Museum Confidential
139 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 2 months ago - ★★★★★ - 61 ratingsMuseum Confidential is a behind-the-scenes look at museums hosted by Jeff Martin. The show is a co-production of Philbrook Museum of Art and Public Radio Tulsa. New episodes every two weeks.
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Episodes
Banksy Unmasked
May 30, 2024 20:58 - 25 minutes - 19.1 MBPsyche! We’re not actually unmasking Banksy on this episode, but we are taking a closer look at the recently-opened museum in New York City dedicated to the famously anonymous street artist/activist. William Meade is the Executive Director of the Banksy Museum in Manhattan and we have no idea if he knows Banksy’s true identity. For all we know he could actually be Banksy! It’s all a bit complicated.
Art Fair Diaries: Chicago
May 10, 2024 17:37 - 22 minutes - 18.4 MBOn the final installment of our ART FAIR DIARIES trilogy, Philbrook Chief Curator and roving MC correspondent, Kate Green takes us to the land of John Hughes movies and deep-dish pizza. Welcome to EXPO CHICAGO.
The Things We Keep
April 26, 2024 03:35 - 38 minutes - 40.2 MBAcclaimed artist Chris Ramsay’s work deals with big, universal subjects: time, space, impermanence, what we discard, and what we choose to keep. Now, after receiving an incurable cancer diagnosis, Chris is confronting the biggest questions of all.
Art Fair Diaries: Mexico City
April 13, 2024 02:25 - 15 minutes - 13.3 MBFor this new installment in our Art Fair Diaries series, Philbrook Chief Curator (and occasional roving Museum Confidential correspondent) Kate Green reports from the biggest art fair in one of the world's biggest cities. Welcome to Mexico City.
On Sovereign Futures
March 30, 2024 02:34 - 25 minutes - 19.1 MBOur guest is curator Allison Glenn; we previously spoke to Glenn a few years ago about her Breonna Taylor-inspired show, "Promise, Witness, Remembrance." Now Glenn is curating a multi-venue, multi-day, multi-focused convening titled Sovereign Futures, which runs April 4th through the 7th. Per the Sovereign Futures website, various "artist-led projects will explore themes of sovereignty through...food, land, speculative futures, and histories of the place that is now called Oklahoma."
The Insider
March 15, 2024 02:43 - 27 minutes - 21 MBOur guest is acclaimed journalist Bianca Bosker, who tells us that -- when it comes to which topics she chooses to investigate and cover -- she's "obsessed with obsession." Bosker's latest book is "Get the Picture: A Mind-Bending Journey among the Inspired Artists and Obsessive Art Fiends Who Taught Me How to See." She was a security guard at the Guggenheim. She worked in a commercial gallery. She was a studio assistant to an emerging artist. What Hunter S. Thompson did with the Hell's Angel...
The Future of Museum Funding?
February 23, 2024 04:19 - 26 minutes - 20.7 MBA recent headline in The New York Times read: To Save Museums, Treat Them Like Highways. There’s no shortage of conversations about museum funding models. But after reading this one, arguing that museums should be thought of more like infrastructure, it was time for another. On this episode we speak to one of the piece’s co-writers, Laura Raicovich, former Executive Director of New York’s Queens Museum.
Live in Reno with Cannupa Hanska Luger
February 09, 2024 04:59 - 38 minutes - 32.4 MBThe Nevada Museum of Art invited us out for a live show in Reno with acclaimed indigenous artist Cannupa Hanska Luger. Futurism and speculative fiction are just two of many terms that describe Luger’s unforgettable work and the special exhibition, SPEECHLESS. On this episode we chat with Luger and Apsara DiQuinzio, the Museum’s Senior Curator of Contemporary Art.
Film & Fashion: Killers of the Flower Moon
January 26, 2024 04:13 - 33 minutes - 25.7 MBMartin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon just nabbed ten Oscar nominations, including one for Costume Design. But how do you authentically take people back to the Osage Nation of the 1920’s? How do you get every detail just right? Meet Julie O’Keefe, the Osage Nation wardrobe consultant hired to do just that.
Edward Hopper Abides
January 12, 2024 06:30 - 30 minutes - 22.3 MBOn our first episode of 2024, we chat with the co-directors of an acclaimed new PBS American Masters documentary on legendary New York painter, Edward Hopper. “Hopper: An American Love Story” has it all; lonely people in rooms, quiet city streets, difficult relationships, and plenty of secrets revealed.
