Artsy
91 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 6 years ago - ★★★★★ - 176 ratingsArtsy's team of editors takes you behind the scenes of the art world, talking everything from art history to the latest market news.
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Episodes
No. 79: From Auction Week to Art Basel, What’s Happening in the Art Market
June 06, 2018 16:14 - 30 minutes - 57 MBOn this episode, we take stock of the state of the art market. May was a frenzied month for the industry, with the Rockefeller and New York auctions providing key litmus tests about the health of the market. There were some objectively massive sales, including works by Picasso and Modigliani. But with big ticket works selling, why didn’t the action on the salesroom floor feel exciting? And what does that tell us about the role that expectations play when it comes to the art market? We also ...
No. 78: Are Selfie Museums an Affront to the Art World?
May 25, 2018 15:22 - 32 minutes - 42.9 MBThis week, our editors sit down to chat about one of the art world’s most divisive topics: “selfie museums.” We discuss what the rise of the Museum of Ice Cream, and other similar Instagram-friendly institutions, means for the art world and the meaning of the word “museum.” As experiential art continues to explode in popularity, we also discuss whether selfie-driven art is different or similar to selfie museums—even drawing on our own recent experiences visiting one of these Instagram-friendl...
No. 77: Exploring the Art Market’s Best (and Worst) Practices
May 09, 2018 19:42 - 32 minutes - 41.4 MBThe United States House of Representatives is considering expanding the Bank Secrecy Act in order to make galleries and auction houses subject to federal regulation. And the entire art market is buzzing. But the rules of the art market aren’t always written by the government. Last month, the Art Business Conference hosted a panel discussion on Art Basel’s “Art Market Principles and Best Practices,” a set of internal regulations governing the conduct of galleries participating in the fair Thi...
No. 76: How Is the Internet Impacting Creativity and the Arts?
April 25, 2018 17:50 - 23 minutes - 29.1 MBFor most of us, the following scenarios probably sound familiar: you’re supposed to be focusing on an important task, but instead you’re distracted by Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook; or, you’re in a museum full of art but still find yourself glued to your iPhone. This week on the Artsy Podcast, we tackle the question of how creativity and the arts are being impacted by the digital age. On one hand, we’re constantly fending off distraction; on the other, the internet has created amazing new t...
No. 75: Answering The Art History Questions You Never Thought to Ask
April 11, 2018 15:38 - 31 minutes - 41.3 MBOn this week’s episode, we walk you through an alternative Art History 101 class—one where no question is too embarrassing or obvious to ask. Join us as we demystify some of the art world’s most hard-to-decipher movements (such as Conceptual Art) and dive into the nuances behind seemingly straightforward topics (like the proper way to hang an artwork).
No. 74: The State of the Art Market in 2018 So Far
March 28, 2018 15:17 - 22 minutes - 29.6 MBNearly three months into 2018, several major milestones of the art market calendar have already come and gone—including the London auctions and the release of the The Art Market | 2018 report earlier this month. Meanwhile, in China, Art Basel in Hong Kong kicked off this week. On this episode, our editors sit down to talk about what early art market signals this year are telling us about the health of the trade and what it could all mean for the future of the industry.
No. 73: Miami Mega-Collector Jorge Pérez on Why Cuban Art Matters
March 14, 2018 21:19 - 25 minutes - 23.3 MBOn this episode, we’re taking a deep dive into the world of contemporary Cuban art—a topic int with questions of history and politics and culture, both on and off the island. We’re joined from Miami by art collector Jorge Pérez and chief curator of the Pérez Art Museum Miami, Tobias Ostrander, to discuss the institution’s show “On the Horizon” featuring more than 170 works of art.
No. 72: The Delectable, Daring World of Cake Art
March 07, 2018 20:07 - 23 minutes - 28.1 MBPicture a cake: It’s circular, maybe rectangular, covered in a layer of single-color frosting. With the help of so-called “cake artists," however, this classic dessert is increasingly breaking the mold. On this episode, we explore the delectable, jaw-dropping world of specialty cakes. From a life-size bust of Willie Nelson to a geometric mousse confection that resembles nothing so much as a work of Op Art, these creations are increasingly sculptural. Plus, we’ll revisit the Supreme Court case...
