Exhibitionistas: Notes on Art

Can art rescue us from the empty one-liners of self-help? How do we find long-lasting, meditative explorations of life? Might Exhibitionistas’ art questions lead us to wonderment? And what is wonderment?  Welcome to the Art Wonderment Manifesto, by art curator and writer Joana P. R. Neves – an examination of art wisdom with contemporary artists, ancestral philosophies and modernist poetry you didn...

Is art wonderment possible through a copy of an artwork? As an art curator and writer, our host is often faced with printed or digital art portfolios – does this art digital hygiene go against art etiquette?  Small donations are great! "Buys us a book": https://buymeacoffee.com/exhibitionista This ‘art anxiety’ is reinforced by the concept, coined by the German thinker Walter Benjamin, o...

Is digital media preventing us from accessing the most exciting part of culture? In this final hiatus special, explore the unacknowledged difference between wonder and wander—and why curators and gallery-goers alike need digital hygiene. We dig into Wordsworth's poetry, Agnes Martin's meditative minimalism, and real art etiquette, plus the night my performance went viral and Snoop Dogg r...

🔎 Does obscurity lead to creative freedom? Why do I ask? Because of a single sentence in Chris Kraus' book I Love Dick, simply stating that once we accept obscurity, we can do what we want... 📙 This book is a ride through the literary world of the 1990s from the perspective of "the wife of"; it's an exploration of visual art through the perspective of obscurity, complexity an...

🔎 How do we spot a masterpiece? Can we really know if the art we’re looking at is any good? Which is to say, how do we recognize talent? And is pleasure a real indicator of artistic greatness? ⚒️ Are there any identifying tools that may fit the unique shape of a new work of art? Spotting great art may be trickier but more exciting than we think. We look into Proust, specifically into one of the m...

Is there a dark side to creativity ? Might it even be necessary? Are artists visionaries ? Or is the future contained in the present, and if so, what will you do about it ? As a an art writer and curator , Joana P. R. Neves , the host, steps back from her job, and steps into the questions it stimulates, about art and life, creativity and philosophy. And what better tools to explore the point were...

Your host, writer and curator Joana P. R. Neves, challenges you to explore the mystery of a missing paragraph in Virginia Woolf's 'The Mark on the Wall', and its significance for creative pursuits. You're about to dwell on the flow of consciousness as creative flow – the art of mastering and letting go simultaneously. How do we create? How to we get to that special place where...

ART TOPIC is is an exploration of a topic through visual arts or vice-versa. Hosted by Joana P. R. Neves, this episode is an experiment in opposing writing to oral communication. It also engages with queer lives at the height of modernism, the notion of genius and its patriarchal tendencies, as well as the intriguing, unique couple of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas. Discover Joana's text...

ART BOOK CLUB is a segment where a guest suggests a book which was not written with visual arts in mind and yet is a source of inspiration, guidance and / or creativity for their work. Hosted by Joana P. R. Neves, this episode welcomes visual artist Laisul Hoque. How can a work of fiction influence the work of an artist? Can a visual arts practice be illuminated by storytelling? How can art practi...

You're bound to get an art education with our guest, curator Sarah Carrington! Our art talk with her explores her work as director of the Public Art Trail in East London The Line, as well as the joys of producing visual arts projects and supporting artistic commissions for an urban space full of wildlife and industrial areas, away from the capital's most overcrowded areas. Art Insider  i...

For some, colour is subjective, for others it's vital. In visual arts, is it a universal idea or a local material? As far as art themes go, this one leads to a world of possibilities. Curator Joana P. R. Neves welcomes María Castro Jímenez, whose Substack page " Pigments, Colours & Other Stories " reveals new pathways into art history, art making and creativity. Perfect for arti...

What if a visual artist’s favourite tool revealed their underlying art themes and intrinsic creative processes? Hosted by Joana P. R. Neves. Guests: Ana María Caballero and Alexandra Jabre. This segment is as much: ​an art education as ​an introduction to art critique, by empowering you ​with art tips ​art techniques we seldom talk about. My Art Tools is a segment associating two art talks where a...

A part of our work and leisure is spent online and so is our art. Posted on social media and even made with the help of AI, LLMs, and more, creative initiatives and art objects may now also live in online art spaces. Is an art podcast to be confused with it? What are the joys and dangers of real art spaces becoming virtual ones? Or is the danger elsewhere, and the art education potentially everywh...

