In Other Words

Andy Warhol is one of the best-known—but perhaps least understood—artists of the 20th century. “Warhol shifted the paradigm. He shifted the conversation. That's why we're still grappling with him. Love him or hate him,” says Donna De Salvo, the senior curator and deputy director for International Initiatives at the Whitney Museum of American Art, who recently organized the blockbuster exhibition "Andy Warhol—From A to B and Back Again" (on show now at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, until 2 September). Beyond the glamour of the celebrity and consumerism so often associated with Warhol, there is something destabilizing about his work, says Dominique Lévy, the co-founder of Lévy Gorvy—which is showing “Warhol Women” in New York (until 15 June). “If you spend enough time in front of a Warhol painting, little by little it unnerves you,” Lévy says. When people fetishize the trophy of the Marilyn, they're missing a certain point of the way that Warhol is constantly disrupting,” De Salvo says: “Whether it's

Today’s podcast is a lively one, taking in authorship and authority, productivity and capital in conversation with Alistair Hudson (director of The Whitworth and Manchester Galleries), Bernadine Bröcker Wieder (CEO and co-founder of the Vastari Group, a platform connecting museums, private collectors and other exhibition organizers) and our host Charlotte Burns. Taking different approaches, Hudson and Bröcker Wieder are both interested in what a more equitable art world would look like and both are invested in community and collaboration.  The dialogue on democracy, community, tech and collaboration closes with a call for openness. “I see a big role for institutions reclaiming this territory of culture,” Hudson says: “How we shape and create our culture as being above and beyond politics and economics.” Tune in today for more. Transcript: https://www.artagencypartners.com/transcript-55-bernadine-and-alistair/ “In Other Words” is a presentation of AAP and Sotheby’s, produced by Audiation.fm.

Paula Cooper Gallery has survived and thrived in a mercurial art world for more than five decades. On today’s show, the legendary dealer talks about the history and future of her gallery together with Steven Henry, who has been the gallery director for more than two decades, Allan Schwartzman, co-founder of Art Agency, Partners, and host Charlotte Burns. Known for her eye, Cooper has represented some of the most important international contemporary artists of the past half-century. “Artists will give her the best shows, the best work,” says Henry. The gallery has remained a leader of the pack throughout the past 50 years, despite seismic shifts in the art world and market. Nowadays, “it’s this huge international money world,” says Cooper, who also discusses new styles of collecting and the impact of politics on the art world. She also talks about the future: “I really have to think about not being here, now at this point," she says. Ultimately, the legacy of the gallery will be the artists it has supported, s

“As an artist I feel like it’s my role to bring that moment of history—that moment of doubt, frustration, of fear—into the present,” says Nari Ward in conversation with fellow artist Derrick Adams on this episode of In Other Words. Ward is the subject of a major retrospective at the New Museum (“Nari Ward: We The People” until 26 May)—which spans 25 years of his work and has been heralded as “persistent and liberating” by The New York Times. The sculptor—who has been called an accumulation artist for his often large-scale work involving discarded material—has lived and worked in Harlem since the beginning of his career and uses the neighborhood as source and inspiration. Art is the perfect medium for exploring such complicated subjects as gentrification, power and the AIDS crisis, Ward says: “It should challenge, consume, maybe even disrupt—and then it should also figure out, because it is art. It is artifice. It is a safe space to consider those different moments.”Adams is the subject of two concurrent exhib

  Our world and the ways in which we perceive and understand it are both shaped and reflected by art. This is especially true when it comes to nations and the stories they tell of themselves. Focusing on American identity, this podcast was recorded during a live panel discussion between Lauren Haynes (curator of contemporary art at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas), Paul Anthony Smith (artist), Antwaun Sargent (critic) and host Charlotte Burns at The Armory Show in New York earlier this month. From the question of whether there are “American” artists today to what it means to consider oneself American; from representation within museums to how morality is dealt with in US culture, our guests ask how institutions, and the art world at large, are working to foster a more expansive narrative. Tune in today to hear more. Transcript: https://www.artagencypartners.com/transcript-55-armory/ “In Other Words” is a presentation of AAP and Sotheby’s, produced by Audiation.fm.

