Welcome to THE ART MOVEMENT, a radio show about arts and culture, where all art forms and free thoughts are allowed. The show is hosted and produced by globe-trotting arts presenter Matt Micucci, and features plenty of music, interview clips and thoughts on current events.
Listen to Episode 23 via one of the players below.
Download the full show here.
In this episode:
The 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa;
Marcel Duchamp and the beginning of post-modernism;
Here are five clips from the latest episode of my radio show, THE ART MOVEMENT, the weekly radio show hosted/produced by arts presenter Matt Micucci. The show revolves around art and culture, and where all art forms and free thoughts are allowed.
(To listen to/download the full radio show, scroll to the bottom of the page.)
The Cinemateca Brasileira and over 100 years of Brazilian film heritage are in danger.
The Cinema Novo film movement of Brazil.
How art inspired outrage, empathy and revolution.
Why would Bolsonaro be interested in damaging cultural heritage?
Modern types of Tango music.
Lots more where that came from! You can listen to the full epsiode of THE ART MOVEMENT (including the music) via the player below.
A partial transcript of Episode 22 of my arts and culture radio show, THE ART MOVEMENT. Scroll down to listen to the full show.
Sao Paulo-based film critic Felipe Furtado told Sight & Sound that the Bolsonaro government has “zero interest in culture and memory, and their neoliberal views regard any sort of art funding as a complete waste of resources. They also see most of art and education as suspicious overrun by leftists…”
But why would he be interested in harming the arts and cultural sector? Well, as mentioned, Bolsonaro is a highly controversial figure of the far-right. Art, of course, has power and resonated with people. It also broadens people’s horizons, opens their minds and gets them thinking. This is obviously something that an extremist government would not want people doing.
A government that’s interested in controlling as much of its population’s life as possible will most likely want to control all narratives of its own country. By doing so, it will not only look to produce new stories but also do its best to repress the older ones.
That’s what the Bolsonaro government did with the Cinemateca, although they were quite deceitful about it. They didn’t burn it to the ground outright. They just cut its funds and then cut its energy sources, leaving all those reels of film to rot.
Of course, one would assume that the intent is to destroy the past to increase investment in creating new films, perhaps ones that help communicate Bolsonaro’s vision of his country and project an image of Brazil that he could really get behind.
This is not a new concept, and it is an idea that recalls the term propaganda. And you know, it’s like that old saying — if it ain’t broke, why try to fix it?
Because you know what? Whatever Bolsonaro is doing is actually working! As of this recording, the coronavirus has killed more than 105,000 people in Brazil, making it the second-highest death toll worldwide after the United States. Several jobs were lost during this period.
Nevertheless, a survey revealed that Bolsonaro’s popularity is at a record high, showing that his popularity has surged five points from June, to 37 per cent, while his disapproval rating plunged 10 points to 34 per cent. And why am I not surprised…
Welcome to THE ART MOVEMENT, a radio show about arts and culture, where all art forms and free thoughts are allowed. The show is hosted and produced by globe-trotting arts presenter Matt Micucci, and features plenty of music, interview clips and thoughts on current events.
Here are five clips from the latest episode of my radio show, THE ART MOVEMENT, the weekly radio show hosted/produced by arts presenter Matt Micucci. The show revolves around art and culture, and where all art forms and free thoughts are allowed.
(To listen to/download the full radio show, scroll to the bottom of the page.)
Trans-genderism in Virginia Woolf’s novel, Orlando.
The problem with major bookstore chains like WHSmith.
The music of planets.
What Pablo Picasso told the Nazi secret police force about Guernica.
A tourist damaged a 19th-century Antonio Canova artwork while taking a selfie.
Lots more where that came from! You can listen to the full epsiode of THE ART MOVEMENT (including the music) via the player below.
A partial transcript from Episode 21 of THE ART MOVEMENT. Scroll down to listen to the full radio show.
Picasso was some guy, certainly one of the most revolutionary figures in the arts of the 20th century. And I love his works. How can you not really? One of his most famous works is named Guernica. It’s a masterwork.
It was painted in 1937 and depicts the bombing of Guernica, a city in Spain attacked by the German and Italian fascists at the direction of Francisco Franco and the Spanish nationalists during the Spanish Civil War.
In January 1937, while Pablo Picasso was living in Paris on Rue des Grands Augustins, he was commissioned by the Spanish Republican government to create a large mural for the Spanish pavilion at the 1937 Paris World’s Fair. He lived there all throughout the second world war and of course, under Nazi occupation of France.