No. 71: What the Obama Portraits Tell Us about Art and Politics
March 01, 2018 00:15 - 36 minutes - 33.2 MBThe official portraits of former United States President Barack Obama, painted by Kehinde Wiley, and former First Lady Michelle Obama, by Amy Sherald, were presented at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. earlier this month. Upon unveiling, the portraits became two of the most widely-debated works of contemporary art in years. On this episode, we sat down with curator Eugenie Tsai and writer Antwaun Sargent to discuss the impact and legacy of these two historic portraits.
No. 70: Behind the Scenes of the New Museum Triennial
February 22, 2018 00:38 - 25 minutes - 23.2 MB“Songs for Sabotage”—the fourth iteration of the New Museum Triennial—opened last week in New York. On this episode, we sat down with exhibition co-curator Gary Carrion-Murayari to discuss the years-long process to assemble a show of this nature. How did they decide which artists define the international cutting edge?
No. 69: How Independent Curators Power the Art World
February 14, 2018 17:48 - 30 minutes - 28.1 MBAlmost everything can be “curated” these days—playlists, outfits, gift baskets, even salads. So what does it really mean to be an independent curator? On this episode, we’re joined by curator Jacqueline Mabey to discuss the ups and downs of a career that’s not tied to a single institution.
No. 68: Is It Illegal to Eat a Work of Art?
February 07, 2018 20:03 - 30 minutes - 27.9 MBOn today’s episode, we’re taking a deep dive into two questions at the intersection of art and law. First: Can we make a case for legally eating an artwork? And, second: How can a Houston resident own a wall in her home—but not the mural painted on it?
No. 67: How Judy Chicago Pioneered the First Feminist Art Program
January 31, 2018 22:45 - 20 minutes - 19 MBArtist Judy Chicago began teaching at Fresno State in 1970, where she founded the nation’s first known feminist art program. On today’s episode, we explore the story of the women artists enrolled in the radical class—and how this little-known project evolved into the now-iconic installation Womanhouse at CalArts in 1972.
No. 66: Why Do Certain Photographs Make History?
January 24, 2018 22:01 - 23 minutes - 21.2 MBIn 1936, Dorothea Lange took a photograph that would go on to become one of the most defining images of the Great Depression: Migrant Mother. On this episode, we explore the backstory of this iconic photo—including the fact that it was almost never taken. Plus, what can Migrant Mother tell us about modern-day photojournalism?
No. 65: Can Pot Help Unlock Creative Potential?
January 18, 2018 00:03 - 26 minutes - 24 MBDoes smoking pot make you more creative? On this episode, we posed the question to Aaron Lammer—musician and host of the Stoner podcast—in a conversation that ranges from the neuroscience of drug use to the habits of musicians, authors, and artists who incorporate marijuana into their practice.
No. 64: Looking Ahead to 2018 in the Art World
January 10, 2018 23:38 - 28 minutes - 25.8 MBOn this episode, we look ahead to 2018. From continuing allegations of sexual harassment to the Met’s new ticketing policy to a wealth of upcoming women-centric shows, these are the issues and exhibitions we’ll be keeping an eye on in the new year.
No. 63: Camille Claudel, the Sculptor Who Inspired Rodin’s Most Sensual Work
January 03, 2018 15:47 - 9 minutes - 8.59 MBYou can find the Artsy Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, or the podcasting app of your choice. Don’t forget to rate the show and leave us comments; we’d love to hear from you. Over the last few weeks, we’ve translated a few of our readers’ favorite art-historical stories into audio. On our final special episode: the life of sculptor Camille Claudel, whose career was intertwined—for better or worse—with that icon of 20th-century art, Auguste Rodin.
