We meet leading artist Jonathan Baldock who works across multiple platforms including sculpture, installation and performance. With work often taking on a biographical form, Jonathan Baldock addresses the trauma, stress, sensuality, mortality and spirituality around our relationship to the body and the space it inhabits.Baldock’s work is saturated with humour and wit, as well as an uncanny, macabre quality that channels his longstanding interest in myth and folklore. He has an ongoing focus on the contrast between the material qualities of ceramic and fabric in his work. Concerned with removing the functional aspects of the materials he uses, Baldock instead works in a performative way through his sculptural assemblages, bringing the viewer, the object and the space they simultaneously occupy into question as a theatrical or ritualistic act.Jonathan Baldock was born in 1980 in Kent, UK. He lives and works in London. He graduated from Winchester School of Art with a BA in Painting (2000-2003), followed by the Royal College of Art, London with an MA in Painting (2003-2005).In 2021 Baldock had solo exhibitions at La Casa Encendida, Madrid, Spain and at Accelerator, Stockholm, Sweden. He participated in group shows in 2021 including ‘Threadbare’ at Stephen Friedman Gallery, London; ‘Human Conditions of Clay’ at Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff, Wales and ‘Right About Now’ at No.9 Cork Street, London. Baldock’s work was included in the inaugural Towner International biennial at Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne, UK in October 2020. Baldock’s first solo exhibition with Stephen Friedman Gallery opened in September 2019 and presented a series of ceramic masks featuring bright colours and outlandish expressions. This show coincided with the presentation of a large-scale, interactive sculpture by Baldock at Fitzrovia Chapel, London during Frieze week. In the spring of 2019, Baldock’s solo exhibition ‘Facecrime’ opened at Camden Arts Centre, London following a Freelands Lomax Ceramics Fellowship. The exhibition travelled to Tramway, Glasgow in August 2019 and Bluecoat, Liverpool in March 2020.  Follow @Jonathan_Baldock on Instagram. Visit Stephen Friedman Gallery for more details: https://www.stephenfriedman.com/artists/25-jonathan-baldock/Plus Jonathan's own website: https://jonathan-baldock.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Talk Art Season 13 continues with a broadcasting LEGEND!!! We meet Clara Amfo, one of British radio and television’s most dynamic voices and faces. An award winning broadcaster, podcaster and television presenter best known for her work on BBC Radio 1, where she hosted the official chart and the world famous Live Lounge. She currently hosts Future Sounds, breaking the new music from rising and established musicians.A little known fact about Clara is that she collects art and is friends with many artists. Her brother also collects art and photography and his record collection even inspired the teenage Clara to get into the artistic side of music - including the album artwork of Lauryn Hill. We discuss the art scene in Accra, the awesome capital of Ghana. We learn about Clara's art collection and why she is an advocate for living with art at home - from postcards to prints to unique paintings! We learn about her new role as Trustee of Royal Academy of Arts in London's Green Park and how she's been brainstorming about how to make art more accessible for everyone.During the pandemic, Clara collaborated with the Serpentine Gallery during their major survey of British-Ghanaian photographer James Barnor. Clara is a big fan of Barnor's work, whose career spans six decades, two continents and numerous photographic genres through his work with studio portraiture, photojournalism, editorial commissions and wider social commentary. Clara also introduces us to the work of Ted Pearce aka Ted’s Draws known for illustrations of iconic musicians, as well as Josephine Chime, a contemporary painter who has in recent years created portraits of Clara’s mother and father.She remembers an Inspiring studio visit to the Brixton-based artist Abe Odedina. We explore why art exhibitions are the perfect venue for dating and Clara reminisces about memorable exhibitions she's visited such as Faith Ringold, Kehinde Wiley at the National Gallery and Lubaina Himid's current solo exhibition at Tate Modern and the impact that Yinka Ilori’s 'Better Days Are Coming I Promise' public artwork had on London during lockdown.Follow Clara on Instagram: @ClaraAmfoVisit her official website: www.claraamfo.comLearn more about the Royal Academy and the Summer Exhibition 2022 at @RoyalAcademyArts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Talk Art special episode!!! We meet Andrew Moncrief (b.1987), a visual artist from Comox Valley, Canada. We speak on the eve of Gucci presenting his first exhibition