In Talks With (Danielle Radojcin)

“What is Chinese design, what is Hong Kong design, what is identity?” These are some of the questions asked by Marisa Yiu, architect and founder of Design Trust, the Hong Kong-based non-profit, grant-funding platform that supports creative endeavours both locally and around the globe, from keeping local silk-making traditions alive, to supporting Rem Koolhaas at The Guggenheim and Cao Fei at Serpentine Galleries.

Danielle spends a day at the New Art Centre at Roche Court in Salisbury near Stonehenge, talking to the artists Edmund de Waal and Jacqui Poncelet, and the gallery's founder, Madeleine Bessborough.

Anthony Caro is a giant of British architecture, who designed the London Millennium Footbridge spanning the Thames between St. Paul's Cathedral and the Tate Modern, who worked with Henry Moore, and who, with his vision and restless drive, broke through the stagnation of the art world in post-war Britain. A major exhibition of Anthony Caro’s work is currently on view at Pitzhanger Manor and Gallery in Ealing, West London, itself a landmark of the British cultural landscape. Over tea in her her Pitzhanger Manor -adjacent office, the gallery's director, Clare Gough, discusses with host Danielle Radojcin the way the work in the exhibition complements the space around it and opens up new ideas around Caro’s work.

Image: Anthony Caro in his Camden Town studio
Photo by Nicholas Sinclair © The Anthony Caro Centre

 

 

 

Jaume Plensa is an internationally celebrated artist, whose colossal sculptures enhance the landscape in locations from Japan to Germany, from the United States to Reunion. Born in Barcelona in 1955, he has become known for creating work that aims to build bridges and foster communication between people and nations, principally via his enormous portrait sculptures with closed eyes, which exude an air of peaceful meditation in contrast to their size, and his linguistically-playful pieces formed of letters from different world alphabets. As a new exhibition of his work opens at Yorkshire Sculpture Park in the North of the UK, Danielle talks with him to find out more about the lofty aims behind his work.

Artist Jenkin van Zyl seeks to portray characters who find transcendence through the freedom of being able to be whomever they want, behind prosthetic, ghoulish masks. Doppelgangers and clones swarm through his work; theatrics and extreme body alteration abound; moments of extreme tension break into the absurd. On the eve of his first solo show, 'Surrender', he talks to journalist Danielle Radojcin about his work and appearance.

"What is it like to be a young artist growing up - what are your reference points and how do you take ownership and claim that history?” Taking inspiration from 1950s porn magazines, Lucian Freud and her grandfather, the young British artist Somaya Critchlow creates intimate paintings that reclaim ownership of the Black female nude.

Danielle visits The Lightbox, the regional contemporary art gallery in Surrey,  where recently-appointed director Sarah Brown  made the unconventional decision to showcase an exhibition of works by Lucian Freud alongside an adjacent exhibition, curated by the young British female artist, Somaya Critchlow. Running until the 19th March 2023, the Freud side of the exhibition features a range of portraits, nudes and photos, spanning the artist’s career; while the Soul as Sphere, which sits in the same room, is filled with works by Somaya’s grandfather, the artists and expert in sacred geometry Keith Critchlow, as well as pieces by his contemporaries such as Frank Auerback and Leon , and some by Somaya herself. The effect is highly complimentary and serves to afford the viewer the chance to look at Freud through a fresh - namely female and contemporary - lens. Speaking separately to both Sarah and Somaya, Danielle gets to hear about their motivations and inspirations behind the project. 

Image courtesy of the artist and Blau International. Photography: Lewis Ronald

Selected as one of the creatives in the Theaster Gates x Prada design programme, Catherine Sarr is a jewellery designer for our times. Her sustainable jewellery line, Almasika, was snapped up by Vogue and has adorned the likes of Michelle Obama and Reese Witherspoon; she is also co-founder of the Prix Sarr at Les Beaux-Arts Paris, which presents three awards annually to students for excellence in a body of artistic work. She speaks to Danielle about philanthropy and being a "vector of change".

Danielle Radojcin travels to Brussels, Belgium to meet artist Jaclyn Conley, originally from Canada and currently based in Connecticut, USA. Jaclyn creates expansive works that create new worlds from seemingly disparate sources. Yet when these elements converge on her canvas, they establish entirely new relationships. Drawing inspiration from 16th-century art, religious iconography, and utopian photographs of 1970s commune life, Jaclyn redefines perceptions of time, place, and personal freedom. She deftly manipulates nonlinear time and intertwines themes of protest and politics.

Her physical artworks are characterised by their large scale, and thick, energetic strokes of oil paint. Soft, feminine colours evoke a quiet, introspective mood, inviting viewers to reflect. At the onset of an exhibition of her new paintings at the Maruani Mercier gallery in Brussels, this episode delves into Jaclyn's thematic inspirations, their contemporary relevance, her artistic journey, and how her work interwines with other aspects of her life. 

 

 

Moki Cherry was a Swedish artist who lived between 1943 and 2009 and who made a name for herself initially through a two-decades long artistic collaboration with her husband, the Jazz musician Don Cherry, and then later as an artist in her own right, developing an expansive and collaborative practice across textile, sculpture, painting, drawing, writing, collage, and video. As a mother -  her children are the musicians Neneh Cherry and Eagle Eye Cherry - she found a way of working her art around running a household, saying, “I survived by taking a creative attitude to daily life and chores." An exhibition of her work at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London celebrates Cherry’s exploration of where art and life meet, her collaborative and interdisciplinary practice, and her inventive resolve in the face of gendered challenges working both as an artist and mother.  