Ian Cheng wants to change the way you think. “I really want to make art that taps into some part of a viewer’s neurology and gets them into a different state,” Cheng says to host Charlotte Burns during this In Other Words podcast. The wide-ranging conversation covers topics from the freedom afforded humans by AI, to the genius of The Real Housewives television show. Cheng creates art with a nervous system: his practice often involves computer simulations that resemble video games—albeit ones that play themselves. His current exhibition “BOB: Bag of Beliefs” centers around an AI lifeform whose evolution is shaped by viewers who can make offerings—both poisonous and benign—to BOB via an app. Cheng has created his own form of art; a work that is mesmerizing and surprisingly moving (at Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York until 23 March). “It’s a funny time we live in,” says Cheng, who studied both cognitive science and art. He wants his work to tap into our limbic systems (“the most easily triggered and exploitab

In the words of the Los Angeles Times, the artist Mickalene Thomas “is to contemporary painting what Daft Punk is to music: acclaimed as one of the more original remix artists working today.” Her genre-busting work takes many forms, and grapples with bodies and their desires, with power, equity and identity. In today’s episode, she talks about community and collaboration—both essential to her practice—in a conversation with her partner and muse, the art consultant Racquel Chevremont, the cultural critic Antwaun Sargent and Charlotte Burns, the host of In Other Words. Thomas and Chevremont recently launched “Deux Femme Noires”, an organization focused on mentoring emerging artists of color. “The more of us that come up, the better," Chevremont says "We want the room to be filled with us.”  Thomas was studying to be a lawyer when a chance encounter with the photographs of Carrie Mae Weems inspired her to change direction and become an artist herself. “Whatever that power is, or mystery one may feel when they’re

Produced in partnership with Frieze Los Angeles, this live recording is a conversation with major Californian institutional leaders Naima J. Keith (Deputy Director, California African American Museum), Michael Govan (CEO and Wallis Annenberg Director, Los Angeles County Museum of Art), Andrew Perchuk, (Deputy Director, Getty Research Institute), Megan Steinman (Director, The Underground Museum), moderated by our host Charlotte Burns. Taking as a starting point the research published by In Other Words and artnet News, which examined the representation of African American artists in US museums and the international market, our panelists talk about the ways in which they are working to broaden the canon, and think specifically about local communities.  Transcript: http://www.artagencypartners.com/transcript-frieze-la/ “In Other Words” is a presentation of AAP and Sotheby’s, produced by Audiation.fm.

The man credited with reinventing the museum and changing British culture, Sir Nicholas Serota joins us for a special extended episode of In Other Words. Now Chair of Arts Council England, Serota was the director of Tate for 28 years. More than anybody else, he helped shift attitudes in Britain, making the country more comfortable with contemporary art while he oversaw the growth of Tate both physically and in terms of reputation and ambition. Once a small institution, Tate became a phenomenon and the best attended museum of Modern art in the world. Serota began his career in the 1980s during a period in which the country’s politics were isolationist and there was a “certain paranoia about continental Europe and artists from Europe”. By the early 2000s, the country had become more international and open, and the arts were flourishing as London established itself as a creative and economic hub. Recorded on the day of a historic defeat in the government’s “meaningful vote” on Brexit, Serota discusses the curren

From ticketing scandals and the implications of Brexit, to a major £35m museum renovation, this episode of In Other Words features a frank conversation with Nicholas Cullinan, the director of London’s National Portrait Gallery, on a broad range of topics. Cullinan discusses a recent attendance crisis at the museum, when faulty counters reported that visitor figures had fallen by 35% between 2017 and 2018. While the numbers were proven to be wildly inaccurate, the museum was blasted in the media, which suggested its contemporary program was out of touch with the public. In this episode, Cullinan counters some of the criticism: “Basically, you’re saying that we and possibly other British museums shouldn’t program contemporary artists or women artists if they don’t reach a huge audience. I disagree with that fundamentally.” Cullinan talks to host Charlotte Burns about the implications of judging a museum’s success solely on attendance, a metric that is “both helpful and vital but should not be the only thing,” h