in France at their Saint-Germain boutique, during the men's fashion shows in Paris.Influenced at an early age by a rigid and immobile interpretation of masculinity, Andrew’s work explores depictions of the male identity, questioning idealism, queerness, and representation. The Canadian artist, now based in Berlin, questions masculinity and the representation of queer bodies in his surreal and powerful canvases inspired by existing images, reworked as collages where colours and shapes intermingle.For this exhibition, Andrew Moncrief has chosen to create his 5 new paintings inspired by images photographed for this occasion. In collaboration with photographer Julien Barbès, the Canadian artist created a fashion series around five queer Berlin personalities wearing pieces from the Gucci Love Parade collection and offering a diversity of approaches to masculinity. These images, in which bodies move in soft and sensual choreographies, served as the original material for the collages in preparation for the paintings presented this summer in Paris.”My work deals with my identity as a gay and queer man”, explains the artist. “To compose my collage-like paintings, I usually use existing nude images, but here, everything was built from fashion photos made for the occasion. I am sensitive to clothed bodies, classical drapery and Renaissance painting. Clothes generate tension and folds, as a metaphor for the body and the tensions it is capable of feeling."In Andrew Moncrief's paintings, the male body seems to be in perpetual metamorphosis. Dislocated and intertwined, he melts into his environment and dialogues with other bodies as much as with colours, textures and clothes. The fluid and hybrid body thus escapes all the categories and norms that society imposes on it. The artist's painting forms an act of freedom and canvases are queer safe spaces where all attitudes and representations become possible. The liberated and phantasmagorical body is celebrated through a palette of delightful colours that explode across the canvas. This new work is also a reference to the famous painter Francis Bacon, and more particularly to his representation of the body crossed as much by the beauty as by the grotesque.Since graduating with a BFA in Painting & Drawing from Concordia University in 2013, Andrew Moncrief has presented his work internationally in Canada, the U.S.A., and Europe, where he currently lives and works. He has been featured in numerous international publications, is part of respected private collections, and has received a Professional Development Grant from the Canada Council for the Arts to pursue a full-time mentorship with Justin Ogilvie to study classical techniques and anatomy in 2019. Andrew has two upcoming shows at New Art Projects and Beers, both in London, UK, as well as a collaboration with GUCCI and Numero Art Magazine, all taking place in the first half of 2022.Visit Andrew's website: http://andrewmoncrief.com/Follow on Instagram: @an_drew_moncriefSpecial thanks to GUCCI and Alex Malgouyres for supporting this episode.Follow: @Gucci @GucciEquilibrium Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We meet leading artist Zoë Buckman from her studio in Brooklyn, NY!!! We discuss grief, trauma, her precise textile artworks and a powerful, new film titled 'Show Me Your Bruises, Then' (2021-2022) - a 3 channel video installation, written, performed and directed by Zoë Buckman, and featuring actors Cush Jumbo and Sienna Miller.Zoë Buckman’s multidisciplinary practice incorporates sculpture, textiles, ceramics, photography, and large-scale public installations. Adopting an explicitly feminist approach, her work explores identity, trauma, and gendered violence, subverting preconceived notions of vulnerability and strength. The artist regularly chooses to work with objects symbolically associated with gender. Whilst her oft-adopted boxing gloves hint at a bellicose masculinity, Buckman also incorporates vintage fabrics into her work, from lingerie to dishcloths and table linen. These textiles, traditionally used and decorated by women, recall an intimacy with the body and a proximity to the domestic space. Bearing traces of their past, vintage fabrics point to a history of patriarchal subjugation, but also to the necessity and comfort of intergenerational dialogue between women. Indeed, both verbal and non-verbal dialogue is an integral part of Buckman’s practice. Buckman’s eclectic choice of source material, the snatches of conversation, stained tablecloths, hip-hop lyrics, and, especially, lines from her late playwright mother’s scripts, all represent mnemonic totems which, when taken together, establish a deeply personal constellation of the artist’s lived experience.'Show Me Your Bruises, Then' is the first filmic work of London-born, Brooklyn-based artist, Zoë Buckman. The 17-minute long, 3-channel, video installation