ICA director Bengi Ünsal explains why she decided to feature a Moki Cherry show, and Naima Karlsson, Moki’s granddaughter and an archivist and coordinator for the Estate of Moki Cherry and Cherry Archive, delves into their personal relationship, what she was like as a person, her individualistic beliefs and how it all fed into her work.

Further reading:

https://mokicherry.com/

 

Guest host Simon Chilvers speaks to Trino Verkade, Chief Executive of The Sarabande Foundation, a beacon of support and inspiration for emerging talent in the creative world. Founded by the legendary Alexander McQueen in 2006, Sarabande has blossomed into a nurturing space offering not only studios but also a wealth of knowledge through talks and workshops spanning various disciplines. 

Trino Verkade's journey intertwines deeply with the legacy of Alexander McQueen himself. Hailing from Liverpool, she began her career as McQueen's first employee, standing witness to the genius and innovation that defined his work until his untimely passing in 2010. Since then, she has continued to shape the landscape of fashion, lending her expertise to renowned brands such as Mary Katrantzou and Thom Browne. However, her heart ultimately found its home at Sarabande in 2017, where she now orchestrates every facet of the foundation's operations. 

In this special episode, Trino Verkade sits down with Simon to share her insights, experiences, and aspirations. From her intimate beginnings with McQueen to her tireless dedication to nurturing the next generation of creatives, she talks about what makes Sarabande unique and its plans for the future. 

https://sarabandefoundation.org/

Photo: Sølve Sundsbø

 

“Joy is something that requires work and commitment. It doesn’t just fall on you like rain.” So says Francesco Risso, the creative director at Italian fashion house Marni, where he has been in post since 2016. For this episode, guest host Simon Chilvers speaks with Francesco and Carlos Nazario, the stylist with whom Risso works, about how they came to work together, and what inspires them.

Founded in 1994 by Consuelo Castiglioni, Marni built a devoted following for its intellectual and artistically-minded approach to clothes. When Castiglioni stepped down in 2016, Risso was appointed as creative director, continuing the brand’s legacy of cerebral design but with a renewed focus on beauty and craft. 

Before working for Marni, the Sardinian-born, Central Saint Martins-educated  Risso spent time working for Prada, Blumarine and Alessandro Dell’Acqua.

Carlos Nazario is a New York-based stylist who was global fashion director of i-D magazine and former assistant of Joe McKenna, whose previous clients include Calvin Klein, Nike and Proenza Schouler, before being appointed style director at large for Harper’s Bazaar.

 

 

Danielle Radojcin talks to Sam Lackey, director at the Liverpool Biennial and the UK’s largest festival of contemporary art. The biennial, a festival which happens every two years in a city around the world, and often in disused spaces, is the chance to revitalise the city it’s taking place in. The 12th edition of the Liverpool Biennial, curated by ‎Khanyisile Mbongwa, addressed the history of the city of Liverpool and its connections to the slave trade, and acted as a call for  “ancestral and indigenous forms of knowledge, wisdom and healing.” Sam looks back at the highs and lows of this year's fair, and talks about her vision for it moving forward. 

https://www.biennial.com/

@danielleradojcin

 In this episode, host Danielle Radojcin travels to East London to meet Hannah Starkey, the British photographer. Since she first came to prominence in the 90s, Starkey has built up an impressive body of work focusing on women and how they are represented. Born in Belfast in 1971, she studied photography and film at Edinburgh’s Napier University in the 90s and went on to study photography at the Royal College of Art in London. Today, her work can be found in major collections including the Tate and the Victoria & Albert Museum and In 2019 she was awarded the Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society.

From autumn 2022 until the end of April 2023, the Hepworth Wakefield gallery in West Yorkshire presents the first major survey exhibition of Starkey’s work. 

In this episode, Radojcin and Starkey discuss Starkey's process and how she works with her subjects;  what she calls “the consumer gaze” and the tyranny of social media, porn and the fashion and beauty industries on young women; and the power of photography as a tool for communication. 

Episode photo: Jeff Moore

“It’s about finding talented people and bringing them together to create beautiful things.” Join Danielle as she goes behind the scenes at Graanmarkt 13 with its co-founder, Ilse Cornelissens. This Belgian gem, a key part of Antwerp's famous creative community, features a carefully curated selection of fashion, perfumes, and homeware.

The elegant five-storey, 18th-century townhouse, where Ilse and her family live, overlooks a historic market square surrounded by grand houses and the imposing Bourla Theatre. Opened with her husband in 2010 with the help of world-renowned architect Vincent Van Duysen, it boasts a basement restaurant and a terrace perfect for fine-weather lounging. Danielle speaks with Ilse to explore her refreshing approach to retail, the journey of establishing Graanmarkt 13, and the deep-rooted magic of Antwerp's creative scene.

Graanmark 13

Kassl Editions

 

 

An habitué of the vibrant New York art, fashion and nightlife scene of the 1970s and 80s, where the crowd included Cookie Mueller, Basquiat and Holly Woodlawn, Covert's works featuring celebrity graves have become a life’s journey. With his first solo show opening in London, he talks to Danielle Radojcin about past lives, future pilgrimages and being a survivor.

