (during the World Economic Forum), the Riyadh Art Program for the KSA Visual Art Commission. They have worked with the UK Government Art Collection, the British Council Visual Arts Acquisition Committee, the Italian Ministry of Culture for the Italian Council 2022-24 program, and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Support Exhibitionistas:HOW CAN YOU CONTRIBUTE?  With a one-off donation Become a member. Affordable tiers for less than the price of a coffee in London (and you receive my episode notes): https://www.patreon.com/c/exhibitionistaspodcast/membership Get in touch if none of these work. We can find a way!Art, exhibitions, AI, technology, community, contemporary art, metaverse, digital art, immersive experiences, art criticism.

In this episode, Joana P. R. Neves and co-host Liberté Nuti look back on On Kawara's exhibition at David Zwirner Gallery London, Date Paintings (21 November 2024 to 25 January 2025 ).To know more about Liberté Nuti:https://www.haerbnuti.com/Follow her on Instagram: @libertenutiFor more information on the show:https://www.davidzwirner.com/exhibitions/2024/on-kawara-londonFor more information on On Kawara and One Million Years Foundation:https://www.onemillionyearsfoundation.org/They explore the life and work of On Kawara, a significant figure in contemporary art known for his repetitive and conceptual Date Paintings (1966 - 2012).How do you deal with an artist who did everything he could to reduce life to art, and thus preserve life's unique intangibility? How do you experience a series of works dedicated to the obsessive recording of time through craft?"It was quite the experience""On Kawara is a concept, in himself""What else do you want?"Music by Sarturn.Support us on:https://exhibitionistaspodcast.com/ and go to the DONATE page.

EXHIBITIONISTAS CELEBRATES ONE YEAR OF PODCASTING! 🍌🍌🍌If you want to give us a birthday present, we have ideas>>>>>For a one-off donation: paypal.me/exhibitionistas [https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/my/profile]For a membership: https://www.patreon.com/c/exhibitionistaspodcast/membership And now the episode. We talk about Lauren Halsey's exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery, curated by Lizzie Carey-Thomas and Chris Bayley. It's a maximalist environment that led us to a discussion about art, freedom, identity, revolution and care. It also allowed us to find out more about the myths and origins of the term Afro-Futurism, which surprised us a great deal.To know more about the exhibition: https://www.serpentinegalleries.org/whats-on/lauren-halsey-emajendat/We also mention Emily's friend, an artist using street signs in her work. Go to Instagram and check her out! @janeroerevolutionMusic by Sarturn.

We start this brand new year with an incursion into South Africa, with Zanele Muholi's magnificent solo show at Tate Modern. Shockingly, Emily and I broke our own rules and actually visited the show together… which turned out to be quite productive. After a hilarious take on Gladiator II by Emily, we explore Muholi's unique path into activism, photography, curated exhibitions, sculpture, and self-imagery. Muholi's work focuses on queer communities in South Africa through a form of what the artist calls "visual activism". But there is also self-portraiture, as the artist is part of this LGBTQIA+ diverse fabric. For Muholi, their use of the pronouns they/them goes way beyond gender identity. It recognises past histories, visible and invisible, and identity as multitude. Muholi says 'There are those who came before me who make me.'To know more about the exhibition: https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/zanele-muholiYou can follow them on Instagram too: @muholizaneleIf you'd like to have visual content about the episodes, follow us on Instagram too: @exhibitionistas_podcastYou can support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/exhibitionistaspodcast/membershipMusic by Sarturn.

We're wrapping up 2024 with a friends & family celebration.And what a year it has been: Exhibitionistas was born.So, to celebrate kinship of all kinds through art, we decided to invite a special guest who has been steeped in art since birth, Joana's daughter, artist and dancer Constança Saturnino.How does growing up with an artist and a curator influence your idea of art?Follow us on Instagram: @exhibitionistas_podcastYou can also check out Constança's work on Instagram: @saturn.conchCheck out her handpoke tattoo Instagram: @field.trailOr her website: https://www.constancasaturnino.comPlease remember to support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/exhibitionistaspodcast/membershipMusic by Sarturn.