While the city was under curfew, Parisians were constantly arrested and interrogated and Picasso himself, despite his status or perhaps because of his status, was no exception. He was particularly harrassed by the Gestapo, the Nazi secret police.
On one occasion, which has sort of become a legendary tale of his life, the Nazis searched his apartment and an officer spotted a photograph of the Guernica. This prompted the Gestapo to ask Picasso, “Did you do that?” And Picasso replied, “No, you did.” Which is just the perfect answer.
It’s interesting to note that while Picasso’s artistic career is often divided into various major stylistic phases commonly referred to as periods, the Guernica is the one work that seems to encapsulate several of these periods at one — from the surrealism he explored from 1926 onwards, to stained glass influences to the strong expressionist elements and so on.
Also, during his time in paris, he also painted a lot with grays, beige and such colors. At that time, it was also hard for him to get his hands on actual paint. Which is another reason why the Cannes work output was so joyful in comparison.
Last week, I interviewed London’ BASTIAN Gallery director Chris Craig on their new exhibition, “Atelier Picasso,” which reimagines his Cannes Studio as an immersive experience within the gallery. The exhibition will open on September 3. Here are five clips from our conversation.
(To listen to the full podcast, scroll to the bottom of the page.)
An introduction to “Atelier Picasso.”
Pablo Picasso was fascinated with animals and animal forms.
Pablo Picasso was aware of his status as a living legend.
What was Pablo Picasso’s life and work after World War II?
How art galleries should engage with the online world.
A partial transcript from Episode 21 of THE ART MOVEMENT. Scroll down to listen to the full radio show.
I have stated in previous episodes that these are difficult times for art galleries and museums. Many of them around the world have had to close their doors since the outbreak. This has caused great financial strains and simply put, many will not survive these strains.
Over the past weeks, I talked about my trips to various museums in Prague. And I understand the challenges that museums and galleries are faced with in reopening. It’s not easy.
But recently, I heard a story that I thought was a bit odd and interesting enough to share with you here. Reportedly, a visitor to the Museo Antonio Canova in Possagno, Italy, damaged a plaster model of a 19th-century sculpture recently, while trying to take a selfie with the artwork. Apparently this visitor sat on the work, causing two of its toes to break off.
The model that was damaged corresponds to a pretty important marble sculpture by Antonio Canova, which depicts Napoleon Bonaparte’s sister Pauline posing as Venus, the Roman goddess of love.
Now, the museum plans to restore the work and the visitor was identified and after reading that he had made the news, he offered to pay for restorations. I can only imagine how mortified he must have felt.
I’m not going to be a real boomer about it and start saying that this is another story that shows how the newer technologies have helped the spread of ignorance and bad manners. I know that’s kind of a popular narrative but I don’t actually believe that at all.
I think technology has done more good than harm for the arts, especially in terms of accessibility. But I will say that this strange little event does reflect a lot of how people now experience the museums. Not so much about an inability of living in the moment but making that moment as appealing to our friends on social media as possible.
I don’t see anything wrong with using artworks and integrating them in the stories that we tell about ourselves on social media. Because that’s essentially what most of us do on social media — we write the story of our own lives. That’s what we project, whether we even want to or not. And I’m sure that most of us would never dream of sitting on a museum artwork, especially one from the 19th century.
But what I thought was also interesting about this whole affair is that, especially for the past weeks, we have been hearing a lot about monuments being damaged everywhere as a result of outrage and as a form of protest. I have even talked about it in the past and there’s a clip from an episode of the show about it on my YouTube channel.
And so, an episode like what happened to the Antonio Canova model reminds us that artworks, obviously, can be and often are damaged in other ways — because of carelessness, ignorance and lack of respect. And to me, this is another story that shows just how vulnerable and even fragile cultural heritage really is.
Welcome to THE ART MOVEMENT, a radio show about arts and culture, where all art forms and free thoughts are allowed. The show is hosted and produced by globe-trotting arts presenter Matt Micucci, and features plenty of music, interview clips and thoughts on current events.
Listen to episode 21 via one of the players below.
Here are five clips from the latest episode of my radio show, THE ART MOVEMENT, the weekly radio show hosted/produced by arts presenter Matt Micucci. The show revolves around art and culture, and where all art forms and free thoughts are allowed.
(To listen to/download the full radio show, scroll to the bottom of the page.)
What is The Art Movement?
My thoughts on the negative feedback on this year’s Venice International Film Festival program.
Orson Welles and Dennis Hopper were unruly geniuses.
What is art nouveau?
Who is Alfons Mucha?
Lots more where that came from! You can listen to the full epsiode of THE ART MOVEMENT (including the music) via the player below.
In Arte Matt 