Art Basel Miami Beach: A Diary
December 15, 2023 03:05 - 36 minutes - 35.4 MBArt Basel Miami Beach, the biggest international modern/contemporary art fair in North America, took place earlier this month; thousands of art dealers, artists, collectors, curators, and art aficionados showed up. Kate Green, the Chief Curator & Nancy E. Meinig Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art at Philbrook Museum of Art, was among those attending this very active and multifaceted annual event (or series of events). At our request, Green kept an audio diary while she was there. She joins...
Sharon Stone
December 01, 2023 04:42 - 21 minutes - 16 MBYou probably know Sharon Stone the actress. It’s time you get to know Sharon Stone the ARTIST. Over the past few years, the Oscar nominee has turned painting into a dedicated daily practice. On this episode we talk about inspiration, early museum experiences, a new exhibition, and so much more.
Impossible Music
November 10, 2023 03:16 - 42 minutes - 31.1 MBWe travel to Pittsburgh’s Miller Institute of Contemporary Art (Carnegie Mellon University) for the special exhibition, IMPOSSIBLE MUSIC, a fascinating collection of sounds, scores, sculptures, video, live performances, and more. First up we have a big picture chat with the ICA’s Director, Elizabeth Chodos before a deeper dive with acclaimed curator Candice Hopkins and Pulitzer Prize-winning artist/composer, Raven Chacon. IMPOSSIBLE MUSIC runs through December 10.
Trade & Transformation
October 27, 2023 02:24 - 28 minutes - 27.6 MBEvery object holds a story. That’s the idea behind the thought-provoking new Philbrook exhibition, TRADE & TRANSFORMATION. Curator Kalyn Fay Barnoski (Cherokee Nation enrollee, Muscogee descent) originated and organized the exhibition. On this episode she joins us to chat about how she came to create it. Trade & Transformation is on view through December 30. Details at Philbrook.org.
Live in Iowa: Words & Pictures
October 13, 2023 02:42 - 40 minutes - 32.2 MBIn 2008, a catastrophic flood shut down the art museum on the University of Iowa campus. 15 years later, the museum has finally reopened with a new building, new name (The Stanley), and a new catalog created in partnership with the legendary Iowa Writer’s Workshop. They invited us up to chat about all of it.
Scorsese, Songs, and More with Randall Poster
September 22, 2023 05:09 - 27 minutes - 20.6 MBFrom time to time we explore the question, “what is a curator?” For the past 30 years, Randall Poster has been searching for, securing rights for, and working alongside directors to find the perfect moment for music in countless films. The official job title is Music Supervisor. It could easily be called “Music Curator.” In 2023 alone, his slate includes Wes Anderson’s “Asteroid City,” Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla,” and Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
Erasing History
September 08, 2023 02:17 - 29 minutes - 21.7 MBVideo journalist Alexandra Eaton of The New York Times joins us to share an unforgettable story that begins with a painting created in 1837 New Orleans. It depicts a well-to-do family’s three children and a Black enslaved child named Bélizaire. Decades later, Bélizaire was removed from the portrait. Experts have restored the work to its original state, revealing the enslaved youth who had been painted out of history. It goes on display this fall at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Summer Vacation to “Dalíland”
July 21, 2023 02:42 - 25 minutes - 18.7 MBIn the new biopic, Dalíland, acclaimed director Mary Harron give us a glimpse into the Salvador Dalí’s later years in 70s New York City via the immense talents of Academy Award-winner, Sir Ben Kingsley. From her look at attempted assassin Valerie Solanas in I Shot Andy Warhol to the murderous broker Patrick Bateman in American Psycho, Harron has always been attracted to infamous, challenging, and to put it lightly, difficult people. The film is now on demand now wherever you watch movies....
Live from Hawaii
May 26, 2023 02:44 - 37 minutes - 25 MBFor our Season 7 finale, we travel to the Honolulu Museum of Art (HoMA) to chat with an architect and a neurologist about the intersections of art, science, and nature.
Preserving the Digital World
May 13, 2023 02:37 - 28 minutes - 21.4 MBWith more and more of our lives now being lived online -- and with more and more of our stuff existing only in the cloud -- how best should we preserve art...and culture...and everything else worth saving? On this go-round of Museum Confidential, we speak with Richard Rinehart, the Director of the Samek Art Gallery at Bucknell University. He's also the co-author of an interesting new book titled "Re-Collection: Art, New Media, and Social Memory."
Life in the Archives
April 28, 2023 02:58 - 28 minutes - 31.7 MBOn this edition of MC, we've got mad props for all the archivists and librarians in the house. The stewardship that these professionals bring to MuseumLand is as multifaceted as it is vital: caretaking, cataloging, researching, locating, documenting, preserving, updating, etc. Our guest is Saige Blanchard, the Library and Collection Information Specialist at Philbrook. She also tells us about a new rare book exhibit that just opened.