builds a portrait of the multigenerational experience of domestic violence, and explores the shame and stigma prescribed to the female body in a patriarchal society. The film depicts three women, each seated at the end of the table, reciting Buckman’s own free flowing poem by the same name that she started writing in 2018. Although excerpts of the poem have appeared as text within Buckman’s embroidery works and in the titles of pieces, this is the first time it is presented in its entirety.In tandem with both the sculptural and wall-based works that have formed the basis of Buckman’s artistic practice to date, Show Me Your Bruises, Then, seeks to foster nuanced conversation around consent, power, and violence, as well as highlighting the intrinsic joy, pleasure, and resilience that abounds the female experience. The rhythmic pattern of the poem and the three screen visuals build this notion of the power in sharing one’s voice and story.Visit: https://www.zoebuckman.com/ and her page at Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London: https://www.houldsworth.co.uk/artists/57-zoe-buckman/overview/Follow: @ZoeBuckman and @PippyHouldsworthGallery Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We meet Ashley Joiner, Founder & Director of QUEERCIRCLE a new public gallery space, library and home for LGBTQ+ Arts, Culture and Social Change.QUEERCIRCLE seeks to develop an ecology of artists, curators, writers, thinkers, community organisers, grassroots organisations and charities who collectively work together to strengthen links between culture, health and wellbeing.Set in the pioneering Design District in North Greenwich, their new gallery, library and project spaces enable us to action our ground-breaking community focused programme of exhibition commissions, collaborative artists residencies and year-long learning and participation opportunities. With the support of Greater London Authority, Outset's Studiomakers Initiative, and the generous contributions of private patrons, Queercircle is within a new site designed by award-winning David Kohn Architects.Since 2016, QUEERCIRCLE has hosted exploratory workshops and events with artists, curators, writers and community organisers to develop a programme that is befitting to the needs and aspirations of the LGBTQ+ community. Their new home first opened its door in June 2022, providing a holistic environment which celebrates queer identity, champions arts and culture, and supports the wellbeing of our community.Follow: @Queercircle on InstagramVisit https://Queercircle.org/Current show: MICHAELA YEARWOOD-DAN’S “LET ME HOLD YOU” Queercircle's INAUGURAL EXHIBITION runs from JUNE 8 - SEPTEMBER 8 2022 Michaela Yearwood-Dan’s “Let Me Hold You” sets the tone for our new home as we move forward - a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community. A sweeping curved mural embraces visitors, creating a sanctuary for visitors to confront their own true selves in a safe and holistic environment. Ceramic sculptures and furniture encourage visitors to rest, contemplate, and connect with others. We interviewed Michaela on Season 12 of Talk Art, so do check out her episode also!!!Utilising flora and fauna motifs, Yearwood-Dan refutes the concept that LGBTQ+ people are “unnatural”. Instead she visualises the interconnectedness of the human and non-human experience, all the while expanding our understanding of what it means to be queer and to love. “The moment we choose to love we begin to move against domination, against oppression. The moment we choose to love we begin to move toward freedom, to act in ways that liberate ourselves and others. That action is the testimony of love as the practice of freedom.” - bell hooksAs nature and marginalised communities continue to be exploited around the world - compounded by the effects of climate change disproportionately impacting marginalised communities - Michaela Yearwood-Dan provides a vital tonic; encouraging us to adopt love as an action against societal and ecological injustice. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Talk Art Special Episode!!! We catch up on all things Art Basel with legendary Global Director Marc Speigler - Art Basel is the biggest art fair in the world where thousands of people flock to the city of Basel every year to discover and witness new art, new ideas and the changing of culture - this is art world insider magic.Marc Spiegler (born 1968) is an American/French art journalist and columnist since 1998. In 2012 he became global director of Art Basel. Marc leads the organization’s development, including all three shows and our expanding artworld activities. He is ranked in ArtReview's Power 100 among the top 25 most influential individuals in the art world. Art Basel fair brings the international art world together. It features over 200 leading galleries and more than 4,000 artists from five continents. Many high-quality exhibitions take place concurrently in and around Basel, creating a region-wide art week (June 16 – 19, 2022).Follow @ArtBasel and @MarcSpeigler Visit: https://artbasel.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

