On Display By Raw And Radical - Conversations With Extraordinary Women In The Arts

The Guerilla Girls share their take on sexism, racism, and corruption in the art world, and how they fight back with “creative complaining” It was a great honor to welcome two of the Guerrilla Girls, “Frida Kahlo” and “Käthe Kollwitz,” to this episode of the Raw and Radical Women in the Arts podcast. The Guerilla Girls group is made up of anonymous feminist activist artists, who wear gorilla masks and adopt the names of famous women artists as pseudonyms so that public attention remains on the work they do, rather than on their identities. Beginning of the Guerrilla Girls The group formed in 1985, after a 1984 MOMA exhibition included just 13 women and 8 artists of color in their line up of 169 artists. “We realised … we had to do something, and a bunch of women, not us, called a protest,” says Käthe. “It had no effect at all. And we understood at that moment that people thought the art world was a meritocracy … where the gatekeepers, the powers that be, always picked the best. So if you weren’t in a museum,

The founders of “FATart” talk about inspiration, intersectionality, and why women artists should charge more. I’m very pleased to welcome Ursina Gabriela Roesch and Mark Damon Harvey to the Raw and Radical podcast. Ursina and Mark are the co-founders of The Femme Artist Table (FATart), which is Swiss organization devoted to elevating women artists’ presence, voice, visibility, attention, and acceptance within the art world. The inspiration behind FATart “The Femme Artist Table project came from this experience that I am a woman in the art business and I don’t have the same opportunities that men have,” Ursina says. She wanted the project to be inclusionary—a place where women could come together, sit at the same table, and talk about art and the business of art—which inspired the name Femme Artist Table and naturally led to the slogan. For Mark, who was already involved in a number of cultural and racial movements, the concept of FATart was a given. “For me, in the sense of intersectionality and cultural int

Art historian Marta Ponsa shares her perspective on the value of online art exhibitions and the evolution of women’s representation in the art world. Today’s Raw and Radical podcast features an interview with Marta Ponsa, who is an art historian and is currently a curator for Jeu de Paume and oversees their Artistic Projects and Cultural Activities department. Marta has a particular interest in photography and visual art. Early in her academic career, she studied 17th century religious etchings and iconography made, as she says, “to teach, and to convert, and to manipulate people” in North and South America. This focus naturally transitioned to photography and contemporary art later on. “The transfer to photograph was in a way natural for me … I am interested in the power of images … and who are the creators and the context of the creation ... how are they spread,” she says. “Users and abusers—that is the core of my career and my interest.” Engaging Online Art Audiences Now, as the head of the Artistic Proje

Raquel van Haver, Colombian-born painter and photographer, shares her inspirations, quest into the meaning of identity, and perspective on being a female artist I am so pleased to welcome Raquel van Haver, a Colombian-born painter and photographer who lives and works in Amsterdam. I discovered her work at the ARTCO Gallery in Berlin, and immediately fell in love with her large-scale paintings. Raquel’s pieces are particularly captivating because she draws on a collection of source material she has gathered from all around the world, including West Africa and South America. These pieces frequently show gatherings of people, where multiple bodies come together in one space. “I always have a big fascination when it comes to groups, group pressure, the identity of the group,” Raquel says. “And it’s interesting to see, like, when you look at a group there’s always one who is the leader, there’s one who is taking care. There’s a pattern… and I love to portray them. When they mingle, it’s actually almost like a danc

Anne-Claire Bisch, the general director of the Geneva Free Ports and Warehouses Limited, shares a glimpse into the world of storing and securing high-value art. I am so glad to welcome Anne-Claire Bisch to the show today. She has a fascinating background as an art historian, an art insurance expert, author, and a lawyer. She founded Artssurance in 2014, which is an insurance company specializing in artwork and valuable objects, and recently became the general director for the Geneva Free Ports and Warehouses Limited. Geneva Freeport is the oldest and largest freeport facility in Geneva, Switzerland, and is sometimes called the biggest museum in the world. “The Geneva Freeport... it’s a very special place in the art business,” says Anne-Claire. “Behind the door there are some people, and there are some very high value objects... Some artworks, some articles, some contemporary pieces, but also some wines. Many people forget that we have approximately three millions of bottles of wine.” For more information on o