Since the 70s, photographer Janette Beckman has documented youth culture in street scenes on both sides of the Atlantic, capturing musicians such as Dr Dre, Pete Townsend and Paul Weller, just before they hit the big time. Captivated by street style, her photojournalism has caught on camera everything from punks and rockers in London to the  gangs of East Los Angeles.

Janette grew up in London and spent time as a youth working for some of the most preeminent music and youth culture magazines of the day, such as Melody Maker and The Face. In the 80s she moved to New York, where she still lives today, and where she made a name for herself documenting the nascent hip hop scene. A career working for major magazine titles and prestigious subjects followed. More recently, she has spent time in Paris photographing the Christian Dior collections as well as documenting Black Lives Matter demonstrations. She exhibits prolifically, has published several books, and recently took part in a talk at Fotografiska celebrating women in hip hop. 

Danielle Radojcin speaks to Janette about her life as an itinerant female documentary photographer, as well as what it was like going to the  Rolling Stones concert in Hyde Park after Brian Jones died; her first assignment photographing Siouxsie and the Banshees; and how it feels having her work displayed at The National Portrait Gallery. 

janettebeckman.com

Photo: © Janette Beckman

Logo artwork: Patrick Waugh

“I like to break and remake things.” Calling himself-medium-agnostic, London-based British-Pakistani artist Shezad Dawood interweaves stories, realities and symbolism to create richly layered artworks, spanning painting, textiles, sculpture, film and digital media. The breadth of Dawood's output is quite astounding, and his ability to jump across an omniversal divide is worth the time spent listening to this alone. Dawood currently has a solo exhibition of ambitious new work entitled ‘Night in the Garden of Love’ at Wiels art centre in Brussels. This new body of work is inspired in part by the music, writings and art of the late legendary jazz musician Yusef Lateef, who coined the term auto-physio-psychic music to describe music that comes from the mental, physical and spiritual self, and with whose work Dawood felt an intense connection. Ahead of this exhibition, Danielle visited Dawood at his studio in Hackney, East London, where he showed her his latest work and discussed his extensive vintage textiles collection; his collaboration with the British fashion designer Priya Ahluwalia; his thoughts on NFTs; and how he’s working to support his passion for marine conservation through one of his manifold creative partnerships. 

Danielle heads to Somerset House in London to speak with Aindrea Emelife, the Nigerian-British curator and art historian. Specialising in modern and contemporary art, with a focus on questions around colonial and decolonial histories in Africa, transnationalism and the politics of representation, her writing includes the book A Brief History of Protest Art, and in 2021, she was appointed to the Mayor of London’s Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm. She is currently Curator of Modern and Contemporary at the Museum of West African Art (MOWAA), in Edo State, Nigeria. This summer she has curated an exhibition at Somerset House in London called Black Venus, which brings together the work of 18 Black women and non-binary artists to explore the othering, fetishisation and reclamation of narratives around Black femininity. The exhibition examines the complex narratives of Black womanhood through the influences of three perceived archetypes: the Hottentot Venus, the Sable Venus, and the Jezebel, and reframes stereotypical notions of black womanhood through the work of contemporary artists including Sonia Boyce, Carrie Mae Weems, Amber Pinkerton and Lorna Simpson. Aindrea talks about how she became interested in the history of art, and why she felt this was an important theme to address. 

 

How can a physical space impact an artist’s work? Danielle travels to Charleston, that famous home in the rolling Sussex hills of South East England, which was home to the Bloomsbury Set during the First and Second World Wars  and which still attracts fans of the works of Virginia Woolf, her sister Vanessa Bell their friends who stayed there, and which continues to be held up as a beacon of artistic and sexual freedom. This summer, the  space plays host  to an exhibition of the artists George and Betty Woodman, a husband and wife team of artists, who, although not contemporaneous with the Bloomsbury Group (Betty lived from 1930 - 2018 and George from  1932 - 2017) nonetheless share in the ideal of embracing  a life filled with creativity in a home away from the hustle and bustle of the city - in George and Betty’s case, leaving New York for their farmhouse in Antella, just outside of Florence in Italy.  To discuss Betty and George, and the impact of their surroundings in which they worked, as well as their daughter, the late photographer Francesca Woodman, Danielle speaks to Lissa McClure, Executive Director of the Woodman Family Foundation, and Emily Hill, Acting Head of Exhibitions at Charleston.

 

Further reading:

Charleston for more about Virginia Woolf, Vanessa Bell and the wider Bloomsbury Group. 

 The Woodman Family Foundation for more information about Betty Woodman, George Woodman and their daughter, the photographer Francesca Woodman. 

To contact In Talks With host Danielle Radojcin with comments and suggestions, please head to https://www.instagram.com/danielleradojcin/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielleradojcin/

Under Touria El Glaoui's guidance, the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair has become a flagship event in the art world, providing a platform for emerging and established artists from Africa and the diaspora to showcase their work. The fair has been held in major cities around the world, including London, Marrakech and New York, and has attracted a diverse audience of art enthusiasts, collectors, and curators.

Touria's visionary mindset extends far beyond the art world. Ahead of the latest New York edition of 1-54, Danielle Radojcin talks to her about pressing global issues such as restitution and climate change, highlighting the crucial role art plays in driving conversations and inspiring positive change. 