No. 62: The Myth of Jackson Pollock and the Masterpiece Created in One Night
December 27, 2017 13:49 - 8 minutes - 7.77 MBYou can find the Artsy Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, or the podcasting app of your choice. Don’t forget to rate the show and leave us comments; we’d love to hear from you. This month on the Artsy Podcast, we’re translating four of our readers’ favorite art-historical stories into audio. On this episode: the dramatic story behind Jackson Pollock’s largest painting, why it’s undoubtedly exaggerated—and why that doesn’t diminished its significance in the famed Abstract Exp...
No. 61: When Georgia O’Keeffe Went to Hawaii to Paint Pineapples for Dole
December 20, 2017 16:42 - 8 minutes - 7.73 MBThis month on the Artsy Podcast, we’re translating four of our readers’ favorite art-historical stories into audio. On this episode: when Georgia O’Keeffe traded desert vistas and bleached cow bones for the verdant valleys and electric blue seas of Hawaii.
No. 60: Why Robert Rauschenberg Erased a De Kooning
December 13, 2017 21:25 - 10 minutes - 9.34 MBThis month on the Artsy Podcast, we’re translating four of our readers’ favorite art-historical stories into audio. On this episode: how a young Robert Rauschenberg roped the admired Abstract Expressionist Willem de Kooning into his quest to make a drawing using only an eraser.
No. 59: The Latest from Art Basel in Miami Beach
December 07, 2017 18:29 - 26 minutes - 23.9 MBArt Basel in Miami Beach—the last major event on this year’s art world calendar—opened its doors to collectors yesterday. On this episode, we discuss our favorite booths of the week and what a new layout means for the fair’s 16th edition. Plus, we ask: A year after the U.S. presidential election, how is today’s political climate reflected in the art on view in Miami?
No. 58: What’s Driving Artists to Become More Professional?
November 29, 2017 22:58 - 27 minutes - 25.5 MBIn 2012, the median income of professional artists with art degrees in New York City was $25,000. In 2015, the chance that an artist living in the U.S. would receive a solo exhibition at MoMA was 0.0006%. The odds are stacked against artists trying to make it in the art world. On this episode, we’re joined by Heather Bhandari—co-author of the book Art/Work, a professional practices guide—to discuss the growing number of resources for artists looking to establish and run a successful practice.
No. 57: What Happens When Art Meets Craigslist
November 23, 2017 00:43 - 30 minutes - 28.2 MBCraigslist has proven to be a blessing for a generation of artists, a seemingly bottomless well of eccentricity. Artists have used it to cast projects, as a source for serial photography books, even as a way to sell sculptural works masquerading as used furniture. On this episode, we’re joined by artist Sophie Barbasch, who has used the site to pose often intimate questions to a sea of strangers.
No. 56: Unpacking the Allegations of Sexual Harassment in the Art World
November 16, 2017 22:59 - 20 minutes - 19 MBLast month, the New York Times published a story detailing a number of sexual harassment allegations leveled against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. But that article was only the beginning. In the weeks since, at least 20 high-profile men have faced accusations of sexual misconduct, including two powerful figures in the art world: former Artforum co-publisher Knight Landesman and former Armory Show director Benjamin Genocchio. On today’s episode, a discussion of these sexual allegati...
No. 55: What Art Therapy Can Do That Traditional Therapy Can’t
November 08, 2017 22:11 - 20 minutes - 19.1 MBLast month, Second Lady Karen Pence outlined her three-part plan to promote the field of art therapy during her term in the White House. But what is art therapy, exactly? On this episode, we break down this little-understood field—and discuss whether support from a controversial administration may end up politicizing it.
No. 54: Petra Collins and Marilyn Minter Talk Feminism and Horror Flicks
November 02, 2017 20:43 - 27 minutes - 25.3 MB“I love family photos, but not in the way most people love them. My love for them is like my love for reality TV.” That’s how artist Petra Collins begins her latest book Coming of Age, which hit shelves earlier this week. On this episode, we’re joined by Collins and fellow artist Marilyn Minter to discuss both family snapshots and reality television—plus, feminism, horror flicks, and what fashion photography can do that art can’t.