New Talk Art! We meet leading artist Sonia Boyce. Boyce’s practice is fundamentally collaborative and inclusive, fostering a participatory approach that questions artistic authorship and cultural difference. Last month, she became the first Black female artist to represent Britain at the Venice Biennale, the world’s oldest international art exhibition. The work she presented in the British Pavilion won the prestigious prize, the Golden Lion. Six years before, she had been the first Black British woman to get elected to the Royal Academy of Arts.The British Council presents Feeling Her Way by Sonia Boyce at the British Pavilion for La Biennale di Venezia, running from 23 April – 27 November 2022. Boyce’s powerful exhibition explores the potential of collaborative play as a route to innovation. The installation brings together video works featuring five Black* female musicians (Poppy Ajudha, Jacqui Dankworth MBE, Sofia Jernberg, Tanita Tikaram and composer Errollyn Wallen CBE) who were invited to improvise, interact and play with their voices. The video works take centre stage among Boyce’s signature tessellating wallpapers and golden geometric structures, and the Pavilion’s rooms are filled with sounds – sometimes harmonious, sometimes clashing – embodying feelings of freedom, power and vulnerability.This new commission expands on Boyce’s Devotional Collection, built over more than two decades and spanning more than three centuries, which honours the substantial contribution of Black British female musicians to transnational culture.Artist and academic Sonia Boyce OBE RA (b. London, 1962) came to prominence in the early 1980s as a key figure in the burgeoning Black Arts Movement of that time with figurative pastel drawings and photo collages that addressed issues of race and gender in Britain. In 1987, she became one of the youngest artists of her generation to have her artwork acquired by Tate and the first Black-British female artist to enter the collection. Since the 1990s Boyce’s practice has taken a significant multi-media and improvisational turn by bringing people together in a dynamic, social practice that encourages others to speak, sing or move in relation to the past and the present. Incorporating film, photography, print and sound in multi-media installations, Boyce’s practice is fundamentally collaborative and inclusive, fostering a participatory approach that questions artistic authorship and cultural difference. At the heart of her work are questions about the production and reception of unexpected gestures, with an underlying interest in the intersection of personal and political subjectivities.Follow @SoniaBoyceArtist and @SimonLeeGallery. Visit https://www.simonleegallery.com/artists/277-sonia-boyce/ and https://venicebiennale.britishcouncil.org/feeling-her-way Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Talk Art SPECIAL EPISODE!!!! This week we talk to Rafael Lozano-Hemmer to discuss his new collaboration with Superblue (@superblue.art) and BMW i, “Pulse Topology” presented on the occasion of this year’s Art Basel (@artbasel). The participatory artwork is composed of 6.000 lightbulbs, suspended from the ceiling at different heights, that glimmer to the heartbeat of visitors detected by custom-made pulse sensors.The presentation is inspired by a shared vision for a sustainable future, and a desire to create experiences for retreat, reflection, joy, and social connection. Following an inspiring dialogue with BMW engineers and designers, Lozano-Hemmer’s team will use the same technology as in “Pulse Topology” to activate the BMW i7’s interior with passengers' heartbeats. This intervention can be seen as an extension of the i7’s use of light and new technology to emphasize the human-centric design of the new BMW i7.Stay tuned to see this immersive experience come to life.Follow @lozanohemmer on instagram to see more of his work. #PulseTopology #ThisIsForwardism Follow @BMWGroupCulture to learn more about BMW's commitment to art. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