Azu Nwagbogu, founder of the Lagos Photo Festival and the African Artists’ foundation, is passionate about providing access to art for all. From his home in Lagos, he talks to Danielle Radojcin about his rejection of elitism in art and how to uncover previously untold stories through the restitution of cultural heritage to Africa. He also believes Coronavirus has been a great leveller, signalling the end of ‘shopping mall’ art fairs and allowing for the emergence of digital innovations allowing anyone to access art from their home.

"My job is about preparing new problems, and trying to paint back out of them towards something true." The artist, who has a major new show in London, talks to Danielle Radojcin about relishing the challenge of the blank canvas and how he strives to represent what it is to be human.

This episode relates the fascinating life story of Cinzia Ruggeri, the artist and fashion designer whose free-spirited creativity saw her achieve extraordinary success during the 1970s and 80s, only for her to walk away, and, since her death, be largely forgotten by the wider creative community. 

Born in Milan in 1942 into an industrial manufacturing family, Cinzia Ruggeri studied applied arts in Milan, interned for the fashion label Carven in Paris, and worked at her father’s tailoring company before setting up on her own and designing successful menswear and womenswear collections throughout the 70s and 80s . Although her work was widely acclaimed and in demand, she became disillusioned with the commercial constraints of retail manufacturing and  left the world of fashion at the end of the 1980s to concentrate on her work as a product designer, and to teach and work on installations. 

Although she was never formally part of an artistic movement, she was closely connected with the radical design scene in Milan in the late 1970s and was an associate of The Memphis Group, the famous 80s design movement, a connection immediately evident if you look at her work. And the work does feel familiar, even if the artist behind it is not. Perhaps her most recognisable piece is an emerald green dress featuring a stepped zigurat, or zigzag line, along its edge a common motif in post-modern design of the 1980s, which is held in the permanent collection at the Victoria & albert museum.

She was one of the first designers to experiment with electronic technologies, incorporating liquid crystals, LED lights and kinetic movement into her garments and artworks. 

She died in 2019. 

See the Cinzia Says exhibition catalogue HERE. 

A beacon of glamour on London's fashion and social scene, the cool, effervescent Tiphaine talks to Danielle about her bespoke knitwear label, Paris Essex, how her love of second hand clothes helps raise money for charity, and how she ended up with that extraordinary name.

Kaat Debo is the director and chief curator at MoMu, the fashion museum in Antwerp, Belgium. Belgium is famous as a key fashion location, not just for producing contemporary star names such as Raf Simons and Glenn Martens, but also for the Antwerp Six, a group of designers who came to prominence in the 90s and became celebrated for their groundbreaking designs. In September this year, MoMu reopened after an expansive renovation which was begun in 2018. Danielle speaks to Kaat about what it’s like being at the forefront of progressive museum thinking - from experimenting with live and digital performances, to challenging the authority of the institution voice - and why it’s so hard to find diverse mannequins to exhibit clothes on.

The former fashion designer, who has recently pivoted to art, talks to Danielle about the heady days of designing for Clements Ribeiro; why French women love Cacharel; and the special energy of Naomi Campbell.

What makes a good art fair? In recent years, there has been an ever-growing number of them around the world, their size and number leading to complaints of disregard of environmental impact and general art fair fatigue. So, is it possible to make attending an art fair into a creatively fulfilling experience? Leading art advisor Nazy Vassegh addresses this with her boutique art fair, Eye of the Collector, located in the storied 2 Temple Place building in London. Nazy sees her mission as putting the art centre stage, placing established artists alongside emerging and overlooked ones, and enabling a voyage of discovery and experiential event for the culturally curious. She also gives her thoughts and advice on how to build an art collection and changing trends in art collecting. 

Danielle travels to Kettle’s Yard, the contemporary art gallery in Cambridge, UK, to meet Megan Rooney, a Canadian artist renowned for her diverse and interdisciplinary practice encompassing painting, sculpture, installation, and performance.

Kettle's Yard is a charming art gallery and house that was originally the home of Jim Ede, a former curator at the Tate Gallery, and his wife Helen. From the mid-1950s until the early 70s, the Edes resided at Kettle’s Yard and created a space to display their impressive personal art collection, which includes works by Miro, Henry Moore, and Ben Nicholson. The house is arranged to maintain its domestic atmosphere, blending art with everyday objects to create an inspiring environment. Kettle's Yard also hosts temporary exhibitions, concerts, and educational programs, the most recent of which is a showcase of Megan Rooney’s work, including a site-specific temporary mural, a series of paintings, a dance performance, and a book.

Born in South Africa and raised between Brazil and Canada, Rooney's work explores themes of identity, memory, and the human experience, blending abstract forms with narrative elements. Now based in London, her vibrant, large-scale paintings and immersive installations are characterised by a dynamic use of colour and texture. She has exhibited internationally, including at prominent institutions like the Serpentine Galleries in London and the Louis Vuitton Foundation, and is recognised for her innovative approach to blending different media and creating evocative, experiential art.