No. 53: Is the Art Market Irrational?
October 26, 2017 21:51 - 29 minutes - 27.2 MBWho decides how much an artwork is worth? And is that price tag rational? On this episode, we’re joined by economist Don Thompson, whose latest book The Orange Balloon Dog explores the inner workings of the contemporary art market. From Jeff Koons’s monumental sculpture that set auction records in 2013 to the upcoming sale of Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi, we discuss how the massive sums paid for artworks are determined across auction houses, art fairs, and private deals.
No. 25: Making It in the Art World If You’re Not a Rich Kid
October 19, 2017 23:00 - 26 minutes - 24.3 MBThis week, we’re rebroadcasting a favorite episode from earlier this year. As the New York Times recently reported, twenty-somethings pursuing a career in art and design are the most likely to receive financial assistance from parents; they also receive the largest sums. On this episode, we’re joined by Sandra Jackson-Dumont, chair of education at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Naiomy Guerrero, creator of GalleryGirl.nyc, to discuss the role money plays in art world careers. How does ...
No. 52 (Part Two): Guggenheim Curators on the Controversy Surrounding Their New Show
October 12, 2017 21:46 - 29 minutes - 26.9 MBOn September 20th, the New York Times published a preview of the Guggenheim’s latest show “Art and China after 1989: Theater of the World.” One particular video work—Peng Yu and Sun Yuan’s Dogs That Cannot Touch Each Other (2003), in which pit bulls bred for dogfighting were restrained and placed opposite each other on treadmills—quickly ignited a firestorm of controversy. On September 25th, the museum announced that it would pull the piece (along with two others that incorporated animals) fr...
No. 52 (Part One): How Globalization Changed China—and Its Art
October 12, 2017 21:40 - 25 minutes - 23.1 MBLast month, Artsy spoke with two curators of the Guggenheim ’s latest exhibition, “Art and China after 1989: Theater of the World” about a particular moment in the history of contemporary artists from China. Our conversation took place before the show had opened—and, as it turned out, a few days before a major controversy erupted around Peng Yu and Sun Yuan’s 2003 video work Dogs That Cannot Touch Each Other. This work, along with two others, was eventually removed amid allegations of animal ...
No. 51: The Latest from London’s Frieze Week
October 05, 2017 21:27 - 17 minutes - 16.1 MBLondon’s Frieze Week is here. On this episode, Artsy’s editors report back from the 2017 editions of Frieze London and Frieze Masters. Why are these two fairs are beginning to look more and more alike? Plus, this year’s best booths and how a blockbuster show at the Tate is influencing the art on view.
No. 50: Why Rembrandt’s Night Watch Is So Famous
September 28, 2017 21:36 - 21 minutes - 20 MBThere are certain artworks that almost everyone in the world knows—the Mona Lisa, Starry Night, The Scream. What most people can’t explain is the reason why these particular paintings are more famous than thousands of other inventive and moving works of art that fill museums worldwide. On this special 50th episode, we chart one painting’s rise to fame: The Night Watch (1642), Rembrandt van Rijn’s 17th-century masterwork. It's a centuries-long story that includes, among other things: a devas...
No. 49: How Art Fairs Can Do Better
September 22, 2017 00:54 - 33 minutes - 30.5 MBFifteen years ago, there were a handful of international art fairs; today, that number has risen past 250. On this episode, we’re joined by The Armory Show’s director, Benjamin Genocchio, to discuss how this increasingly influential facet of the art world should evolve. Can directors make their fairs more equitable for smaller galleries—and is that even their responsibility?
No. 48: Jeffrey Deitch on Four Decades in a Changing Art World
September 14, 2017 20:01 - 34 minutes - 31.3 MBArt and finance have long been intertwined. As early as the Italian Renaissance, a Florentine banking family supported Michelangelo and Botticelli in making their masterpieces. On this episode, we fast-forward a few centuries to 1980s New York City as Jeffrey Deitch explains how he convinced both bankers and art world denizens to buy into Citibank’s new art services department—an innovation that would transform the art market into what we know today.
