fART

Arts

to listen

Royal Academy of Arts

One of the founding purposes of the RA was to establish and promote successful artists and their work, but what is the definition of “success” in the arts today? In these podcasts we explore views on success and discuss practical methods to promote individual creators and their work.

These events are proudly supported by Heritage Lottery Fund, as part of the new RA Collections programme.

What makes a successful artist?

The creation of zines—low-budget, independently published magazines—is often motivated by a desire to express ideas and beliefs that fall outside the mainstream. In this public program, presented in conjunction with the exhibition In the Spirit of Fluxus (May 12–July 24, 1994), a panel of zine makers and enthusiasts discusses the provenance of zines, the freedom they offer those who produce them, and the niche communities they foster. The panel is introduced by Darlene Tong, author and head of information, research, and instructional services at San Francisco State University; and is followed by presentations from artist and Dadazine founder Bill Gaglione; art director Nancy Frank; Factsheet 5 editor and publisher R. Seth Friedman; and telecommunications artist Anna Couey. Placing this radical and, at times, zany practice in its historical and artistic context, this program illuminates the achievements of DIY publishers and their transition into the digital realm.  

SFMOMA has a rich history of inviting artists, curators, and scholars to participate in live programming. While our building is closed for expansion we will be bringing you artist talks, scholarly lectures, and panel discussions that have not been heard since they were recorded. We look forward to sharing our vast Public Programs Archive with you, and we hope you will return often to see what else we’ve dug up.

SFMOMA's Public Programs Archive: soundcloud.com/tags/public%20programs%20archive

Public Programs Archive: Scenes And Zines (August 4, 1994)

Although housing is most people’s largest monthly outgoing, our relationship to where we live is much more than financial: it shapes our identity, our sense of belonging, our mental and even physical wellbeing. But to what extent is this relationship reflected in the new houses being built in Britain today? What impact do aesthetics, materials and quality of space have on how we relate to our homes? Our panel discusses a variety of propositions – some new, others well-established – for designing homes that we instinctively feel a connection to.

Future of Housing: The psychology of home

Part of our Forgotten Masters series, and in association with Docomomo, this talk addresses the life of architect Jean Tschumi. Together with academic and writer Jacques Gubler, architect Bernard Tschumi discusses the work of his father, the first president of the UIA and the founding head of Switzerland’s French-speaking School of Architecture at Lausanne.

Image caption: Aula des Cèdres, Lausanne, Switzerland, 1962 by Jean Tschumi Photo © Jean Tschumi Archives

Jean Tschumi: forgotten master of architecture

In this introductory podcast, exhibition curator Adrian Locke explains how Ai Weiwei, since his return to China in 1993, uses his art, not just his words or cyberspace to comment on contemporary Chinese society today. Locke also explores the meanings and stories behind his materials and methodologies, including his use of found rebars (steel rods used to hold buildings upright) in the deeply moving installation Straight.

An introduction to Ai Weiwei

MoMA PS1 Associate Curator Jenny Schlenzka sits down with Juliana Huxtable to discuss Huxtable's interest in young rappers from Chicago, the dance party "Shock Value" she co-founded, and her gospel music influences.

Episode 3: Juliana Huxtable

A panel discussion exploring the relationship between art, gender and materials and how an artist’s process, biography and scale of work can shape our reading of gendered art practice.

The panel is comprised of artists Ann Christopher RA, Coco Crampton and Mark Dunhill (of Dunhill and O’Brien, and chaired by Helena Reckitt, Senior Lecturer in Curating at Goldsmiths University

Exploring the relationship between gender and materials in art

“A portrait,” Matisse said, “is a quarrel.”

His long, laborious studio sessions were intense sites of contestation between physical resemblance and what Matisse understood to be the more lasting, essential character of the person he was portraying. Such sessions frequently resulted in portraits that did not please their subjects.

Art historian and co-curator of 'Matisse in the Studio', Ellen McBreen explores how specific objects from the artist's personal collection – a Yoruba mask, a Buddha bust, and a medieval head – provided alternative models for the visual expression of individuality and identity. 

roy.ac/matisse

Matisse's portraits: a talk with co-curator Ellen McBreen

Artists Yinka Shonibare RA and WESSIELING join ‘Matisse in the Studio’ co-curator Ellen McBreen to examine the ethical and artistic considerations of cultural appropriation within the arts, in a discussion chaired by writer and broadcaster Bidisha.

