Fashion, Art, and the Body

Arts & Ideas

BBC

Society & Culture

4.2 • 599 Ratings

🗓️ 26 May 2021

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Wearing denim, workwear, or sharp tailoring makes a statement about how we think of ourselves. Charlie Porter has been exploring the relationship between artists and clothes. He joins writer Olivia Laing and Ekow Eshun for a conversation about clothing, bodies, and our expression of our sexuality, hosted by Shahidha Bari.

Olivia Laing's latest book is called Everybody: A Book About Freedom

Charlie Porter has published What Artists Wear. A former Turner prize judge, he writes and curates and is a visiting Fashion lecturer at the University of Westminster.

British-Ghanaian photographer James Barnor's work is on show at the Serpentine Gallery in London from 19 May - 22 October 2021.

Ekow Eshun has curated An Infinity of Traces, which runs at the Lisson Gallery in London from 13 April – 5 June 2021, featuring UK-based established and emerging Black artists whose work explores notions of race, history, being, and belonging.

Jade Montserrat, one of the artists featured in Ekow's show, talked to Free Thinking in a programme about collage and Dada https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000k9ws

Producer: Emma Wallace

You can find more conversations in the Free Thinking archive and available to download as Arts & Ideas podcasts, including;

Olivia Laing on her novel inspired by Kathy Acker, and a discussion of Alison Bechdel's Fun Home - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b7mryz The body past and present, discussed by painter Chantal Joffe, historian Catherine Fletcher, and philosopher Heather Widdows - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b7my7k Fashion stories in museums, with guests including V&A curator Claire Wilcox - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000s2by JJ Bola, Derek Owusu, and Ben Lerner on the changing image of masculinity - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000b0mx How do we build a new masculinity? Sunil Gupta, CN Lester, Tom Shakespeare, and Alona Pardo - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000gm6h The politics of fashion and drag with Scrumbly Koldewyn, and a report from the Royal Vauxhall Tavern - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09zcjch

Image Credit: Getty Images/Jonathan Knowles

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome back to the home of the oxymoron. Evil genius. He asked the newspaper to print his obituary early so he'd enjoy it. That's like hiding at your own funeral. Yeah, a big, great gig. I'm Russell Kane. Join me to weigh in on whether the biggest players in history are more evil or genius. Becoming that rich, I'd say that is some level of genius. It also helps that it's a long time ago, right?
0:23.3	It's like the podcast version of telling your kids the ice cream van plays music when it's out of ice cream.
0:28.8	Listen to evil genius on BBC Sounds.
0:32.0	Hello, you can probably guess what presenters of the Arts and Ideas podcast, Where to work, Ranamitter likes a natty jumper,
0:39.3	and Matthew Sweet wouldn't be seen dead without his trendy specs. But what do artists wear for work?
0:44.9	And why does it matter? Fashion writer Charlie Porter has the answers in today's program,
0:49.4	plus Olivia Lang on Bodies, Freedom and Wilhelm Reich, and Echo Eschen on two exhibitions showcasing
0:56.0	Black artists. Join me, Shahade Abari, just after this.
1:05.0	The human voice. Isn't it amazing? I'm Peter Brathwaid and I'm an opera singer, but I'm not
1:13.1	here to tell you about my voice. I want to share my love for five extraordinary voices that have
1:18.3	changed the way I sing and listen. Some you might know, others you probably won't, but they and their
1:24.2	stories all need to be heard. So have a listen to In Their Voices,
1:28.6	my series of essays diving deep into five voices that have hit me for six.
1:33.5	The essay.
1:34.6	Search for this series and all other available episodes in BBC Sounds.
1:38.9	Music Hello.
1:56.8	Artists are known to be passionate sorts of people, but which American artists were slapped in the street and accused of not wearing socks in winter?
2:00.3	My guest, Charlie Porter, has the answer to this question.
2:03.1	He's a fashion writer, lecturer, was a judge of the 2019 Turner Prize,
2:07.3	and he's now written a book called What Artists Wear.
2:10.2	Charlie, you're not allowed to give any clues to our other guests.
2:14.1	They are curator and critic Echo Eschen,
	...

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