The Art of the Record Store
April 19, 2023 17:57 - 25 minutes - 20.6 MBFounded by artist Theaster Gates, the Rebuild Foundation has been transforming buildings and neighborhoods on the South Side of Chicago since 2009 with art projects, community gathering spaces, small businesses, and more. Their latest venture is a vinyl shop called Miyagi Records. On this episode we do a little crate digging with the project leaders, Nigel Ridgeway and Marco Jacobo.
Sir Roger Deakins & James Deakins
March 24, 2023 02:33 - 29 minutes - 22.5 MBThis episode offers a career-spanning chat with Oscar-winning cinematographer, Sir Roger Deakins, and his wife/longtime collaborator, James Deakins. Known for his collaborations with Coen brothers (Fargo), Sam Mendes (1917), and Denis Villeneuve (Blade Runner 2049), Deakins began his life in film as a still photographer. He published his first-ever book of photographs, "Byways," in late 2021. Many of those photos (alongside unseen works) are now on view in Tulsa at the recently-opened photog...
Rembrandt to Monet
March 10, 2023 03:20 - 29 minutes - 23.2 MBMuseums rarely allow their most beloved works to travel. But Omaha’s Joslyn Art Museum is under renovation. An opportunity arose. Now through May 28, Philbrook presents 500 years of European treasures from that acclaimed collection. Featuring paintings by the likes of Rembrandt, Monet, El Greco, Titian, and Renoir, there’s no shortage of star power. Philbrook Curator Susan Green tells us all about it.
The American South...at the Royal Academy of Arts
February 24, 2023 20:42 - 28 minutes - 20.8 MBLondon's Royal Academy of Arts will soon open a special exhibition titled, SOULS GROWN DEEP LIKE RIVERS: BLACK ARTISTS FROM THE AMERICAN SOUTH. Created in partnership with the Souls Grown Deep Foundation in Atlanta, the exhibit will showcase 60+ works by notable Black artists over the last century. We speak with the curator of this show, Raina Lampkins-Fielder.
The Value of Art
February 10, 2023 04:45 - 28 minutes - 21.3 MBWhat is the “art market?” A decade ago, Michael Findlay published “The Value of Art” to explore this very question. But the world has changed in many ways since the book’s initial release. A global pandemic, MeToo, Black Lives Matter, crypto currency, and other factors have impacted how people and institutions are buying/selling art. Michael has just released a new, updated edition. Much to discuss.
Jeffrey Gibson
January 27, 2023 03:51 - 32 minutes - 24.8 MBA work by Mississippi Choctaw/Cherokee artist Jeffrey Gibson is instantly recognizable. This is even more impressive given the variety of his output. He paints, sculpts, repurposes, re-contextualizes, creates performances, and more. On this episode we chat with Gibson about his past, his work, and a current exhibition at the Aspen Art Museum called, “The Spirits are Laughing.”
Van Gogh in America
January 13, 2023 03:31 - 28 minutes - 21.6 MBA century ago, the Detroit Institute of Arts became the first U.S. museum to purchase a painting by Vincent van Gogh. Now they’re hosting America’s largest Van Gogh exhibition in a generation. On this episode we chat with DIA curator Jill Shaw about this massive undertaking.
Art, Artists, and LP Covers: An Extended Chit-Chat
December 30, 2022 05:02 - 1 hour - 59.5 MBMC is closing down 2022 with a one-hour special -- a breezy, somewhat geeky, opinionated, and taped-live-in-the-studio conversation between host Jeff Martin and producer Scott Gregory. The discussion topic is outstanding LP covers as rendered by known and/or notable artists. Kind of a long title, of course, but you get the idea -- and it's a pretty fun listen. With a few tangents, yes, but with lots of tasty music clips as well. Kick back, relax, and turn it up.
Painting Michelle Obama
December 16, 2022 04:32 - 29 minutes - 25.8 MBAcclaimed artist Sharon Sprung had to wait years before she could tell the world that she was commissioned to paint Michelle Obama’s official White House portrait. On this episode we chat with Sprung from her Brooklyn studio about painting, patience, and what’s it’s like to have a First Lady drop by.
Sneaker Art at 20
December 02, 2022 20:22 - 28 minutes - 21 MBOn this episode we get a few kicks with British artist Dave White who pioneered the sneaker art movement 20 years ago. His portraits of popular shoes led to collaborations with Nike, Jordan, and countless other brands. But Dave is no mere “sneakerhead.” His recent work is more concerned with the ground we stand on than the things we stand in.