Theatre director and filmmaker Véronique Caye shares the inspiration and concepts behind her mesmerizing film and performance work I am excited to welcome theatre director and filmmaker Véronique Caye to the Raw and Radical Women on the Arts podcast today. She’s here to talk about the inspiration behind her work and the radical concept of being a “pirate” woman. Véronique develops hybrid and experimental performances by experimenting with digital technology, and especially focuses on heightening and exploring the tension between the video, the actor, and the audience. Thematic inspiration behind her work “I explore the video multiplicity… that’s the staging of the image, visual set design, video documentaries, installation, and augmented reality. And also illusion and teaching,” she says. “So it’s a lot, but with these different forms I try to develop a dramaturgy of the image where the sensitive and poetic dominate the medium.” Véronique credits a lot of her artistic inspiration to travel and the work of a

AWARE co-founder Camille Morineau talks about representation, the value of women’s artwork, and fixing the historical records I am delighted to welcome Camille Morineau to the podcast to talk about her work on researching women artists, her non-profit research organization, and how women artists and others can fix the gender imbalance in the art world and in society. Camille first became aware of how few women artists are shown in galleries and in art shows as she was preparing for a show at the Musée National d’Art Moderne. As she was walking through the galleries and reviewing the museum’s collections, she realized that barely 10 percent of the artwork shown was from women. In response, she proposed a show focused solely on women artists from the museum’s collections, which became a huge success. The exhibition was called elles@centrepompidou. Although it was initially scheduled to run for two months, it ultimately lasted for two years and drew 2.5 million visitors. After the show closed, Morineau wanted to

Ali Kazma, Turkish video artist, talks about the significance of human labor and our inherent potential for transformation in his new exhibition, “Women at Work.” Today I’m pleased to introduce Ali Kazma, a Turkish video artist who explores the meaning and significance behind human activity and labor. He just had a beautiful new solo exhibition, “Women at Work,” at the Galerie Analix Forever in Geneva. Kazma has been creating short videos that explore the process and skill behind various professions since 1998, as part of an effort to survey and document the neighborhood he lives in. As part of an early exhibition, titled “Today,” he explored the process of shooting video on location in the morning, such as at a clock maker’s studio or in a butcher’s shop, and releasing the edited video in the evening, projecting the video through the gallery window for people on the street to watch. “As I was doing it and through my survey of my district I understood that a lot of the activities we as humans do are to keep t

Dr. Sarah Thornton, a writer and sociologist of art, talks about what makes an artist an artist, their role in society, and their need to be active agents of their own career. I’m very pleased to be interviewing Dr. Sarah Thornton on the show today. Sarah has written extensively about the art world and art market for many publications, including The Economist. She has also written three critically acclaimed books, each of which dives deeply into issues of authenticity, believability and cultural value. In her book 33 Artists in 3 Acts, one of the research questions was: what is an artist? “The great thing about being an artist is that it is self-defined,” she explained to me, “but it’s self-defined within reason. So, not anybody can just say ‘I’m an artist’ and have credibility and the social role and status of an artist.” The issue of artistic credibility, she says, hinges on the fact that being an artist is not just a job, but an identity. So artists have to prove their worth in the eyes of the public, coll

Asma Naeem, Chief Curator for the Baltimore Museum of Art, discusses women and gender fluidity representation in the BMA 2020 Vision initiative. Today I am very excited to welcome Dr. Asma Naeem to the On Display podcast. Naeem is an art historian and is currently the Chief Curator at the Baltimore Museum of Art. She brings a unique lens and motivation to her work, curating art pieces and installations that directly address issues of social justice, under-representation, and inequity. The Baltimore Museum of Art recently made headlines for their 2020 Vision initiative, timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment, which gave women the right to vote in the United States. Commemorating women and gender fluidity in the arts Naeem says that while discussing how to commemorate the occasion, the question really became how to recognize the event while also being provocative about social justice issues and representation. “We decided that the best way to discuss the trajectory that women

