Subscribe
Search
ePaper
Newsletters
Subscribe
ePaper
Newsletters
Art market
Museums & heritage
Exhibitions
Books
Podcasts
Columns
Technology
Adventures with Van Gogh
Art market
Museums & heritage
Exhibitions
Books
Podcasts
Columns
Technology
Adventures with Van Gogh
Search
The Week in Art
podcast

Gee’s Bend quiltmakers, ‘degenerate’ art in Paris, and Mel Bochner remembered—podcast

Exploring the history and potency of the small quiltmaking group from Alabama, plus a new show looks at how the Nazis attacked Modern art and artists in Germany, and we discuss a 1969 work by one of the pioneers of Conceptualism

Hosted by Ben Luke. Produced by David Clack, Julia Michalska and Alexander Morrison
21 February 2025
Share
Leola Pettway and Qunnie Pettway working at the Freedom Quilting Bee in 1972

© Mary McCarthy. Courtesy of Souls Grown Deep

Leola Pettway and Qunnie Pettway working at the Freedom Quilting Bee in 1972

© Mary McCarthy. Courtesy of Souls Grown Deep

The Week in Art

From breaking news and insider insights to exhibitions and events around the world, the team at The Art Newspaper picks apart the art world’s big stories with the help of special guests. An award-winning podcast hosted by Ben Luke.

Shows opening in Washington and Dublin this month explore quiltmaking by African American women. Ben Luke talks to Raina Lampkins-Fielder, chief curator for the Souls Grown Deep Foundation, and the organiser of the exhibition Kith & Kin: The Quilts of Gee’s Bend at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA), about the history of quiltmaking in this small part of Alabama, and the growing recognition of its artistic importance.

Louisiana P. Bendolph, Medallion (2006)

Photo: Stephen Pitkin/Pitkin Studio. © Louisiana Bendolph, Artists Rights

The Musée Picasso in Paris this week unveiled its exhibition “Degenerate” art: Modern art on trial under the Nazis, which looks back not just at the infamous 1937 exhibition in Munich but also the years-long campaign to attack modern art and artists in Germany in the 1930s and 1940s. We speak to the exhibition’s co-curator, Johan Popelard.

Adolf Dressler (1898-1971), cover of the exhibition guide for the exhibition Degenerate Art, Entartete Kunst Ausstellungsführer (guide to the exhibition Degenerate degenerate exhibition, 1937)

Photo: © mahJ / Christophe Fouin

And this episode’s Work of the Week marks the death last week of Mel Bochner, a leading figure in the development of conceptual art.

Mel Bochner, 48" Standards (#1) (1969)

Mel Bochner; Peter Freeman Inc. All Rights Reserved

We speak to his gallerist, Peter Freeman, who knew and worked with Bochner for more than 50 years. We look in particular detail at the 1969 work, 48" Standards (#1).

  • Kith & Kin: The Quilts of Gee’s Bend, IMMA, the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, until 27 October; We Gather at the Edge: Black Women and Contemporary Quilts, Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC, 21 February-22 June; Fabric of a Nation: American Quilt Stories, Frist Art Museum, Nashville, US, 27 June-12 October
  • “Degenerate” art: Modern art on trial under the Nazis, Musée Picasso, Paris, until 25 May
The Week in ArtGee's Bend QuiltersQuiltsIrish Museum of Modern Art'Degenerate' artPablo Picasso Conceptual ArtConceptualism
Share
Subscribe to The Art Newspaper’s digital newsletter for your daily digest of essential news, views and analysis from the international art world delivered directly to your inbox.
Newsletter sign-up
Information
About
Contact
Cookie policy
Data protection
Privacy policy
Frequently Asked Questions
Subscription T&Cs
Terms and conditions
Advertise
Sister Papers
Sponsorship policy
Follow us
Facebook
Instagram
YouTube
LinkedIn
© The Art Newspaper