Women Artists in the Digital Age ft. Katy Hessel of @thegreatwomenartists - Episode 3

02/20/18 • 22 min

3 Listeners

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 Katy has written this subject for numerous publications including i-D, It's Nice That, and Dazed. In November 2017, Katy curated her first exhibition, ‘The Great Women Artists: Women on Instagram’ at Mother London, showcasing a range of women artists who use Instagram as a platform for their artistic careers. Katy lives and works in London. Images: https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/in-spinster-salts-collection-231094 https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/self-portrait-in-a-straw-hat-115310 https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/cane-river-cotton-gin-40920

Previous Episode

Celebrity Culture and Art History ft. Tabloid Art History – Episode 2

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 available to read online for free through the website. In 2018, Tabloid Art History is extending to Instagram, and will work to produce more art history content to help democratise the subject. Images: https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/the-virgin-of-guadalupe-126418 https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/marilyn-diptych-117797 https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/joan-collins-158768

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Art and Tattoos ft. Dr Matt Lodder – Episode 4

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 dozen popular books on tattooing. He has contributed articles to the Royal Academy Magazine, History Today, The Guardian and others, and appeared on broadcast media across the globe. Images: https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/tattoo-artist-85336 https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/ecce-homo-94341 https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/blackgame-218477