We are thrilled to welcome Stephen Ellcock to the podcast during his press tour for the book Elements, which completes a trilogy with The Cosmic Dance (2022) and Underworlds (2023), all published by Thames and Hudson. This time, he has gathered images around the ancestral notion of "the elements", seen through the contemporary lens of sustainability and the impending climate tragedy.Is the book an exhibition? And if so, what kind? There is a mystery underlying these questions  which is the statuts and power of images in their different spaces such as galleries or publications. However, this episode is also an opportunity to get to know the image alchemist Stephen Ellcock a bit more.If you don't know Stephen Ellcock's instagram account yet, you should: @stephenellcockFollow us for more images: @exhibitionistas_podcastSupport us on our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/c/exhibitionistaspodcast/membershipMusic by Sarturn.

Believe it or not, this is the first episode dedicated to an exhibition at the Hayward Gallery, a brutalist building Joana and Emily love so much.And what better way to start than with the immersive experience of Haegue Yang's solo show? Even the threshold between the hall and the exhibition space is a happening in "Leap Year", the first survey of the South Korean artist in the UK, open from 9 October 2024 to 5 January 2025.This episode was recorded during the week, late in the afternoon, rather than in our usual time (the early hours of a quiet Sunday) so it may be infused with a certain chaotic energy. Or was it the sensory fest of Yang's art? Tune in to decide for yourself.To know more about the exhibition: https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/haegue-yang-leap-year/Follow Haegue yang on Instagram: @yanghaegueTo see images of the exhibition go to our Instagram account: @exhibitionistas_podcastIf you want to support us, go to: https://www.patreon.com/c/exhibitionistaspodcast/membershipMusic by Sarturn.

This episode is dedicated to beloved and prematurely deceased American artist Mike Kelley. The Tate Modern has set up an impressive retrospective, those once-in-a-lifetime exhibitions that you cannot miss if you're in town. So we decided to dig in and bring it to you if you can't make it and enhance your experience if you did. There are opinions, feelings, stories and a cacophonous experience that will leave no one indifferent.  Jack White finally makes an appearance again as we had once promised!  Joana and Emily introduce you to the universe of Mike Kelley, of anarchist and punk teenage and young adult years, who ceaselessly poked at the overwhelming and overpowering world of entertainment. Then they move on to his academic life and career achievements, always marked by a rebellious streak consistently visible in his work about the traps of memory, the failings of education and psychology, and the fine line between fiction and reality. For more about Ghost and Spirit @Tate Modern: https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/mike-kelley-ghost-and-spirit For more about Mike Kelley: https://mikekelleyfoundation.org/grants/overview If you want to support us: https://www.patreon.com/c/exhibitionistaspodcast/membership Instagram: @exhibitionistas_podcast Music by: Sarturn

Yes! We have our first guest on the podcast, art advisor Liberté Nuti. As often happens in the art world, we are not always familiar with each other's jobs. And forget telling people you are a podcaster! (People think you are an influencer selling hair products online.) So let's start to dismantle some myths and find out more about what it is that us intermediaries of the art world do.Joana goes on this quest on her own this time, as Emily is on sick leave, and it is Joana's expertise after all, to interview people and do talks about art topics.Joana asks Liberté about all theses things and ends the conversation on the topic of dream exhibitions. What are they? How do they impact our lives and why?To know more about Liberté Nuti: @libertenutiTo follow us: @exhibitionistas_podcastBecome a member of our podcast on Patreon and support us if you can: https://www.patreon.com/c/exhibitionistaspodcast/membershipMusic by: @Sarturn

We go back to The Curve at the Barbican for the first institutional exhibition of Pamela Phatsimo's work in the UK, titled It Will End in Tears.And what an entrance Sunstrum's work is having in London! The exhibition adapts to the demanding shape of The Curve, basically a curved corridor initially designed as a buffer between the auditoriums and the hall, and now a creative exhibition space that Joana and Emily have come to love.Sunstrum involves the viewer in a revised film noir narrative, where the "femme" is perhaps even more "fatale" than usual.To know more about the show: https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2024/event/pamela-phatsimo-sunstrum-it-will-end-in-tearsTo follow Sunstrum on Instagram: @pamelaphatsimoSupport us on our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/c/ExhibitionistasPodcastFollow the pod, subscribe, and review us! Follow us on Instagram: @exhibitionistas_podcastMusic by @Saturn