“Being an artist was a great excuse for anything you wanted to do that was ‘different’,” says the artist, photographer and filmmaker Laurie Simmons, whose work is the subject of a major retrospective survey on show now at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth (until 27 January). In this episode, she talks to host Charlotte Burns about everything from Internet culture to egalitarian art and the concept of magical thinking. Simmons’s tableaus, which are often created with dolls, explore memory, sexuality and artifice and she discusses what it was (and is) like working in a male-dominated industry. Transcript: http://www.artagencypartners.com/transcript-laurie-simmons/ “In Other Words” is a presentation of AAP and Sotheby’s, produced by Audiation.fm.

What were the hot topics of 2018? Host Charlotte Burns looks back on the year in this special episode, breaking down key moments in conversation with Julia Halperin (executive editor of artnet News). The broadening of the canon across markets and museums—from African American artists to outliers, from women artists to conspiracists—was a major topic for In Other Words guests last year. Another key area of focus was the future of the museum, with topics from deaccessioning to digital swarming discussed by institutional leaders in their appearances on the show, including Glenn Lowry (director, MoMA), Richard Armstrong (director, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation), Jessica Morgan (director, Dia Art Foundation), Michael Govan (CEO and Wallis Annenberg director, LACMA), Doryun Chong (deputy director and chief curator, M+ ), Budi Tek (founder, Yuz Museum and Foundation) and Lisa Phillips (director, New Museum of Contemporary Art). And the most popular topic of 2018? Art criticism. Roberta Smith (co-chi

For this special live recording from Washington, D.C., we were invited to interview Jerry Saltz, the senior art critic at New York magazine, in front of an audience as part of the “Critics in Conversation” talks program organized by the Hirshhorn National Museum of Modern Art. Jerry has previously appeared as a guest on In Other Words—an intimate and introspective conversation in which he talked to our host Charlotte Burns about his life and work. He brought a different energy to this live recording, bouncing from topics as varied as politics to Led Zeppelin to Medieval art—and back again. Saltz—who won a Pulitzer Prize earlier this year for his article “My Life As A Failed Artist”—talks about how he “wanted to change the structure of criticism, which felt exclusive to me. I couldn't get in. I didn't go to the right schools”, and dispenses advice for writers, artists and art-lovers alike: “First of all believe and trust yourself, for God's sake! For two minutes! Is that so hard? Put down the urge to be smart.

Named “the most powerful woman in the New York art world” by The New York Times, Lisa Phillips has been the director of the New Museum of Contemporary Art since 1999. On today’s show, she talks about the future of the museum—from the current $85m capital campaign to the ways in which Phillips sees the institution moving beyond bricks and mortar—with host Charlotte Burns (executive editor, In Other Words) and Allan Schwartzman (co-founder of AAP and Sotheby’s chairman)—who was a founding staff member at the New Museum, hired as a curator aged 19. Founded in 1977, the museum recently celebrated its 40th anniversary. Phillips and Schwartzman discuss the “spirit of the new” in art, and talk about power—what it means, who has it and how it might better be redefined. Phillips, who was formerly a curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art, discusses the forces that are shaping museums—such as technology and shifting demographics—and how to respond to them. Transcript: http://www.artagencypartners.com/podcast/lisa

Celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, the non-profit FLAG Art Foundation in New York was founded by Glenn Fuhrman. On this episode of In Other Words, Fuhrman talks how he began collecting art (“I lived in a one-room studio apartment for the first eight and a half years I lived in New York, and spent all my disposable income on art.”), and discusses philanthropy (he and his wife sponsored the creation of the nation's largest free Wi-Fi network, covering 95 city blocks in Harlem, in 2013). Fuhrman discusses plans for his own collection—and offers some advice to aspiring collectors as part of this conversation with Amy Cappellazzo (a chairman at Sotheby's and a co-founder of Art Agency, Partners) and our host Charlotte Burns (executive editor, In Other Words).  Fuhrman, who co-founded and co-manages the private investment firm MSD Capital, also talks about the legacy of FLAG and its future, as well as his views on the art market. Transcript: http://www.artagencypartners.com/podcast/glenn-fuhrman-amy-capp

More than $2B was spent on Impressionist, Modern and contemporary art during the recent round of auctions in New York. On today’s podcast, Nicholas Maclean (of the London and New York dealership Eykyn Maclean) and Allan Schwartzman (co-founder of AAP) discuss with our host Charlotte Burns (editor of In Other Words) what happened. They talk about the successes and the surprises of the sales, as well as the key trends to emerge—and what this means about the market. For this and more, tune in today. Transcript: http://www.artagencypartners.com/transcript-auctions-november-2018/ “In Other Words” is a presentation of AAP and Sotheby’s, produced by Audiation.fm.

In this episode, we go down the rabbit hole with Ian Alteveer and Doug Eklund, the co-curators of “Everything is Connected: Art and Conspiracy” at the Met Breuer (until 6 January 2019). The show deals with the ways artists have imagined the forces that control their lives, presenting 70 works created between 1969 and 2016 by around 30 artists and artist collectives. It is the first major exhibition on the topic. The beginning half of the show focuses on art that uncovers corporate and political malfeasance through public records, dealing with scandals from Watergate to the assassination of JFK and the US government’s handling of the AIDS crisis. It includes work by artists intent on unveiling deceptions, from shell corporations to the networks linking politicians, business people and arms dealers. The second part of the show moves into the realm of the fantastical, presenting works that are often dark or troubled—whether doll houses, LSD-inspired visions or other kinds of alternate realities.  Transcript: htt

How do curators find art, and decide to show it? Joining our host Charlotte Burns for a conversation about the future of biennials, triennials and other group shows are Cecilia Alemani (director and chief curator of High Line Art and the artistic director of Art Basel Cities) and Ingrid Schaffner (curator of the 57th Carnegie International, which recently opened in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania). They talk about how they view the role of the curator, and about getting off the beaten track. They discuss topics including the intersection of politics and art, and reveal the best art they’ve recently seen. For this and more, tune in today. Transcript: http://www.artagencypartners.com/transcript-ingrid-schaffner-and-cecilia-alemani/ “In Other Words” is a presentation of AAP and Sotheby’s, produced by Audiation.fm.

In today’s episode of In Other Words, we are joined by Richard Armstrong, who has been the director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation since 2008. A frank and insightful thinker who once considered a career in politics before entering the arts, Armstrong shares his thoughts on topics from censorship to deaccessioning. He also talks about how museums can cope with being the targets of digital swarming and reveals an update on plans for the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi: “We’re looking forward to a real opening date at this point.” For this and more, tune in today. Transcript: http://www.artagencypartners.com/transcript-richard-armstrong/ “In Other Words” is a presentation of AAP and Sotheby’s, produced by Audiation.fm.

The first major survey show of the 75-year-old artist Howardena Pindell opened earlier this year at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and is now on show at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (“Howardena Pindell: What Remains To Be Seen” until 25 November). Pindell was one of the first black curators at the Museum of Modern Art and a cofounder of pioneering feminist gallery A.I.R. She worked in a mainly abstract style until an almost-fatal car accident in 1979 caused a shift in her art, which became more political and personal.    In the late 1980s, Pindell began researching the demographics of artists represented in New York museums and commercial galleries, presenting her findings in a 1987 paper called Statistics, Testimony and Supporting Documentation and then in a follow-up paper Commentary and Update of Gallery and Museum Statistics 1986-1997. In many ways, this work was a precursor to the research In Other Words recently published with artnet News, so we invited Pindell onto the show to talk about wh