New Talk Art!!! JUBILEE SPECIAL with an ACTUAL QUEEN!! We meet Rose Matafeo, the BAFTA nominated comedian, writer and actor from New Zealand. Self confessed "curious nerd" who has a passion for art, craft and photography.We discover Rose's joy for creating her own artworks including dioramas and miniature models, photography and Lomo cameras, her obsession with the Pepper's Ghost illusion technique, textile art, embroidery and crochet. We learn about her artistic family including her artist father and how she was encouraged to collect and live with art since childhood!! We explore her passion for comic book artists and fanzines!! We also discuss the work of New Zealand experimental artist Len Lye.Rose’s critically acclaimed show Horndog won the award (formerly the Perrier) for Best Show at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival and was nominated for Best Show at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. She has since recorded the show as a special for HBO MAX. Rose is a regular face on TV. Her own sitcom, Starstruck, which she has written and stars in was commissioned by BBC3 in the UK and HBO Max in the US. Season One premiered on BBC One and BBC Three in the UK where it became the channel’s best performing new comedy of the year with over three million requests on BBC iPlayer to date, and later on HBO Max in the US, the show was also pre-sold to over 50 territories including Australia (ABC) and New Zealand (TVNZ). The show is a critical and ratings success and has returned to BBC3 and HBO Max for a second series in 2022. In the US, Rose has performed a stand up slot on Conan (TBS). In New Zealand Rose was the lead writer and star of the sketch show Funny Girls (TV3), and a regular on panel show 7 Days (Three Now NZ). 2020 saw her star to great acclaim in the feature Baby, Done (Piki Films). She also co-hosts the podcast Boners of the Heart with fellow comic Alice Snedden. Follow @RoseMatafeo on Instagram. Watch Rose's TV show Starstruck, Series 1 and 2 (including Russell Tovey himself) at BBC iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/p09djx02/starstruck Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Talk Art SPECIAL EPISODE!!!! We travel to Somerset to have an exclusive 5am visit to Stonehenge and an art adventure to Hauser & Wirth in Bruton. We visit Henry Moore's exhibition 'Sharing Form' for a guided tour with the artist's daughter Mary Moore and curator Hannah Higham. Hauser and Wirth Somerset present a comprehensive survey spanning six decades extends across all five gallery spaces, in addition to an open-air presentation of seminal works including: ‘The Arch’ (1963/69), ‘Large Interior Form’ (1953 – 1954) and ‘Locking Piece’ (1962 – 1963).The exhibition takes as its starting point the artist’s early fascination with the Neolithic site of Stonehenge, which Moore first encountered the prehistoric monuments under the moonlight as a young man in 1921, fifty-two years later he embarked on a series of lithographs on the subject. Moore was fascinated by the relationship between the towering masses of ancient stone, their size and siting in the landscape, and the mysterious ‘depths and distances’ evoked on his returning visits. For Moore, the power and intensity of such large forms set against land and sky precipitated career-long investigations into scale, material and volume and the juxtaposition of art and nature, which are presented throughout the exhibition.Alongside Moore’s most celebrated works, the viewer is immersed in a deeply personal selection of artworks and objects curated by Mary Moore, set within the centre of the exhibition. The collection contains almost 100 items from her father’s studio and home, providing an insight into the working life of the sculptor and intimate memories she holds through these objects. The unique experience brings together Moore’s visual library and the vocabulary of ideas that he developed during his working life. The exhibition was organised with support from the Henry Moore Foundation.Alongside Moore’s most celebrated works, the viewer is immersed in a deeply personal selection of artworks and objects curated by Mary Moore, set within the centre of the exhibition. The collection contains almost 100 items from her father’s studio and home, providing an immersive insight into the working life of the sculptor and intimate memories she holds through these objects. This exhibition was organised with support from the Henry Moore Foundation.BMW has been involved in cultural projects across varied genres for over 50 years creating unique content initiatives with key partners such as artists, galleries, passionate collectors, art fairs and digital art platforms (such as Talk Art!). As a long-term partner, creative freedom is key – and as essential for groundbreaking works as it is for major innovations within our company.Thanks to @BMWUK we had the opportunity to experience the all new fully-electric BMW i7 on our trip to Somerset. The car is BMW’s new flagship, demonstrating how an exclusive driving experience and the ultimate feeling of on-board wellbeing can be combined with an unwavering commitment to sustainability. Follow @HauserWirthSomerset and visit: https://www.hauserwirth.com/hauser-wirth-exhibitions/36155-henry-moore-sharing-form/ for more details on this major exhibition #HenryMooreSharingForm! Follow @BMWGroupCulture to learn more about BMW's commitment to art. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.