ART FOR THE EAR
The Best Podcast Series
In the words of French painter Georges Braque, “Art is a wound turned into light.” Today, as people everywhere struggle with boredom, loneliness and anxiety about their futures or about their lack of social contact amid the coronavirus pandemic, it’s important to feed one’s mind with positive energy, knowledge and beauty, in all its forms. Luckily, museums, galleries, art institutions and creatives have gone virtual, nearly seamlessly, during this crisis, making it simple for art aficionados to turn to iTunes or Spotify for their daily feed of art-themed podcasts: art for the ear.
1. The Jealous Curator | Art for Your Ear
The “Art for Your Ear” podcast regularly hosts talks about contemporary artists around the world and the work they’re creating. On the April 3, 2020 episode, the artist discussed is Martha Rich. The Brooklyn-based artist got candid about how she’s coping with the crisis. In essence, she’s spending her days splashing color on blank canvases and finishing puzzles! In terms of the art she’s making these days, Rich says she’s taking advantage of all her free time by playing with new styles of painting, and with new materials. Still, it doesn’t hurt to watch a few movies in between masterpieces.
2. ArtCurious Podcast
This podcast, hosted by Jennifer Dasal, explores “the unexpected, the slightly odd, and the strangely wonderful in art history,” according to its Spotify description. On the April 6, 2020 episode, Dasal talks about cool Neoclassical artist Angelica Kauffman. She says that while most people — art background or not — can name a few artists off the top of their heads (Michelangelo, Picasso, Leonardo da Vinci, possibly Andy Warhol), there are many more talented artists who may not be household names but have greatly contributed to the art world. Kauffman is one of them.
By the age of 12, the painter already had bishops and esteemed figures sitting for her portraits. No one doubted that she was a child prodigy. Before committing fully to her art, Kauffman was a young opera singer who spoke German French, Italian and English. Joseph V, Kauffman, her father, taught her how to paint. She often accompanied him on his travels and assisted him in his projects. It was in Switzerland that her career started, but she was always inspired by her trips to Italy, so she returned there after collecting some money from her early work. Rome opened up the world for her, though her style was also influenced by Greek artists.
3. Raw Material
“Raw Material” is an arts and culture podcast from the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Each season, a different host talks about a different topic — leaving room for plenty of diversity and opinion.
One of their most talked-about episodes was published on December 10, 2018. In it, the host talks to Leilah Babirye, an openly gay artist and activist who often speaks out about LGBTQ rights. Her sculptures and paintings depict scenes from Uganda as well as portraits of people who’ve caught her eye.
Her work as a whole says a lot about the African community she grew up in, as seen from her perspective as a gay woman. In the podcast episode, she explains that she began making her pieces by burning and sculpting trash, including plastic. She said that by poisoning herself, the air and the people around her, she aired out her anger. In her youth, she felt depressed and traumatized by the fact that she was unable to be herself in her country — that’s why she began making art. She now lives in the Bronx and works in Brooklyn, New York.
4. Bad at Sports
This weekly podcast about contemporary art features talks from artists, critics, dealers, curators and other people in the art world. The April 12, 2020 episode features a throwback interview with Jessica Stockholder, who describes herself as a “picture maker and sculptor.” In her work, she says, she explores the relationship between abstraction and concrete experiences, making space for subtlety and the blurring of boundaries. The key, she says, is to constantly surprise herself. To the naked eye, her massive pieces look like energetic bursts of bright color, always utilizing different materials and taking advantage of the space she is given.
5. Artsy AF
This may just be the trendiest art podcast of 2020. On the April 6, 2020, episode, the hosts introduce up-and-coming artist, Chris Surposa, who has his studio in Wheat Ridge, just outside of Denver, Colorado. The young creator paints intricate and detailed pieces incorporating symbols from various spiritual traditions. He was a soldier before he became an artist, and now explores the therapeutic power of art and the importance of kindness.
Other notable art podcasts include “The Lonely Palette, MoMA’s “The Way I See It,” “The Art Angle” by Artnet News and “The Modern Art Notes Podcast.”
As part of her project Women Take The Floor, in honor of Women’s History Month (March), Tamar Avisahi of “The Lonely Palette” talks about the legacy of Frida Kahlo on episode 40 of the podcast. Standing in front of one of the late artist’s museum pieces, “Dos Mujeres (Salvadora y Herminia),” she interviews visitors and asks them what they think of the painting. Later, in her recording office, she discusses Kahlo’s career, her marriage to the great muralist Diego Rivera, her life riddled with tragedy and her autobiographical paintings, which mirror her fantastical imagination and lifelong pain.
In the December 20, 2019 episode of “The Way I See It,” art critic Alastair Sooke talks about what it means to see art, and takes a deep dive into one of the paintings he admires most: Matisse’s Red Studio.
In the April 2, 2020 episode of “The Art Angle” by Artnet News, the host, Andrew Goldstein, talks about mystical painter Agnes Pelton, who left her life in New York City to live in the California desert and find enlightenment and peace. There, she began painting spiritual, abstract works: ethereal forms and symbols. Like many artists, she looked to voice, through her pieces, a greater meaning beyond the physical realm.
“The Modern Art Notes Podcast” hosts weekly episodes, and in each, artists, art historians and authors join host Tyler Green to discuss their work. On the April 9, 2020, episode, the artist being discussed is Nell Painter. The author of “Old in Art School: A Memoir of Starting Over,” Painter retired after decades as a renowned ivy league historian, and returned to college to study art and design. She was in her 60s, and she couldn’t think of a better time to reinvent herself.