Danielle visited Kettle's Yard to discuss with Megan her latest offering on the eve of the exhibition opening, which is her first major solo show in the UK.

https://www.kettlesyard.cam.ac.uk/

https://ropac.net/artists/210-megan-rooney/

 

Photo (detail): Eva Herzog

 

 

 

Allegra Huston is a writer and editor. She is the author of Love Child, a memoir, and a novel called A Stolen Summer. She was raised in Ireland by the film director John Huston and is the sister of actress Anjelica Huston. She talks from her home in Taos, New Mexico, about memories of her mother, Ricki Soma, and of the book, One Last Lunch, edited by Erica Heller, which she has contributed an essay to. 

Host Danielle Radojcin chats to Carla Sozzani, a revered figurehead in the worlds of art and fashion. Known as a pioneering fashion editor, visionary gallerist, and the founder of 10 Corso Como and the Fondation Azzedine Alaïa, Carla has spent decades shaping the creative landscape.

From her early days as a magazine editor in Milan during the late '60s and '70s to launching Italian Elle in 1987, Carla’s career has always been driven by an unwavering commitment to creative integrity, even when it came at the cost of her own career. Along with her late sister, the legendary Italian Vogue editor Franca Sozzani, she has shaped the lives of some of the most important fashion designers and photographers of the past 50 years, and created some of the most memorable imagery, working with photographers like Paolo Roversi, Peter Lindbergh and Steven Meisel. 

Throughout her career, Carla has been a mentor to independent designers, offering friendship, guidance and resources. She shares heartfelt memories of her great friend, the late Azzedine Alaïa, whom she helped save from bankruptcy, ultimately founding the Alaïa Foundation to preserve his legacy.

In this episode, Carla talks about fashion designers today, from the independent designer she most rates, to her thoughts on incoming Chanel creative director Matthieu Blazy,  as well as discussing what makes print magazines relevant, and why you can't rely on AI to replace individual human creativity. 

Carla is the founder of 10 Corso Como, the groundbreaking concept store she opened in Milan in 1990. Long before spaces like Dover Street Market or Colette existed, 10 Corso Como redefined the shopping experience, becoming a pilgrimage site for fashion lovers worldwide. She is also the founder of Fondazione Sozzani, which aims to support new generations of creative talent. 

Carla’s new book, Carla Sozzani: Art, Life, Fashion by Louise Baring, offers an intimate look at her life and contributions to the worlds of fashion, art, and design.

Resources:

• Carla Sozzani: Art, Life, Fashion by Louise Baring (2024, Thames & Hudson)
• Fondation Azzedine Alaïa
• 10 Corso Como
• Fondazione Sozzani

 

In this episode, Danielle Radojcin visits the Sid Motion Gallery in South East London to talk to the British artist Phoebe Cummings, known for her extraordinary sculptures made from unfired clay. Phoebe’s work challenges traditional views of ceramics, focusing on the beauty of impermanence as her pieces dissolve over time. They evoke themes of nature, transience, and the fragile relationship between humanity and the natural world. 

Phoebe was born in Staffordshire, the heart of the British ceramics industry. She studied Three-Dimensional Design at the University of Brighton before completing an MA in Ceramics & Glass at the Royal College of Art in London. A lack of funds to pay for a kiln forced her to begin working with unfired  clay, and over the years, Phoebe has carved a unique path in the art world, becoming known for her ephemeral sculptures crafted entirely from the material.

Her work is a reflection of nature’s transient beauty and the passing of time, often exploring themes of growth, decay, and the fragile relationship between humanity and the natural world. Phoebe’s pieces, which dissolve or disintegrate over time, challenge the traditional expectations of ceramics as a durable, permanent medium, and are more of a performance than static art piece, to be cherished as a memory rather displayed forever in a museum. 

In 2011, she won the prestigious British Ceramics Biennial Award, and her installations have been exhibited in notable institutions like the Victoria and Albert Museum and York Art Gallery.

Join Danielle and Phoebe as they explore Phoebe's creative journey, the influence of nature in her art, and her upcoming exhibition at the Sid Motion Gallery curated by Tom Cole, where her work will be shown alongside that of Robert Mapplethorpe and Magdalena Abakanowicz.

https://www.phoebecummings.com/

https://sidmotiongallery.co.uk/

 

 

 

"Being on a Black Lives Matter protest with white Germans was a strange experience.” The writer, former creative director of Granta and founder of House of Thought dials in from his home in Berlin to share his thoughts on life after lockdown.

Born in Iran, the artist Soheila Sokhanvari has lived in the UK since the 70s. Working first as a scientist, according to her family’s wishes, and then retraining as an artist in the 2010s, she became an ‘official’ exile from Iran in 2009. Now based in Cambridge, where she is a studio resident at Wysing Studios, she has her first Her Barbican exhibition, curated by Eleanor Nairne, two years in the planning  and her first major institutional show. Called Rebel, Rebel (after the David Bowie song of the same name), it features a series of portraits of female Iranians working in the arts in Pre-Revolutionary Iran - actors, poets, dancers, singers, academics and intellectuals - who were forced into exile or otherwise persecuted after the Revolution in 1979. Based on found photographs, the portraits are both exquisite in their rich, patterned intricacy and profound in the underlying political message they impart. On the eve of the show’s opening, Danielle spoke to Soheila at the Barbican about her thoughts on the protests currently taking place across her country of birth, and how she hopes that, in her words, the show will “transport visitors to the pulse of life in pre-revolutionary Iran and to the women at the heart of that culture… who gave up everything to pursue their creativity.”

http://www.soheila-sokhanvari.com/

https://www.barbican.org.uk/

Was fashion more fun in the 90s? From grunge to vintage, from McQueen to Margiela - there's a lot to cover. Danielle Radojcin asks Colleen Hill, a curator at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, to give us the lowdown on the stories she uncovered while researching her new book on the subject.

