The Art World: What If...?!

Latest Episodes:

The Art World: Hope & Dread, Controlling Culture Dec 21, 2021

Show notes

Political arguments and cultural debates have become indivisible in recent years and this episode explores ideas around controlling culture from above. Hosts Charlotte Burns and Allan Schwartzman will hear from a British politician who says he'd return the controversial "Elgin Marbles" to Greece if he had the chance and, as China cracks down on dissenting voices with its national security law for Hong Kong, they also speak to an artist who recently left the city for fear of her safety. What happens when governments try to control culture? Tune in to find out.

Guests: Farah Nayeri, Tiffany Sia, The Rt Hon Lord Smith of Finsbury, The Rt Hon Lord Vaizey of Didcot and Amy Webb

The Art World: Hope & Dread, Introduction Dec 15, 2021

Show notes

Introducing this new documentary series exploring power in art, hosts Charlotte Burns and Allan Schwartzman discuss the biggest challenges in the cultural world today. At a moment of epochal shifts and changing certainties, these are issues that extend well beyond the art world—from governments and human rights, to history and democracy.

Arguments around monuments are linked to debates about museums: what they show, what they own, who they employ. Who is at the top of these institutions, who funds them and how does the market come into play? Who's driving the wagon and who's trying to seize the reins? And do you need to buckle up to ride out the journey?

The Art World: Hope & Dread, American History, Axed Dec 14, 2021

Show notes

America's public spaces have been throbbing with the sounds of loud arguments about history and identity, encapsulated by the debate over Confederate monuments. In this episode, hosts Charlotte Burns and Allan Schwartzman introduce you to artists and curators suggesting new ways of dealing with American history—taking you behind the arguments about whether statues should stay or go and offering a nuanced perspective on a haunted history.

Guests: Maya Benton, Thomas Finkelpearl, Roxane Gay, Jackson Polys, Hamza Walker

The Art World: Hope & Dread, Introducing Hope & Dread Dec 14, 2021

Show notes

Guests: Deana Haggag, Mia Locks, Jay Sanders and The Rt Hon Lord Vaizey of Didcot

The Art World: Hope and Dread Dec 09, 2021

Show notes

The series explores power in art--and how it's bound up with democracy, society and the wider world. You'll meet people who are trying to change the balance of that power, and you'll witness resistance to that change. You'll hear about what's been won and what's been lost with an art market explosion fueled by money, technology and shifts in taste and power. Talking to dozens of people, from artists to astrologers, museum directors and curators to philanthropists and futurists, Schwartzman and Burns get a handle on where we are, how we got here and where we're going. Then, ultimately, as each episode explores a different realm in culture that's undergoing seismic change, you'll have the chance to determine if we can collectively move through the feelings of dread...to hope.

The Art World: In Other Words, Collaboration is the antidote to the poison Apr 29, 2020

Show notes

From acts of solidarity to new business models, many in the art world are teaming up during this pandemic to bolster the system and rethink its infrastructure. Joining us for today's show are guests including financial journalist Felix Salmon; gallerists Sadie Coles of Sadie Coles HQ and Vanessa Carlos of Carlos/Ishikawa; artist Doron Langberg; culture and politics writer Marisa Mazria Katz; and nonprofit executives Carolyn Ramo of Artadia and Deana Haggag of United States Artists.

"We are all protecting our small castle or encampment and promoting our own content," says Sadie Coles. "But actually, if you start reaching out to people, it is all about dialogue— and things develop from there."

For more, tune in today.

Transcript: https://www.artagencypartners.com/transcript-79-covid-19-second-podcast/

"In Other Words" is a presentation of AAP and Sotheby's, produced by Audiation.fm.

The Art World: In Other Words, Covid-19 is Exposing the Fault Lines Apr 10, 2020

Show notes

Will Covid-19—which is so far spreading unevenly in the US, hitting low-income or black communities the hardest—exacerbate the inequities in the art world? In our 78th episode, host Charlotte Burns and Allan Schwartzman (co-founder of AAP and a chairman of Sotheby's) discuss the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Can art itself provide solace during this period of grief and fear? And how will the art world and its market make it through?

Tune in.

Transcript: https://www.artagencypartners.com/transcript-78-will-the-art-world-remain-resilient/

"In Other Words" is a presentation of AAP and Sotheby's, produced by Audiation.fm.

The Art World: In Other Words, "Art is About Freedom," with Gallerist Sadie Coles Mar 20, 2020

Show notes

"Art is about ideas, transgression and transformation," says gallerist Sadie Coles, who founded her eponymous gallery, Sadie Coles HQ, in London's Mayfair neighborhood in 1997, and now has two spaces in the UK capital. "And art needs freedom."

In this wide-ranging podcast, recorded in London earlier in the year with host Charlotte Burns, Coles talks about everything from the nature of being an art dealer, to the sense of anxiety that has shaped both the market and art in this still-young century—and about the time she moonlighted to as a theatre critic to review a play starring Madonna as a ruthless art world operator.

Coles talks about changes in the gallery system. "Artists now have more power, and I think that's a healthy thing", she says. "The rules, whatever they may be, are in flux right now."

To hear more, tune in today.

Transcript: https://www.artagencypartners.com/transcript-75-flux-and-freedom-with-sadie-coles/

"In Other Words" is a presentation of AAP and Sotheby's, produced by Audiation.fm.

The Art World: In Other Words, The Magical Maureen Paley Mar 12, 2020

Show notes

Maureen Paley—a native New Yorker who was recently named one of the Evening Standard's most influential Londoners—has been called a "true pioneer of the East End" for her part in turning the neighborhood into a hub for art and culture.

She opened her gallery in 1984 and "it still remains alive and very vital," she tells host Charlotte Burns. "People like to think of art now as related to commerce and business, but I always saw it that it was related to a type of magic."

To hear more, tune in today.

Transcript: https://www.artagencypartners.com/transcript-75-maureen-paley/

"In Other Words" is a presentation of AAP and Sotheby's, produced by Audiation.fm.

The Art World: In Other Words, Art and Politics with Stuart Shave and Sarah McCrory Feb 28, 2020

Show notes

This lively conversation with Stuart Shave and Sarah McCrory was recorded in London shortly before the UK exited Europe at the end of January. McCrory (inaugural director of the Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art in London, which opened in 2018) and Shave (founder of Stuart Shave Modern Art gallery in London) talk to host Charlotte Burns about a range of topics, from "Google curating" to the environmental crisis; from the #MeToo movement to the cultural climate within the UK. The British art world has always been "in constant revival and renewal," McCrory says. "But I do worry about how we keep it a place for artists, and how we keep it a place for culture."

To hear more, tune in today.

Transcript: https://www.artagencypartners.com/transcript-76-stuart-and-sarah/