No. 47: The Latest Requirement for Med Students? Studio Art
September 07, 2017 22:48 - 20 minutes - 18.8 MBFrom Harvard to Penn State, medical schools across the country are increasingly turning to art and the humanities to train would-be doctors. On this episode, we’re joined by Columbia University’s Dr. Delphine Taylor to discuss how life-drawing classes or visits to the Met help her students tackle ambiguity and humanize their patients.
No. 46: When Museums Sell Their Art, Where Should the Money Go?
August 31, 2017 20:02 - 21 minutes - 19.9 MBLast month, a new row broke out in the art world around the Berkshire Museum’s decision to auction off 40 works by artists such as Norman Rockwell and Alexander Calder to pay for a renovation and boost their endowment. But this latest controversy represents just one installment in the long-running debate about “deaccessioning,” or the disposal of objects from a museum’s collection. On this episode, we’re joined by law professor Brian L. Frye who walks us through the history of the regulatio...
No. 23: What Does It Mean to Curate GIFs?
August 26, 2017 14:05 - 16 minutes - 15.2 MBThis week, we’re rebroadcasting a favorite episode from earlier this year. GIPHY’s community curator Ari Spool joins us to break down the process of curating artist-created GIFs. Is there a key to going viral? What do GIFs allow us to express that words might not? And how do these online images fit into centuries of fine art? Read more: https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-giphy-artists-works-viewed-100-million-times
No. 45: Why Artists Are Turning to Mysticism
August 17, 2017 22:00 - 22 minutes - 20.8 MBVisitors to this year’s Venice Biennale can stroll through the Pavilion of Shamans—just one example of the increasing presence of shamanism and mysticism in the work of contemporary artists. This uptick comes amid a reexamination of ideas that were once associated with the countercultural movements of the 1960s and ’70s, including a second look at psychedelics. On this episode, we explore the wider history of shamanic practices across the globe—and how they’ve intersected with the art world ...
No. 44: Who’s Afraid of Contemporary Art?
August 10, 2017 23:33 - 24 minutes - 22.7 MBOn this episode, curators Jessica Cerasi and Kyung An walk us through the ABCs of contemporary art. Each chapter of their new book, Who’s Afraid of Contemporary Art?, is devoted to a different question about this thorny (and often alienating) segment of the art world. When did contemporary art start—and when will it end? Why was the art world split over Jay-Z’s show at Pace Gallery? And why are exhibition press releases so hard to understand?
No. 43: You Can Thank These Women for Modern Art as We Know It
July 27, 2017 15:02 - 18 minutes - 17.2 MBWho built the New York art world? Today, the scene is by and large dominated by men. But some of the most prestigious museums, galleries, and salons that fostered the city’s cultural scene in the 1920s and ’30s were founded by women like Peggy Guggenheim and Florine Stettheimer. In this episode, we explore their often-overlooked stories—and discuss why, despite their beginnings, these institutions have long been criticized for a gender gap across both their staffs and collections.
No. 42: Former Met Director Thomas Campbell Defends His Legacy
July 20, 2017 22:59 - 37 minutes - 33.9 MBOn February 4th, the New York Times published a front page story entitled “Is the Met Museum ‘a Great Institution in Decline’?” The article ignited a ferocious public backlash against New York City’s most-visited institution and its director and CEO, Thomas P. Campbell. By the end of that same month, Campbell had announced his resignation—making his tenure as director the shortest since the Met’s fourth, Herbert Eustis Winlock, who presided over the institution from 1932 to 1939. Principal ...
No. 41: Art and Censorship in the Age of Social Media
July 13, 2017 22:37 - 19 minutes - 17.5 MBIn May, documents leaked to the Guardian offered an unprecedented glimpse into Facebook’s inner workings: How do they think about moderating a range of controversial subjects, from violence to pornography? But those in the art world were particularly interested in the handful of slides detailing the social media giant’s policy on nudity in works of art. Facebook and Instagram have long been criticized for removing artwork containing nudity, a practice many interpret as censorship. On this ep...