A discussion on cultural appropriation in the arts

What does the future hold? In an age of escalating ecological, political and social crises across the world, reverberating across news and media platforms, it requires what Junot Diaz noted as ‘radical hope’ to resolve ourselves towards a future goodness that is beyond our current capacity to conceptualise what it might be. The act of curating becomes, if read in terms of the art market or globalised markets, an act of investment with a collaborative stake and culpability in our shared prospects for humanity.

This colloquium is the culmination of the research trip commissioned by Outset and Arts Council England, for 8 emerging curators selected from throughout the UK, to visit documenta14 and Skulptur Projekte in Münster. Curated by Annie Jael Kwan, the session invites leading curators, artists and thinkers to respond thoughtfully and playfully to the question of how to visualize and manifest ‘radical futures’ and thus, ‘alternative histories’, in terms of perceiving the multiple possibilities offered by artistic vision and practice.

Guest participants: Larry Achiampong (Artist), Candida Gertler OBE (Co-Founding Director, Outset), Jesse Jones (Artist), Melanie Keen (Director, Iniva), and Adriel Luis (Curator, Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center)
Participating research curators: Cairo Clarke, James Ravinet, Ying Tan, George Vasey

8 November 2017, Tate Starr Cinema
curatingradicalfutures.com

Curating Radical Futures - Live Colloquium

Catch up on this talk, exploring how 20th century artists have used eroticism in their work, and why it continues to challenge viewers and provoke controversy today.

Speakers:

Dr Alyce Mahon, Reader in Modern and Contemporary Art History, University of Cambridge, is a specialist in modern and contemporary art and their erotic politics.

Rowan Pelling, editor of The Amorist and former editor of The Erotic Review.

Adham Faramawy, artist and RA Schools alumnus.

Dr Shahidha Bari, Senior Lecturer in Romanticism, Queen Mary University of London & Fellow of Forum for European Philosophy, London School of Economics

Provocations in art: the erotic

On 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. 75: Answering The Art History Questions You Never Thought to Ask

For 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 tools for viewing art and helping artists get their work funded.

No. 76: How Is the Internet Impacting Creativity and the Arts?

The 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

This week, we bring you audio of that panel, along with a brief introduction. The discussion was moderated by Artsy Executive Editor Alexander Forbes and featured art advisor Elizabeth Szancer, gallerist Stefania Bortolami, and art lawyer Jo Backer Laird.

No. 77: Exploring the Art Market’s Best (and Worst) Practices

This 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-friendly spaces.

No. 78: Are Selfie Museums an Affront to the Art World?

On 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 get a firsthand account of the sale that did electrify the art world: the $21.1 million auction of Kerry James Marshall’s Past Times at Sotheby’s. Finally, we look ahead to Art Basel in Basel, which opens to VIPs on June 12th.

No. 79: From Auction Week to Art Basel, What’s Happening in the Art Market

Panel discussion and part of "The Successful Artist?" programme.

Is commercial success evidence of artistic achievement? Does fame or visibility equate to success? Who decides who is successful – the public, institutions, critics, peers or the artist themselves? What is the role of education for artistic achievement? How much of these factors can be determined by the artist? 

Join artist Yinka Shonibare MBE RA, Head of the RA Schools, Eliza Bonham Carter, and the Director of Ikon Gallery Jonathan Watkins to discuss who and what defines an artist’s success today.

"The successful artist?": Definers of success

Catch up on this event from the Benjamin West Lecture Theatre: Antony Gormley RA and the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, debate the rich and intriguing relationship between theology and contemporary visual art.

Antony Gormley RA and Rowan Williams in conversation

Thriller writer Nicci Gerrard talks about how everyday creativity can keep a person connected to the world around them. In conversation with academic Hannah Zeilig, Gerrard discusses how the arts can keep people well, aid recovery and support longer lives, better lived. 

Come to the next Festival of Ideas live in the RA's Benjamin West Lecture Theatre – line-up coming soon: https://roy.ac/FOI2019

Find out more

Dementia and the power of art

One of the most respected dance artists working in the UK today, Akram Khan joins writer and broadcaster Sarah Crompton at the RA’s Festival of Ideas, opening up on his influences, his work with the “godfather of visual art”, the challenges of creative collaboration, and the process of ageing as a dancer.

Come to the next Festival of Ideas live in the RA's Benjamin West Lecture Theatre – line-up coming soon: https://roy.ac/FOI2019

Akram Khan on ego, influences and Anish Kapoor

Subscribe for art and ideas. We host conversations with artists, architects and other leading creatives – and we've just posted podcasts from recent Festival of Ideas. Enjoy.