Hilton Als on Joan Didion
November 11, 2022 05:22 - 26 minutes - 19 MBWell before Joan Didion’s death in December 2021, acclaimed writer and New Yorker magazine contributor Hilton Als was hard at work on a show for LA’s Hammer Museum. But how can one exhibition grapple with Didion’s big, uniquely American life? This episode explores that and much more. “Joan Didion: What She Means” runs through February 19, 2023.
Special Report: Hurricanes and Museums
October 28, 2022 19:17 - 25 minutes - 19.6 MBWith climate change and more frequent weather events, what does the future hold for coastal museums? On this special episode we speak with Courtney McNeil, Director and Chief Curator at the Baker Museum in Naples, Florida. This conversation was recorded in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Ian.
Prudes, Puritans, and American Museums
October 14, 2022 04:53 - 29 minutes - 22 MBFor the past few decades, American artist/sexual anthropologist Betony Vernon has been living in Europe, designing erotic jewelry, writing books, and generally following her creative muse. We caught up with Betony while she was back in the states for the inaugural FORMAT festival in northwest Arkansas.
Cheech & Chicano Art
September 23, 2022 02:23 - 25 minutes - 20.7 MBThe one and only Cheech Marin (Cheech & Chong) stops by to discuss his recently opened museum, The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art and Culture. Nicknamed “The Cheech,” the 61,420-square-foot, two-story center resides in what used to be the downtown public library in Riverside, California and houses nearly 500 paintings, drawings, and sculptures. That's a lot, man. Far out.
The Hidden History of Black Cinema
September 09, 2022 03:17 - 34 minutes - 33.6 MBOn our Season 7 premiere, we visit the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles for the opening of a groundbreaking new exhibition, REGENERATION: BLACK CINEMA 1898–1971. Enjoy a fascinating chat with exhibition’s co-curators, Doris Berger, Vice President of Curatorial Affairs at the Academy Museum, and Rhea Combs, Director of Curatorial Affairs at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery.
The Whataburger Museum of Art
August 19, 2022 21:38 - 26 minutes - 19.9 MBWe’re cooking up something tasty on this special summer episode and taking a bite out of the Whataburger Museum of Art. Is it really a museum? What’s the submission process? Is it curated? Is this pure marketing or something genuine? We explore this and much more with Whataburger Marketing Director Brooks Boenig alongside participating artists Mayra Zamora and Kristin Moore.
Museums Abide (Our 100th Show!)
May 27, 2022 03:14 - 28 minutes - 23.8 MBFrom a fire at the Smithsonian in 1865 to the Covid-19 pandemic, museums have faced challenge after challenge, and have survived. That didn't happen by accident. On our final MC episode for Season 6 -- and our 100th overall! -- we survey the general state of museums today with Samuel Redman, author of "The Museum: A Short History of Crisis and Resilience."
Stuffy Old Museum: Tone 101
May 13, 2022 03:46 - 19 minutes - 15.4 MBHow can a small museum in the middle of the country have an impact on par with bigger institutions? How can we fight above our weight class in the arena of ideas? On this special episode we team up with MuseumNext to explore the value of tone and crafting a unique institutional voice. Your intrepid host (Jeff) finally gets his turn in the hot seat. Things get interesting.
A Star is Born (at 86)
April 29, 2022 03:25 - 28 minutes - 21.3 MBShirley Woodson was born in 1936. She grew up and still lives in Detroit. It’s her city, her muse. At 86 the artist recently opened her first ever solo exhibition at her hometown museum, The Detroit Institute of Arts. “Shirley Woodson: Shield of the Nile Reflections” features 11 of the artist’s big, vibrant canvases depicting black bathers in rivers. On this episode we chat with the busy-as-ever artist and Valerie Mercer, the exhibition’s curator and head of the DIA’s Center for African Amer...
Surrealists at War
April 15, 2022 03:45 - 27 minutes - 20.3 MBWhat role can artists and creatives play in wartime? On this episode we chat with acclaimed author Lesley M.M. Blume about her recent Town & Country article, “The Art of War: How the Surrealists Helped Upend Camouflage and Redefine Modern Battle.” In a globe-spanning investigation filled with big art world names like Gorky and Dalí, the story proves once and for all that truth is stranger than fiction. Read the article at https://www.townandcountrymag.com/
The Secret History of the World’s Most Erotic Masterpiece
March 25, 2022 03:29 - 28 minutes - 21 MBAs Women’s History Month comes to a close, we explore Gustave Courbet’s perennially provocative 1866 work, “L’Origine du Monde (The Origin of the World)” with artist/writer Lilianne Milgrom, author of “L'Origine: The Secret Life of the World's Most Erotic Masterpiece.” Milgrom was the first artist authorized by the Musée d’Orsay to re-create Courbet’s scandalous masterpiece.
