In this episode, Sarah and Sarah put on their detective hats to unravel the mysterious meanings behind Benjamin West’s painting, Helen Brought to Paris.
After a considerable “summer” hiatus, the Art Attack is back! We kick off the new season with a gorgeous piece by Barbara Hepworth. Hepworth is considered to have been one of the first truly abstract sculptors and the piece, entitled Merryn, is a great example of her work. But more importantly, this little sculpture has us all hot and bothered. Listen to the episode to find out why! You can visit Merryn in the flesh at the National Museum of Women in the Arts.
After visiting Ai WeiWei’s sculpture Fragments, the Sarahs keep the conversation going with a trip to the E Street Cinema for a viewing of the film Never Sorry, by Alison Klayman. The documentary paints a fascinating portrait of the dissident chinese artist, exploring his life, his artistic process, and his activism. The Boston Globe calls Never Sorry “one of the most engagingly powerful movies of the year” and we agree!!
In this episode, the Sarahs visit Ai Weiwei’s sculpture Fragments, at the Sackler Gallery. The sculpture is constructed of pieces of ironwood salvaged from Qing dynasty temples that have been razed in recent years to make way for new development. Fragments, and Ai’sZodiac Heads at the Hirshhorn, are on display in advance of a retrospective of the outspoken artist’s works slated to appear at the Hirshhorn museum in October.
In which a bird lands on a statue. Also, the Sarahs take one for the team, getting to the bottom of exactly why we are so “meh” about this sculpture by Marino Marini. (Or, in Sarah C’s Italian translation, Marino! Marini!) Listen to this episode so that the next time you see a sculpture you don’t like, you can ignore it with a clear conscience.
In this special episode, we attend the opening of the Tryst Cafe at the Phillips Collection, and use the occasion to check out Brazilian artist Sandra Cinto’s eight panel piece One Day After the Rain, which can be seen in the new space. We also talk with Constantine Stavropoulos, owner of Tryst, about his new outpost and the role of art in his cafes and in life.
In which the Sarahs get caught up in the romance of an intimate moment on a Venice street, as captured by John Singer Sargent. The painting is at the National Gallery of Art.
Music: Nessun Dorma by Giacomo Puccini, performed by Rafael Villegas
In this episode, Sarah C and Sarah D visit Nam June Paik’s tribute to his adoptive home, Electronic Superhighway: Continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii. You can get a lot more info about the piece at the Smithsonian American Art Museum website.
Music: Lord Pear by Lagos Disco Machine, and hhhhh6 by junior85
In this episode, the Sarahs cozy up in the Kogod Courtyard, located in the center of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery. This tranquil space, dominated by Norman Foster’s elegant ceiling, has us enthralled. You can get more information or view a time lapse video of the space here.
Photo by Tim Hursley.
Music Credits: hhhhh6 by Junior 85 and Air by SaReGaMa
In this episode, we play a visual game of Telephone with photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto. His portrait of Oscar Wilde, at the Corcoran, is based on a Madame Tussaud’s sculpture, which in turn is based on a photograph of Wilde.
Ever wander into an art museum and think, "I must be missing something here?" Ever wish you could stand in front of a work of art and actually understand what you're seeing, instead of spending 10 seconds gazing helplessly at it before moving on?
Our podcast is designed to help visitors build museum viewing skills. Listeners will learn how to approach any work of art, whether it be 15th Century Japanese architecture, Victorian decorative art or 20th Century modernist. It will train visitors to engage in close observation of pieces and learn how to prioritize gallery time. We will show that it can be more fruitful to spend 10 minutes with a single piece, rather than to race through a room looking at every painting. We will encourage visitors to become more confident art viewers, allowing them to have more relaxing and fulfilling museum visits.
Introduction music written and performed by Gram Thompson
Perpetual Memory Loss
Fantastically amusing and thought provoking ramblings from the great Dan Kaplan
The Mark Miller Gallery
The Mark Miller Gallery is a contemporary art gallery located on Orchard Street in the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
The Pink Line Project
The Pink Line Project catalyzes the culturally curious to participate, innovate, engage, and conspire with passion, awesomeness, inspiration, generosity, and ingenuity.
The Pop-Up Museum
The mission of the Pop-Up Museum is to create conversations between people of all ages and walks of life.