Art Matters

Painting and pigments are intimately connected, but have you ever given much thought to artists’ historical relationship with colour? Yves Klein had his blue and Malevich loved black; the Impressionists formed an entire movement around light and colour. On this episode, we speak with artist Stuart Semple (creator of the pinkest pink and blackest black acrylic paints commercially available) about artists’ love of colour and how he went about making his colouriest colour collection. This episode's guest: Stuart Semple is an innovative artist whose work has been shown at galleries in New York, London and Hong Kong. He first garnered notice in 2009 through his project ‘HappyCloud’ in which he released thousands of smiley-faced soap clouds from Tate Modern. He curated an exhibition in 2011 at the Old Vic Tunnels featuring works by Tracey Emin, Matt Collishaw, himself and others to support mental health, and in 2016 he released his pinkest pink pigment for sale online to ALMOST any artist. He has since released a

The Met Gala is one of the biggest cultural events of the season, seeing the collision of art, celebrity and fashion. Ahead of the gala, we sit down with the ladies of Tabloid Art History to discuss the history of the event, which celebrities to watch out for, and this year’s theme of ‘Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination’. Why is Catholic imagery so inspirational for artists, and how can you decode some of the religious references in fashion and art? This episode's guests: Listen to our previous episode with Tabloid Art History discussing celebrity culture. Tabloid Art History was created by Elise Bell, Chloe Esslemont and Mayanne Soret in November 2016, and has built a community of over 40,000 followers over the last year. They’ve been featured in Vanity Fair, Dazed, Vogue, i-D and Vox. They also produce a zine looking at the intersection of pop culture and art history. Images: https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/adam-and-eve-207100/ https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/saint-jerome-as-c

Are artists obsessed with redheads? Would your hairstyle be considered sexually suggestive in the past? We chat with Rachael Gibson of the Instagram account @thehairhistorian about hair trends in art history from the Egyptians to present, and decode some of the hidden messaging behind some hairstyles in art. This episode's guest: Rachael is a freelance hair editor, working for hair brands including Schwarzkopf Professional and Mastered, where she creates their online session styling courses with Guido and Sam McKnight. She also runs the Instagram account @thehairhistorian, where she explores her love for art history and hair history. Rachael studied Fashion Design at Manchester Metropolitan University and also obtained an MA in Fashion Journalism from the London College of Fashion. Previously she worked as web editor for Hairdressers Journal International – the online home of the 135-year-old title Hairdressers Journal – and was also editor at the Scissorhands Media portfolio of consumer hair titles. Images

Why can some people taste words? Do you see colours while listening music? What is synaesthesia, and where does it come from? Musicians like Pharrell Williams and Billy Joel have the condition; David Hockney has discussed having sound-colour synaesthesia, and Kandinsky and Van Gogh also experienced this phenomenon. This week we explore the fascinating neurological condition that connects two or more senses and ask how it can impact the way an artist creates. https://artuk.org/discover/stories/art-matters-podcast-synaesthesia-in-art

Jay Z created a performance art piece with Marina Abramović and wrote a song called 'Picasso Baby'; Kanye West made a video inspired by a Vincent Desiderio painting. How – and why – have recent hip hop artists made extensive references to art in their music? This episode takes a look at how the relationship between art and hip hop has evolved, how graffiti art and hip hop grew up together, and why referencing Basquiat in a song may be about more than just status. This episode's guest: James Braxton Peterson is a writer. He is the author of several books, including: The Hip Hop Underground and African American Culture, Prison Industrial Complex for Beginners and Hip Hop Headphones: A Scholar’s Critical Playlist. He is also the founder of Hip Hop Scholars, Inc., an association of hip hop generational scholars dedicated to researching and developing the cultural and educational potential of hip hop, urban, and youth cultures. Peterson has written for Fortune.com, Newsweek.com, The Guardian, The LA Times, Reuter

In this episode, we look at art that's skin-deep, displayed – not in galleries – but on the human body. Where does the history of tattooing meet the history of art? How have tattooed people been represented in paintings – and in the media? Why have some tattooers resisted the label of 'artist'? How did the fashion for Japanese prints among the Impressionists impact the world of tattooing? And who are the Da Vincis of the tattoo world? This episode's guest: Dr Matt Lodder is a lecturer in contemporary art and Director of American Studies at the University of Essex. His research primarily concerns the application of art-historical methods to the history of Western tattooing from the seventeenth century to the present day, with a focus on the professional era from the 1880s onwards. He has given invited lectures at venues including the V&A, the National Museum of Scotland, and the Museum of London. He has published academic papers in publications including Sculpture Journal and contributed forewords for over a

On this episode of Art Matters, we speak with Katy Hessel, the woman behind the Instagram account, The Great Women Artists. We discuss how digital tools can help champion women artists, and how social platforms offer a voice to underrepresented communities. With this year marking 100 years since women began to gain voting rights in the UK, and International Women’s Day approaching on 8 March, it’s the perfect time to highlight and celebrate great, overlooked women artists. This episode's guest: Katy Hessel is the woman behind the Instagram-based blog @thegreatwomenartists. Having completed a BA in Art History at UCL in 2015, Katy began the account in October 2015 to highlight and celebrate female artists through daily posts. The women featured range from emerging artists to lesser-known women artists from the Baroque and Renaissance periods, as well as well-known female artists like Frida Kahlo. The Great Women Artists seeks to reinsert women back into the art historical narrative in an accessible way, and K

In the second episode of Art Matters, we’re talking to the creators of Tabloid Art History, a Twitter account that joins up the celebrity images of today with paintings from art history. We discuss how Lindsay Lohan gives off Caravaggio vibes; the artistic merit to be found in the Real Housewives of Atlanta; and how Lady Gaga and Beyoncé have used art historical images to promote themselves and their music. This episode's guests: Elise Bell, Chloe Esslemont and Mayanne Soret are the brains behind Tabloid Art History. TAH was created in November 2016 by University of Edinburgh students Elise and Chloe, has built a community of over 40,000 followers over the last year, and has been featured in Vanity Fair, Dazed, Vogue, i-D and Vox. In April 2017, the duo were commissioned an exhibition piece by art collective CWDT. They produced a zine looking at the intersection of pop culture and art history, through which Mayanne, a UCL graduate, joined the team. The zine sold over 180 copies worldwide, and is still availa

We talk to Dr Justin Bengry about queer culture and art history. Dr Bengry is a Lecturer in Queer History at Goldsmiths, University of London and convenor of the first MA in Queer History. 2017 marked 50 years since the beginning of decriminalisation of homosexuality in the United Kingdom. It also saw Tate Britain put on a landmark exhibition, ‘Queer British Art’, looking at the impact queer culture and people have had on the art world: from Simeon Solomon through to the Bloomsbury Group, up to the work of Francis Bacon and David Hockney. We talk about coded expressions of queer identity – from when it was still illegal through to today – artists who challenged gender norms, and how more informed attitudes towards gender and sexual identity today impact the way that we approach the discussion of art. https://artuk.org/discover/stories/art-matters-podcast-queer-culture