The American photographer Peter Hujar came to recognition for his gritty, tough and glamorous black and white images of the downtown New York scene taken during the 1970s and 80s. Until his untimely death from AIDS in 1987, he was a key player in the group of artists, musicians, writers, and performers who made the city so compelling at this time, and he left behind a complex and profound body of work that has become posthumously celebrated. Ahead of a show of his work at Maureen Paley in London, Danielle speaks to gallery owner Maureen Paley and also to the writer and photography critic Vince Aletti, who was Peter’s close friend, neighbour, fellow-party goer, and portrait sitter. Image: Peter Hujar Fran Lebowitz (at Home in Morristown), 1974 © 1987 The Peter Hujar Archive LLC, courtesy Maureen Paley, London and The Peter Hujar Archive

How can art help mental health patients? Hospital Rooms is a small British charity which aims to help patients in NHS hospitals, by working with artists such as Julian Opie and Richard Wentworth to create bespoke pieces for the wards. It’s founders, Niamh White and Tim A Shaw, talk about the innovative ways in which they are working to take their project beyond the confines created by the COVID-19 pandemic, such as being part of an initiative with Wolfgang Tillmans.

This episode features guest host, Simon Chilvers. Simon travelled to the seaside town of Margate in the UK, where he visited the TKE studios, part of the remarkable Tracey Emin Foundation to speak with Dutch artist Joline Kwakkenbos.

Known for her evocative self-portraits, Joline's work delves into themes of identity, memory, queerness, and the fluidity of the self. The current exhibition, 'Shape Shifters', curated by Dame Tracey Emin, offers a deeply personal yet universally resonant exploration of self-representation by Kwakkenbos alongside the beautiful photographic work of Elissa Cray.

Born in 1997 in the Netherlands, Joline grew up in a small Dutch village where her creativity was nurtured from an early age. Her parents’ hands-on, creative approach to life sparked her fascination with making and inspired her journey into the arts. Initially trained in fashion design, she graduated in 2019 and discovered a love for painting as a medium for expressing her unique visual language. Over the years, her work has evolved to include a collection of garments that reflect the diverse personas and narratives within her self-portraits.

In this episode, Simon and Joline discuss her path from fashion to fine art, the transformative power of self-portraiture, and how her work challenges traditional notions of identity, representation, and history. 

https://www.traceyeminfoundation.com/joline-kwakkenbos

https://jolinekwakkenbos.nl/

https://www.instagram.com/joline_kwakkenbos/

“I feel like it’s going to be a tidal wave of appreciation.” The New York artist talks about her friend, the photographer Jimmy DeSana, and a major retrospective of his work she is planning this autumn. She also discusses the meaning of photography in the digital age and how she will always prefer the artificial to reality.

Maryam shares her personal journey of becoming an artist. She discusses her interactive project which resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic, questioning if there is a need for art at this time and how galleries and institutions will survive. She also reads out messages she has received from Richard Wentworth and Eric Fischl.

This episode dives into the world of Tom Wesselmann - both a defining figure in American Pop Art and an outlier within it.

Known for his bold, humorous, and unabashedly sexual work, Wesselmann explored desire through iconic series like Great American Nudes, his close-up depictions of female mouths, his larger-than-life still lifes, and his lesser known but no less striking penis paintings. First exhibited in New York in the 1970s, these works push his signature flat, abstract style into deeply personal territory. They also invite reflection on the male gaze, eroticism, and how his art is perceived today.

Joining host Danielle Radojcin to discuss Wesselmann’s legacy is Jeffrey Sturges, director of The Estate of Tom Wesselmann. Having worked closely with the artist in his studio and home during the 1980s, Sturges offers a rare, firsthand perspective—not just on Wesselmann’s work, but on the man himself.

Recorded at Almine Rech gallery in London, where Wesselmann’s penis paintings and other works are on view until 12 April 2025, this conversation unpacks the wit, provocation, and enduring impact of this fascinating artist.

 

Photo: Portrait of Tom Wesselmann, 1969 (detail)

© 2024 The Estate of Tom Wesselmann / Artists

Rights Society (ARS), New York - Courtesy of the Estate and Almine Rech. Photo: Jack Mitchell

Artist Katie Paterson deals with themes of time, space and nature. For her Future Library project, she has secured authors including Margaret Atwood, Karl Ove Knausgaard, Elif Shafak and Han Kang to each create a piece of writing which will only be revealed 100 years from the time of writing. She talks to Danielle Radojcin about how the authors responded differently to the brief, how the public can participate, and how the mysterious project is evolving in response to environmental threats and taken on a life of its own.

In her first-ever podcast interview, Vanessa Baird, one of Norway's most pre-eminent artists, speaks to Danielle Radojcin about her life’s work. Taking inspiration from her daily routine at home with her family in Oslo, her drawings are at once darkly comic and profoundly relatable. Vanessa trained at the the Royal Academy in London under Quentin Blake, and is a winner of Norway’s most important art prize, the Lorck Schive Kunstpris. She also designed the Nobel Peace prize diploma. She speaks openly about her inspirations, overcoming challenges, and finding kinship through her work with Karl Ove Knausgaard.

