Touring the art galleries through sound

Brick and mortar art galleries are closed to the public during lockdown almost the world over; but that doesn’t mean access to art has disappeared – between virtual exhibitions, art shared on social media platforms or through podcasts and radio shows, experiencing the work of artists takes another dimension. In our weekly review, we look at shows that will bring the art museums to you. Close your eyes, listen and allow your imagination to do the rest. If you’re still curious to see the visual artworks described, we have added the links to images below.  

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Welcome to Jurassic Art - Emmett FitzGerald (99% Invisible)

circa 1950: A skeleton of a Brontosaurus dinosaur. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Length: 34 minutes

Listen on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts or any other podcast app or streaming service.

Dinosaur bones can only tell us so much about what they look like. To make dinosaurs come alive on the page or screen, we need art. With the enigmatic Jurassic Bob as our guide, we hear about how art catapulted dinosaurs into the popular imagination. In true 99% Invisible style, this episode takes us into a world we didn’t even know existed and then leaves us wanting to know more.

Visit the episode page on 99% Invisible’s website for a longer write up and pictures of dinosaur art.

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The Art or Now: Guantanamo - Sarah Geis (A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4)

Ammar Al-Baluchi, Seashore. (Image courtesy of Art From Guantánamo Bay)

Length: 28 minutes

Listen on: BBC Sounds

“Title: Flower. Artist: Mansoor Adayfi. Time at Guantanamo: 14 years, five months, one day. Never charged.” These labels, cued by sonic illustrations, punctuate this episode like chapter breaks. They originally accompanied art work by Guantanamo detainees displayed as part of a 2017 New York City exhibit titled Ode to the Sea. In response to this exhibition, a debate sparked around issues of artistic expression and who owns the art that detainees make; the US Department of Defence then classified all art made at Guantanamo as government property. To add an alternative to the official narrative, the voice that guides this story is that of former Guantanamo detainee and artist, Mansoor Adayfi. By the end we’re left wondering, who gets to make art and who gets to own it?... 

You can view the artworks included in The Ode to the Sea exhibit here.

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Mission: Mona Lisa - The Lonely Palette

PARIS, FRANCE - MAY 28: Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall views Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa painting as she visits the Louvre Museum on May 28, 2013 in Paris France. (Photo by Chris Radburn-Pool/Getty Images)

Length: 48 minutes

Listen on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts or any other podcast app or streaming service

The Lonely Palette “returns art history to the masses, one object at a time.” This tagline aptly describes how host Tamar Avishai makes the art world accessible through audio storytelling. In this episode, we travel to the Louvre to elbow our way through the crowds and catch a glimpse of the world’s most famous painting: The Mona Lisa. From there, we explore how the painting became so famous. This pared-down podcast is led by host narration, with light musical scoring and some vox pops of tourists outside the museum. With an expansive knowledge and a soothing presence, Avishai acts as an experienced sonic docent to the art world. 

To get a closer look, visit The Louvre's website.

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Yoko Ono: A Kind of Meeting Place - Recording Artists (Getty)

NEW YORK, NY - MAY 12: Artist Yoko Ono attends the Yoko Ono: One Woman Show, 1960-1971 press preview at Museum of Modern Art on May 12, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Ben Gabbe/Getty Images)

Length: 36 minutes

Listen on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts or any other podcast app or streaming service

Drawing on the rich archives of the Getty Research Institute, this podcast offers us audio profiles of women artists. In this episode, host Helen Molesworth takes us to meet Yoko Ono as an avant-garde artist, reclaiming her identity as a creator beyond her marriage to John Lennon. Weaving archival tape with current interviews with artists and art critics, it feels as if we’re listening in on a conversation between the past and present.

For some writing on Yoko Ono’s work, wander over to this Brain Pickings' article about Ono’s poetic meditations on life.

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A Sunday on La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat - Cathy Fitzgerald (A White Stiletto production for BBC Radio 4)

CHICAGO, IL - SEPTEMBER 17: A visitor looks over Georges Seurat's A Sunday on La Grande Jatte at the Art Institute of Chicago on September 17, 2014 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Length: 27 minutes

Listen on: BBC Sounds

Moving Pictures invites you to look and listen. The BBC podcast offers an innovative experiment that pairs high-resolution digital images with audio storytelling. The result is two interlocking pieces that work together, but also stand alone. Cathy Fitzgerald’s audio descriptions reveal the painting, brushstroke by brushstroke, in more detail than your eyes could ever see. With experts chiming in, a world is built around a single painting and we’re invited in. ‘A Sunday on La Grande Jatte’ is meditative, allowing us to escape into the luminescent riverside scene dotted with picnics and parasols.

Take a look at the accompanying high-resolution Google Image of A Sunday on La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat.

If you want more artful audio content, listen to these offerings from MoMA, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The National Gallery UK & The Art Newspaper.

If you’re wondering how to listen to these audio gems, local podcast organisation, Sound Africa, has prepared a handy guide to show you how.

Happy listening! ML/ DM

To read the previous review, click below:

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-04-09-shows-to-bring-us-closer/