Troy Montes-Michie
March 11, 2022 02:51 - 26 minutes - 20 MBTroy Montes-Michie was born in El Paso. Border towns are a natural mash-up of cultures, traditions, languages, food, fashion, and nearly everything else. It’s no surprise that Montes-Michie turned his focus to collage, creating instantly recognizable works using magazine clippings, pornography, images of the Black male body, and plenty of zoot suits. In “Rock of Eye,” the artist’s first solo museum exhibition, these collages can be seen alongside, drawings, sculptures, and installations. On ...
Beeple Comes Alive
February 25, 2022 05:00 - 27 minutes - 21.1 MBMike Winkelmann has been creating digital art for over two decades. He’s 40 years old, lives in South Carolina, and has a computer science degree from Purdue. But this isn’t a show about Mike Winkelmann. This is a show about Beeple, the name by which Winkelmann is best known, the name that took the art world by storm in 2021 when an NFT of his nearly 15-year project, EVERYDAYS, sold for a record $69.3 million. Still not sure what NFTs are? We’ll get to that.
The Spiritual Side of Art
February 11, 2022 03:15 - 28 minutes - 23.7 MBIn the years before World War 2, a group of artists gathered in New Mexico to “carry painting beyond the appearance of the physical world, through new concepts of space, color, light, and design, to imaginative realms that are idealistic and spiritual.” They called themselves the TRANSCENDENTAL PAINTING GROUP. On this episode we chat with Philbrook Curator Susan Green about the special exhibition, ANOTHER WORLD, the first comprehensive traveling exhibition to explore work by the group. On vi...
Who's Harold Stevenson?
January 28, 2022 03:18 - 26 minutes - 19.6 MBOklahoma artist Harold Stevenson (1929-2018) created big paintings and lived an even bigger life in New York, Paris, Key West, and the Hamptons, becoming best friends with Andy Warhol along the way. For much of the past decade, Dian Jordan (The University of Texas Permian Basin) has been researching Stevenson’s singular life, gathering an archive, and laying the groundwork for a definitive biography.
Live From Aspen: Why Warhol Persists
January 07, 2022 03:34 - 29 minutes - 22.7 MBWe haven’t done a live audience show in ages. So when the invitation came to travel to Aspen, Colorado for the opening of a new Andy Warhol show at the Aspen Art Museum, we jumped at the opportunity. ANDY WARHOL: LIFETIMES is a career-spanning show originated at the Tate Modern. The AAM invited Los Angeles-based artist Monica Majoli to re-conceptualize the presentation. It’s invigorating. This chat features Majoli, Assistant Curator Simone Krug, and the Museum’s Director, Nicola Lees.
Mark Mothersbaugh
December 17, 2021 03:16 - 29 minutes - 21.4 MBMark Mothersbaugh has been a creative force for well over 40 years. From co-founding DEVO to scoring countless films and shows, his impact is undeniable. That body of work includes many collaborations with filmmaker Wes Anderson (“The Royal Tenenbaums”). We invited Mark to provide an exclusive musical experience for our special exhibition, “THIS IS AN ADVENTURE: Accidentally Wes Anderson.” To our great surprise, he said yes.
Barbara Kruger: It’s Not a Retrospective
December 03, 2021 06:05 - 29 minutes - 21.7 MBBarbara Kruger’s images and texts have been a consistent source of cultural commentary for decades. Her new exhibition, THINKING OF YOU. I MEAN ME. I MEAN YOU, dominates several spaces in the Art Institute of Chicago. On this episode we chat with the exhibition’s co-curator, Robyn Farrell about the artist, the show, and why it's definitely NOT a retrospective.
Van Gogh: The Fanboy
November 19, 2021 03:28 - 29 minutes - 25.5 MBFew artists have work as instantly recognizable as Vincent van Gogh. But as original and unique as it seems, the work stands on the shoulders of many others. That’s exactly what Pulitzer Prize-winning author and acclaimed artist Steven Naifeh explores in his latest book, Van Gogh and the Artists He Loved. Furthering the work that began with his landmark 2011 biography Van Gogh: The Life, Naifeh let’s us in on a completely new side of Vincent: the fanboy.