Danielle goes on a studio visit with the artist and fashion designer, Richard Malone. Richard was born in Ireland in 1990. He studied at Central Saint Martins and after graduating became a name to watch on the London fashion scene in the 2010s. His work has been recognised for its sensitivity towards the environment. As well as being awarded the prestigious LVMH Grand Prix scholarship  and Deutsche Bank's Award for Fashion, he has won the Woolmark Prize for creating a fully biodegradable collection. The intervening years have seen his practise become more art-focused and this year he was the winner of The Golden Fleece Award for Visual Art, Ireland’s largest and most prestigious award for contemporary art. As well as his working-class upbringing in Wexford, rural Southeast Ireland, his work explores ideas of queerness,and otherness through sculpture, performance, textiles and installation. For 2023, he created a dance performance for the opening of the Hayward Gallery’s Dear Earth - Art and Hope in a Time of Crisis exhibition, and has a large site-specific piece on display at the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts. Danielle visited Richard at his studio in London to discuss his "radical and optimistic" work.

Further reading: 

Richard Malone on Instagram

Hayward Gallery

Royal Academy of Arts

 

Spotted as a teenager for his spectacular drawing skills, African-American artist Leonardo Drew was nearly recruited into a world of draughtsmanship for the likes of Marvel and DC comics, but instead found his true calling via the study of fine arts in New York and the impact of Jackson Pollock.

Who was Pauline Boty? With her blonde, backcombed hairstyle and It Girl charm, this pioneer of Pop Art embodied  the 1960s scene in London, hanging with Bob Dylan, posing for David Bailey, and acting with Michael Caine in the film Alfie. As a new generation discovers her work, Danielle Radojcin and guests explore the tragically short life and burgeoning legacy of this extraordinary woman.  

Born in 1938 in Croydon, Boty studied at The Royal Academy and became a part of the nascent British pop art movement, along with the likes of Peter Blake and Derek Boshier. In the words of the writer Michael Bracewell, “She seemed to embody the early days of the Pop Age.” 

During her tragically short life, she produced an exciting and complex body of work, commenting on pop culture, feminism and so much of the era in which she lived, and much of which has been assembled for an exhibition at the Gazelli Art House in Mayfair, where this recording took place. 

Danielle Radojcin discusses Pauline Boty with  Mila Askarova, owner of Gazelli Art House and curator of the exhibition; Vinny Rawding , film director of a new, soon to be released documentary about Boty; and the curator and art historian Sue Tate, author of a biography on Boty’s life.

Episode artwork: Michael Ward, Untitled (Men Only Cover Shot), 1963/2023. Courtesy of Elizabeth Seal-Ward for the Michael Ward Archive, Iconic Images & Gazelli Art House (detail)

 

The multidisciplinary British artist shares her journey, from juggling motherhood and work, to dealing with grief, to having her work broadcast at Piccadilly Circus and winning the Max Mara Art Prize for Women and major new shows at Whitechapel Gallery in London and Collezione Maramotti in Italy.

“Always be upset. We can go backwards, we can lose rights. If you don’t fight for what you have, you will lose it.” The artist talks to Danielle about her upcoming retrospective at MUCEM in Marseille and how she uses feminism, politics and humour in her work.

Curator Romy Cockx talks to Danielle Radojcin about Man Ray’s journey from growing up as the son of working-class immigrants in Philadelphia to a towering giant of 20th Century image-making.

Man Ray was responsible for some of the most eye-catching photos of women in the 20th Century: Lee Miller’s floating lips, the glass tears of Kiki de Montparnasse, and portraits of fashion stars Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli to name but a few.

MoMu, the Fashion Museum in Antwerp, is currently running an exhibition showcasing Man Ray’s relationship with fashion, from his photo editorials for Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue, to the gowns worn by some of the famous women who modelled them. Cockx talks about what influenced Man Ray, from Paul Poiret to Marcel Duchamp and the Marquis de Sade, and the designers he in turn has influenced, including Phoebe Philo and Martin Margiela.

Recommended links from Romy Cockx:

https://www.stockmansartbooks.be/nl/man-ray-and-fashion.html

https://www.momu.be/en/exhibitions/man-ray

 

As the editor who launched T: The New York Times Style Magazine, as well as heading up W Magazine for ten years and working at L’Uomo Vogue and Esquire along the way, Stefano Tonchi is better placed than most to reflect on the role of style and culture magazines and what they mean today. He talks to Danielle Radojcin about his new role overseeing more than 30 global editions of L’Officiel, and how the style magazine format can stay relevant.

Danielle meets Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum, a multidisciplinary artist whose work transcends borders, time, and genres.

Originally from Botswana and now based in the Netherlands, Pamela's practice encompasses drawing, painting, and installation. She intricately weaves together mythology, science, and narrative storytelling. This episode delves into her latest exhibition, "It Will End In Tears," her debut solo show at a prominent UK institution, the Barbican’s Curve Gallery, running until early 2025. This site-specific installation plunges viewers into a world inspired by film noir, crime fiction, and her distinctive alter-ego characters.