Artist and sexpert Maïa Mazaurette shares her perspective on appreciating the male body and challenging popular culture’s “sex machinery” Today I am excited to welcome Maïa Mazaurette, who is a sexpert, writer, columnist, keynote speaker, painter, and illustrator, and is challenging gender roles and sex norms through her writing and artwork. Maïa has been researching the role of sex in artwork for over 15 years, and regularly shares her sex expertise and knowledge through the columns she writes for GQ France magazine and several newspapers. As an artist and painter, she focuses on the male body, in part to challenge what she terms the “sex machinery” of the world’s dominant sexual culture. Celebrating and appreciating male bodies Maïa began drawing and painting men after repeatedly asking other women to do the same, but receiving no response. “Two years ago I decided that I could not keep asking people to do something that I wouldn’t want to make happen myself,” she says. “And I started to look for models a

Artist Viktoria Binschtok shares her artistic process and thoughts on how we communicate through images in a digital age. Photographer and conceptual artist Viktoria Binschtok joins us today to talk about her artistic inspirations and process, her experience participating in an artist-run gallery, and the impact of family life on her work. Viktoria studied Photography and Media Arts at the Academy of Visual Arts in Leipzig, ultimately earning a Meisterschüler Studium. As a student, she found herself drawn to imagery in our society, how it is used to communicate, and how it changes with cultural evolution. This exploration became the basis of her creative process. She starts with one of her original images, uploading it to the internet and using a search algorithm to find other visually or thematically similar images. She often recreates these found images in her own studio, adding unexpected elements or color, before combining all the images into collections or “clusters.” “I just get the idea, and then I go

Dr. Barbara Polla shares her views on women’s rights, feminism, and the important questions women should ask themselves Dr. Barbara Polla, a medical doctor, researcher, politician, mother, writer, poet, and gallery owner, joins us today to talk about how her career has evolved, her opinions on feminism, and how women can step into their power. Early on in her career, she attained a medical degree with a specialization in inner medicine, pneumology and immunoallergology, following that up with a number of research positions, including the Harvard Medical School and the French Institute of Health and Medical Research in Paris.  In 1991, Dr. Polla started her own gallery to represent contemporary artists, often collaborating with other gallery owners to bring fresh, unconventional art shows to the public. She also taught on the relationship between art and fashion at the Institut Français de la Mode in Paris and the HEAD (Haute Ecole d'art et de Design) in Geneva. The progression of a multifaceted career Sh

Artist Marta Zgierska shares the process of creating intimate, vulnerable artwork based on her own personal experiences Joining us today is Marta Zgierska, a Polish artist exploring the idea of beauty, intimacy, and the feminine body through her photography work. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Photography, in addition to Masters of Art degrees in Theatrology and Journalism. Her artwork is inspired by her personal experiences, emotions, and feelings. Her breakthrough series, Post, was based on her experiences after a serious car accident and the resulting physical and mental trauma it caused. For more information, please visit www.rawradical.com, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on social media:  Instagram @rawradical  Facebook rawradical Twitter rawradical

Frédéric Elkaim, a contemporary art expert and artist coach, shares his perspective on women achieving equity in the arts and why their work is so radical. Today’s podcast features special guest Frédéric Elkaim, a contemporary art expert and consultant, lecturer, artist coach, author, and the founder of Art Now!, a platform dedicated to connecting contemporary artists and art collectors. Elkaim is also an advocate for recognizing and elevating women artists as critical contributors to the artistic world. One of his most recent efforts involved putting together a five-part lecture series on important women artists throughout history, in coordination with Yasmine Lavizzari, director of the galerie Air Project. “We wanted… really to go further than what ‘artistry’ is today,” he says, “To underline who are those women artists and why they are so important in the evolution of art from modern art, impressionism, etcetera, to what we can see nowadays.” For more information, please visit www.rawradical.com and follow