Have you ever been under the irresistible spell of an art work? Art Story  is a shorter episode exploring an art work, an artist, an exhibition or even a concept through a proudly subjective narrative.  Narrated by: the host, Joana P. R. Neves Joana explores an aesthetic shock involving a tongue twister and a photography by Roni Horn in a busy art fair. Maybe you’ll jump into the flow, maybe you’l...

What can you paint at the end of your life? How does painting feature in a Aboriginal culture? Does contemporary art culture intersect with Aboriginal art – should we even look for this kind of connection? How did exhibitions of the great painter and artist of the Northern Territory explose her work and contextualise it? How do exhibitions in contemporary museums welcome aboriginal art? Exhibition...

Le Guin demonstrates how we can totally change the STORY. But... how does this apply to curating? Hosted by Joana P. R. Neves. Catherine Li chose: Ursula K. Le Guin SIGN UP TO THE EXHIBITIONISTAS FILES. ⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://joanaprneves.substack.com/s/exhibitionistas → DONATE (give it some time for the donorbox window to charge): ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://exhibitionistaspodcast.com/support-us Instagram: @exhibitionis...

In My Art Tools  (new segment) we look into 2 artists' tool box: what is their fetish instrument? Artists think with their hands. Let's get technical! The artist's hand will guide you through the passion of following one’s vision, the pleasures of trusting an instinct, and the resilience it takes to work creatively. Hosted by Joana P. R. Neves. The guests: Anouk Mercier (UK + FR) an...

Guest: Ben Luke (Host of A Brush With) Ben Luke is an art journalist whose voice reaches a wider audience through his successful podcast A Brush With, where each episode is dedicated to an artist interview led by him. His new book, What is art for? Contemporary artists on their inspirations, influences and disciplines (2025, Heni), stems from it. Art Insider  is an interview segment with fascinati...

How do artists paint the body nowadays? And why does Jenny Saville produce monumental images of it? Exhibition Chinwag  is the original segment of the podcast where Joana invites professionals from other fields to visit and discuss the work of an artist through their solo exhibition.  Guest: Susie Ridell Co-Producer and co-Host of the Podcast  ⁠Limited Time Only⁠ The artist: Jenny Saville and her...

Exhibitionistas Season 3: a constellation of 8 episode segments opening new doors onto the fascinating, thought-provoking and creative world of contemporary art. Exhibitions, Art Talk, Art Insider Interviews and more. Starting: 5 September 2025. Music by Sarturn Featuring Catherine Li, Susie Ridell, Ben Luke, Marina Roca Díe, Sarah Le Quang Sang, Nick Taylor, and the O.G. Emily Harding. Created &a...

ART TRAVELOGUE is your audio/video journey with contemporary art as a destination. Embark on this trip with your host, curator and art writer Joana P. R. Neves. Ft. Haroon Mirza, Yates Norton, Inês Costa. I travel by train to see British artist Haroon Mirza's commissioned performance and sound installation for the exhibition at Focal Point Gallery Other Worlds: Acts of Translation . The peopl...

Get an art education with our 2 guests, curators Gemma Rolls-Bentley and E-J Scott! Art Insider  is an art discussion segment with fascinating visual arts thinkers and curators who lift the veil on their corner of the field (hosted by Joana P. R. Neves). Our art talk explores ​The old question "what is contemporary art" but in light of queer communities and trans people. ​Curating strate...

Host Joana P. R. Neves uncovers the richness of new perspectives on contemporary art through the ethos found in podcasting. Joana also shares insights from her attendance at the International Women Podcast Awards, highlighting the non-hierarchical nature of the podcasting community. Looking ahead, she teases new formats and changes for the upcoming season, while opening up about the need for engag...

Gallerist Sarah Le Quang Sang showcases and promotes female and queer artists, fighting, one step at a time, to reduce the price gap between genders, the lack of LGBTQIA+ representation in archives, collections, art fairs and private collections, but also the linear conception of artistic careers. You wouldn't leave the shop without paying for your latte, right? Buy us a ⁠ latte ⁠ ;-) How emp...

Contemporary art is a feast for the senses. But have we reduced art to vision? And what does the hand do, now that we have machines and automated ways of making, editing and showing images? And what are images? You wouldn't leave the shop without paying for your latte, right? Buy us a latte ;-) This episode is the second audio/video essay of the season. It will take you on a trip to a sensory...