Bonus: The 60-Year Saga of a Nazi-Looted Painting
July 06, 2017 17:59 - 20 minutes - 18.8 MBThe saga of Egon Schiele’s Portrait of Wally spans six decades, beginning in 1950s Vienna before making its way to New York’s Museum of Modern Art.
No. 40: How Old Women Eclipsed Young Men in the Art World
June 29, 2017 21:49 - 23 minutes - 21.8 MBMinimalist painter Carmen Herrera sold her first artwork at age 89. Now, at age 102, her paintings fetch prices in the six digits. On today’s episode, we explore the growing demand for—and institutional presence of—long-overlooked women artists including Herrera, Carol Rama, and Irma Blank. How did these older, female artists push young men out of the art world spotlight?
No. 39: What Happens When Art Threatens the President
June 22, 2017 22:58 - 31 minutes - 28.7 MBIs it illegal to kill the president in an artwork? That’s what we wondered in May, when we saw first saw Alaskan assistant professor Thomas Chung’s painting that depicted actor Chris Evans holding Donald Trump’s severed head. And over the past few weeks, that question has taken on renewed significance with a series of creative works imagining Trump’s demise from a Kathy Griffin photoshoot to a performance of Julius Caesar by New York’s Public Theater. On this episode, we’re joined by N...
Special Edition: Art Basel in Basel
June 15, 2017 21:34 - 21 minutes - 20.1 MBAt this year’s edition of Art Basel in Basel, which opened Tuesday to VVIPs, dealers were reporting multiple sales in the seven- and eight-figure range—a surprisingly strong start to the art world’s most important fair. On this episode, we explore what’s behind these big-ticket purchases and what it means for the wider art market. Plus, we’ll take a look at the best work on view in Basel this week.
No. 38: How Reddit Got a Million People to Make Art Together
June 08, 2017 16:27 - 23 minutes - 22 MBWhat began as an April Fools joke on the website Reddit is now being hailed as the world’s largest collaborative artwork. Over one million users, armed with one pixel each, worked together over 72 hours to create a canvas that now contains everything from the American flag to the Mona Lisa. On this episode, we’re joined by Josh Wardle and Kevin O’Connor from Reddit to break down this massive online art project. Will this digital canvas end up in MoMA? And what can a dog wearing clogs tell u...
No. 37: Why Good Artists Make “Bad” Paintings
June 01, 2017 23:29 - 18 minutes - 17.2 MBThe genre of “bad painting” is a slippery one. On this podcast, we discuss the label, which has been applied to a wide-ranging group of artists throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. What they share, wrote curator Eva Badura-Triska in an essay for the 2008 show “Bad Painting: Good Art” at the Museum of Modern Art in Vienna, is a refusal “to submit to artistic canons.” So what exactly does that mean? Though artists from Francis Picabia to Rene Magritte are among early practitioners of “ba...
No. 36: When Basquiat Is More Expensive Than Warhol
May 25, 2017 21:28 - 25 minutes - 23.1 MBLast Thursday, a 1982 painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat sold for a formidable $110.4 million at Sotheby’s. It set a record for the New York artist, who both joined the exclusive “$100 million-plus club” and displaced Andy Warhol as the most expensive American artist at auction in one fell swoop. This week, we break down the sale—both what it means for Basquiat’s market going forward and whether it changes his place in the art-historical canon.
No. 35: The Olympics of Art
May 18, 2017 22:55 - 28 minutes - 26.6 MBThe 57th Venice Biennale opened last week, and on this episode we share our highlights from this year’s “Olympics of art.” How did Christine Macel’s central exhibition stack up against Okwui Enwezor’s in 2015? Was Anne Imhof’s exhibition for Germany—which earned the Golden Lion for the best national pavilion—all it’s cracked up to be? And beyond the Biennale, is Damien Hirst’s massive two-part Venice exhibition worth a visit?