During the conversation, Pamela explores her influences and inspirations, including the writings of Bessie Head; Alfred Hitchcock's meticulous approach to film-making; and the aesthetics and drama of film noir. She shares insights into her concept of "world building," discussing how her extensive collection of vintage clothing informs the characters that inhabit her creations.

Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum is represented by Goodman Gallery.

Goodman Gallery

Barbican

Photo: Lotte van Uitterst

The provocative South African artist shares his views on race, violence and the power of art to change perceptions.

Of her work, British artist Lubaina Himid says she is "filling in the gaps of history." Danielle Radojcin travels to The Holburne Museum in Bath to meet her at her new exhibition, Lost Threads, which, like much of her work, addresses the histories and legacies of colonialism and slavery.

Himid turns 70 this year. She was born in Zanzibar, but after her father tragically died of malaria when she was just a few months old, her British mother took her to live in the UK, where they settled in London. She eventually studied Theatre Design at Wimbledon College of Art, and the Royal College of Art. 

Over the course of her career, Himid has aimed to make art that creates a dialogue with her audience - she has said how the patterns in her work are a form of narrative; she has also made a point of championing under-represented artists, especially Black and Asian women. She became a key figure in the 1980s London, “Black art” movement, in which so called black art moved from the margins to the centre of British culture thanks in part to a series of influential exhibitions Himid curated. She was the first Black woman to win the Turner Prize, which she was awarded in 2017, and was elected to the Royal Academy in 2018, the same year she was made a CBE for services to art. Today, she  lives and works in Preston, where she is a professor at the University of Central Lancashire. Himid sat down with me at the Holburne in the midst of the press preview of her new exhibition, in one of the main, very large rooms there, to tell me a bit about her work…

 

Episode artwork: Lubaina Himid, Man in a Pyjama Drawer, 2021 via Hollybush Gardens

The British fashion brand S.S. Daley, designed by Steven Stokey-Daley, makes clothes for men and women that celebrate traditional tropes of English heritage while also playfully subverting embedded ideas around queerness and class. And it's struck a chord: Anna Wintour has given him her approval, Sir Ian McKellen has walked in his show, and Harry Styles has worn his clothes. Steven grew up in Liverpool and studied at the University of Westminster, after which he did internships at Tom Ford and Alexander McQueen. He set up S.S. Daley in 2020, and in 2022 it won the prestigious LVMH prize.  Ahead of his first solo women's show and the relaunch of his retail website,  founder and designer Steven Stokey-Daley speaks to this episode's guest host, the journalist and creative director Simon Chilvers, about being inspired by David Hockney and Kate Bush and how his label fits into today's fashion landscape. 

Photo: Joshua Tarn

Logo: Patrick Waugh

Sound: Warren Borg

Journalist Danielle Radojcin visits British artist David Remfry in his studio, where he reflects on his life as an artist - from 60s London (Francis Bacon was a neighbour), to 20 years spent living in the Chelsea Hotel to a triumph at the Royal Academy  - and the famous people who have sat for him along the way. 

Born in Worthing in the 50s and raised in the northern industrial town of Hull, Remfry studied art and moved to London in the 60s, holding his first solo exhibition there in 1973. A life-threatening illness and a chance encounter with an American gallerist propelled him to fame in Los Angeles in 1980, when an exhibition of his work there sold out immediately.   

He became known for his large scale watercolour landscapes and portraits, and in particular for his ongoing series of people dancing. His portraits of the fashion designer Jean Muir and the actor John Gielgud are held at the National Portrait Gallery, as well as which he has work in the permanent collections at the V&A and RA. 

Over the years he has enjoyed a strong connection with the USA – he spent 20 years in New York, where he lived in the storied Chelsea Hotel, often asking his neighbours, who included Quentin Crisp and Ethan Hawke, to sit for him. In 2001 he was  awarded an MBE for services to British Art in America.

In 2006 he was elected a Member of the Royal Academy of Arts, and last summer he was celebrated for his enthusiastic curation of the Summer Exhibition, in which he was determined to give a voice to under-represented talent. He's also known for painting the interior of the famous tea salon at Fortnum & Mason, and a fashion campaign he drew for the fashion designer Stella McCartney.

In spite of his achievements, however, he vows he'll never be part of the establishment and continues to draw - and dance - every day. In 2025 there will be a retrospective of his work in Beverely, Yorkshire.

Caroline Issa is a familiar face at fashion shows, parties and on Instagram. She's also the co-owner and fashion director of Tank Magazine, which has been experiencing a bump in views to its Tank TV curated film channel, thanks to the COVID-19 lockdown. As the daughter of a Chinese mother and a Lebanese-Iranian father, she talks to Danielle Radojcin about how her unusual racial heritage has affected her attitude to working in fashion, and which brands she thinks are worthy of her wallet as a consumer.

Artist Amber Pinkerton describes what it's like moving to London from Jamaica as a young woman, and her experiences of alienation and self-awakening.  The photraphic film-maker and conceptual artist creates work which ranges from art to fashion photography to installation, with a self-described focus on themes of identity, personhood and the nature of individual and cultural agency, colourism and class. Pinkerton's work has been featured in publications such as Vanity Fair,  and Dazed and she has shot campaigns for fashion clients including Gucci, Valentino, as well as for Nike and Netflix. Represented by the Alice Black gallery in London, where she currently has a show on display until mid November, Danielle Radojcin sits down with Amber to hear about her background and how it informs her work.