Musician Adriana Balic shares the most important mindset and self-care lessons she learned while on tour with P!NK’s Beautiful Trauma World Tour. Musician Adriana Balic joins us today to talk about what she learned about self-care while on tour with P!NK in her Beautiful Trauma World Tour, her core philosophy when it comes to being a creative, happy person, and the surprising turns her journey as an artist has taken. Adriana toured with P!NK previously in 2003, but left in 2008 when she became pregnant so she could be present for her son's formative years. Then, in 2017, circumstances aligned for her to return to working with P!NK. “This experience of being out on the road as a mother, a wife, and having been at home for nine years previous to that, it was such a different experience,” she says. “It has done a lot of things for me personally, one—given me the space to focus on me again.” Part of what’s challenging about self-care, she says, is making a mindset shift. While on tour, her job was to get up on st

Today the On Display podcast features Rahima Gambo, an Nigerian photographer and conceptual artist based in Abuja. Rahima went through several career changes before becoming an artist. She initially focused on gender and development studies while attending college in the UK, intending to work in policy making in Nigeria. But after returning home, she realized she wanted a way to communicate her own and other people’s stories more strongly. To fulfill this passion, she pursued a photojournalism degree in New York. In 2014, when 276 girls were kidnapped from a school in Chibok, Nigeria, Rahima found herself called home to document the story. But she again found herself dissatisfied and disillusioned with the process and how the story was sensationalized for a foreign audience.  Wanting to convey a deeper, more holistic story about the people she interviewed and their culture, she decided to take a different approach to storytelling. Telling stories, not just documenting Rahima’s initial project, “Educatio

Today we welcome special guest Catherine Orer, Business and PR strategist for artists, and founder of The Artist Entrepreneur, which offers resources, training, and community for artists who want to build sustainable businesses and careers. In her role as a coach for artists, she has unique insight to offer into common mindset issues that hold artists back and what skills artists should learn to succeed in their entrepreneurial efforts. Catherine initially worked in marketing and PR in the corporate world, but eventually decided to switch her focus to art instead. She studied at Christie’s Education in Paris, and then worked in galleries to gain experience—planning to eventually open her own. But after artists started asking her for advice on their marketing and selling efforts, she realized she had a special set of skills to offer.  “I realized how much I loved connecting with artists... and that… all of this experience that I had over my career, I could really put it to use and help people,” she says.

Oil painter and photographer Chris Aerfeldt joins us to talk about her artistic journey, her sources of inspiration, and finding the self confidence to keep creating even when experiencing self-doubt. Chris focuses on themes of freedom, authenticity, invisibility, and peer pressure. Women figure prominently in her work as larger than life characters, often placed in environments that are seemingly at odds with their activities.  Chris shares how her subject matter is influenced her experience working in the fashion design industry, by older Dutch paintings of women engaged in household chores, and her own background as the daughter of two Estonian refugees. As a result of their experience in refugee camps, her mother was very restrictive, and Chris’s childhood left very little room for self-expression.  “When I was growing up, I felt invisible and squashed,” she says. “Now when I’m painting my women, I want to be seen, I want to feel strong… My paintings are all very large and the women are all larg

Today the Raw and Radical “On Display” podcast welcomes Angela Fraleigh, an oil painter and installation artist, to discuss the role of feminism and power dynamics in her work, her thoughts on manifesting our own realities, and her interest in uncovering hidden feminist-focused histories. Angela’s work was described by one museum curator as creating “utopic provocations of … counter or oppositional narratives that allow us to imagine different pasts and different futures.” One way she creates these narratives is with large scale paintings that immerse the viewer in her “feminine utopian” vision. “We’re forced to see intricacies of body language at that kind of scale,” she says. “I’ve elevated these figures … so that they kind of loom over us in a much more kind of powerful way. The idea that our realities are created from our thoughts is a powerful influence on Angela’s work. She sees the current political climate and events as a manifestation of our underlying thoughts, but also as a powerful opportunity fo