This is a real banger of an exhibition and episode!We explore Tracey Emin's exhibition "I Followed You to the end" at White Cube Bermondsey, open from 19 September to 10 November 2024. But first we go back to the nineties, to the YBA, the Sensation exhibition, and a really hilarious Channel 4 program comically titled "Is Painting Dead?". Follow us on this fascinating journey through Emin's life and work. You will not be disappointed!For more information on the show:https://www.whitecube.com/gallery-exhibitions/tracey-emin-bermondsey-2024You can follow Tracey Emin's wonderful residency in Margate here:@tracey_emin_artist_residencyYou can also follow us on Instagram: @exhibitionistas_podcastAnd you can, more importantly, become a member of the podcast. We are doing this for free, so we need to step it up with you:https://www.patreon.com/ExhibitionistasPodcastOh, and if you want to watch the Channel 4 episode Is Painting Dead, go here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKHJoLG2cEkMusic by Sarturn.

If this was a Friends episode, we would have titled it "The One Where Emily and Joana ask Each Other Questions". But it's not, so we decided to describe it as an origin story: we go back to the reasons why we decided to do this podcast and why it has such a distinctive format: an arts specialist and an exhibition goer candidly discussing solo exhibitions.This intro is a way to ease into this new and promising second season, and to (re)introduce the podcast to our listeners. It's always good to go over the rules of the game. Believe me, you will be reminded that this is a feelings, research and thoughts podcast. (And if you think these don't go together, think again!)Asking each other questions has allowed us to reveal to each other a few things we hadn't discussed, busy, as we were, with actually producing the episodes. There are a few revelations in there, self-explorations and we realise what the podcast brought us, and, by extension, our listeners. Or so we hope!Music: Saturn.Instagram: exhibitionistas_podcast.

This is a different kind of episode... We decided to record smaller formats here and there for you to explore a topic related to exhibitions that everyone thinks is a given. There are no givens for us, we like to question everything.  And we know that unlike cinemas, or bookshops, exhibition galleries can feel intimidating. And we want you to know that an art lover and an art professional can also feel this discombobulating feeling of alienation in exhibiton spaces, which at times, prompts us to feel embarrassed, out of our depth, or even to make a few faux-pas. It happens to everyone, especially, I would say, to exhibitionistas.  And by now, you, dear listener, can consider yourself as such! We are a big community! This is the last episode of this season. We will be back very soon, with a new string of exhibition experiences, and perhaps, who knows, smaller episodes like this one alternating with the big ones. A weekly episode drop?! Who knows, anything is possible. After all, we did start this podcast with innocent and extravagant confidence. And look at us, here we are. @exhibitionistas_podcast exhibitionistaspod@gmail.com Music by Sarturn.

This time we went to the Serpentine gallery in Hyde park. What a nice setting for a contemporary art venue. That walk back to the tube is always a slow and ponderous one. We do talk a lot about walks back to the tube after visiting exhibitions in this episode! We visited the retrospective exhibition of the feminist pioneer Judy Chicago, whose blueprint was a hitherto unpublished manuscript, Revelations, inspired by Illuminations and myths of the Goddess. You can purchase it online or in the book shop. The show was curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist, the artistic director of the gallery. We exchanged different experiences and thoughts about the exhibition, based partially on the curatorial choices that were made and which puzzled us somewhat, although we support the ecological reasons they are based on. For more information about the exhibition go here: https://www.serpentinegalleries.org/whats-on/judy-chicago-revelations/ Follow Judy Chicago on Instagram: @judy.chicago And follow us! @exhibitionistas_podcast Music by Sarturn.

In this episode we discuss Matthew Krishanu's exhibition The Bough Breaks at Camden Art Centre, a place we adore. We chat about loss, childhood, overlapping times, grief and the colonial residue of authentic relationships filled with love. We didn't always agree but that is the power of exhibitions: we shared diverging experiences, which made the episode even more compelling and at times hilarious. There a few hilarious anecdotes about 80's parenting - or lack thereof. For more information about the exhibition: https://camdenartcentre.org/whats-on/matthew-krishanu-the-bough-breaks Music by Sarturn.