Subtext and Discourse | Art World Podcast

Michael Dooney
  • 4.5 (2)
  • VISUAL ARTS
  • UPDATED BIMONTHLY
Subtext and Discourse | Art World Podcast

The art world and associated market are famously opaque and can at times be exclusive. Berlin based gallery director and educator Michael Dooney speaks with artists, curators and other professionals who share their personal experiences of this unique field. If you have ever felt unsure about walking into a gallery, wish to understand more about creativity or better understand how this complex industry works, then tune in every second Monday to hear the insightful conversations with these inspiring individuals.

  1. Felix Hoffmann, artistic director FOTO ARSENAL WIEN | EP73 Subtext & Discourse Art World Podcast

    4D AGO

    Felix Hoffmann, artistic director FOTO ARSENAL WIEN | EP73 Subtext & Discourse Art World Podcast

    Felix Hoffmann is an image and cultural scholar and the inaugural Artistic Director of the Center for Photography and Lens-Based Media FOTO ARSENAL WIEN and the Director of FOTO WIEN. From 2005 to 2022, he served as the Chief Curator of the exhibition space C/O Berlin, where he was responsible for exhibitions, programs, and strategy. He curated numerous international exhibitions, including Nan Goldin (2009), Robert Mapplethorpe, Peter Lindbergh (2011), Gordon Parks (2014), Ren Hang and Elfie Semotan (2018), and William Eggleston (2023), as well as thematic exhibitions like Eerily Familiar: Images of Terror (2011), The Last Image: Photography and Death (2018), and Send me an Image: From Postcards to Social Media (2020).  - Follow Felix on Instagram here --> https://www.instagram.com/felix_hoffmann__/   FOTO ARSENAL WIEN is Austria’s new center for photography and lens-based media. Since 2023 it has been responsible for the FOTO WIEN festival, and starting in 2025 it will be responsible for the Festival Vienna Digital Cultures with the Kunsthalle Wien. Initiated as a media literacy center by the city of Vienna in fall 2022, FOTO ARSENAL WIEN explores all facets of photography. As a hub for photography and lens-based media in Austria, the institution brings together historical and international topics at the interface between analog and digital worlds as well as between static and moving pictures. FOTO ARSENAL WIEN presents the full spectrum of the medium of photography in up to twelve exhibitions held annually in a one-thousand-square-meter exhibition space—a combination of young talents, still-to-be-discovered photographers, and internationally known artists. - https://www.fotoarsenalwien.at/en/- https://www.instagram.com/foto_arsenal_wien/   FOTO WIEN is a member of the European Month of Photography (EMOP), a European collaborative project that currently includes photography festivals in Berlin, Brussels, Lisbon, and Luxemburg. Once an insider event for Vienna’s lively photography scene, FOTO WIEN has become Austria’s largest festival of photographic images in over twenty years of collective commitment. It offers programs for a broad audience that is interested in art and contemporary events as well as a professional audience. FOTO ARSENAL WIEN has been the organizer since 2023. - https://www.fotowien.at/en/- https://www.instagram.com/foto_wien/   Michael Dooneyhttps://beacons.ai/michaeldooney This episode of Subtext & Discourse Art World Podcast was recorded on 7. March 2025 between Perth (AU) and Vienna (A).

    44 min
  2. Female Photoclub and European Month of Photography Berlin | EP72 Subtext & Discourse Art World Podcast

    MAR 11

    Female Photoclub and European Month of Photography Berlin | EP72 Subtext & Discourse Art World Podcast

    In this episode I am speaking with four members of the Berlin chapter of the Female Photoclub. A Germany wide professional association which aims to increase visibility of female photographers, advocates for equality in the industry, and raises awareness of issues such as pay inequality and lack of representation.  In addition to the Female Photoclub, we’ll also be speaking about the group exhibition Invisible Lines: Reflexionen der Gegenwart, opening this Saturday 15th of March at the Alte Münze Berlin from 6:00pm, which showcases projects from 28 members of the Female Photoclub, and is included in the official program of the European Month of Photography Berlin. Michael Dooneyhttps://beacons.ai/michaeldooney This episode of Subtext & Discourse Art World Podcast was recorded on 9. March 2025 between Perth (AU) and Berlin (DE).   Invisible Lines - Reflexionen der Gegenwart Under the title Invisible Lines – Reflexionen der Gegenwart 28 photographers from the Berlin Regional Group of the Female Photoclub explore the invisible boundaries of our society. In a time of growing conflicts and divisions, the photographs illuminate the subtle lines between closeness and distance, familiarity and otherness, community and isolation. “Invisible Lines” establishes a dialogue between individual perspectives and larger social structures, calling for reflection on the fractures of our time and encouraging ways to overcome them. - https://emop-berlin.eu/en/exhibition/invisible-lines/5624f791-8dd3-4d9d-8096-c29d75dc1bea/- https://femalephotoclub.com/post/female-photoclub-berlin-invisible-lines-reflexionen-der-gegenwart-2025/ The Female Photoclub The Female Photoclub was initiated in 2017 and has been a registered association since 2020 for professional photographers. Currently, the club has around 500 members who are organised in nine cities and regions across Germany. The association’s goals are to increase the visibility of photographers, advocate for greater equality in the industry, and raise awareness of issues such as pay inequality and lack of representation. - https://femalephotoclub.com/- https://www.instagram.com/femalephotoclub/ EMOP Berlin - The European Month of Photography EMOP Berlin is the largest biennial festival of photographic images in Germany. Museums, exhibition institutions, memorial sites, archives, libraries, collections, cultural institutes, universities, art academies and other educational institutions, municipal and private galleries and project spaces from Berlin and Potsdam - together with the exhibiting artists - are the key players in this open festival format. - https://emop-berlin.eu/- https://www.instagram.com/emopberlin/ Photographers who joined the conversation Natalia Carstens is a freelance photographer based in Berlin, specializing in architecture and art documentation. Her work primarily focuses on art and cultural institutions, where she combines her two passions. In her personal projects, she explores how architecture appears in the absence of people, particularly in cultural spaces like cinemas, clubs, and swimming pools. Her photographs capture these spaces in their unique aesthetics and atmosphere. She completed her photography training at Lette Verein and holds a degree in Art History and Cultural Studies from Humboldt University in Berlin. Since 2024, she has been a board member of the Female Photoclub and leads its Berlin regional group. - https://www.nataliacarstens.com/- https://www.instagram.com/natalia_carstens/ Catherine Lieser works with digital photography, with a focus on portraits. She was born in Essen in 1986, studied at the University of Television and Film in Munich and lives and works in Berlin. She is a part of the Female Photoclub and the Professional Association of Freelance Photographers and Film Designers. In her art projects she is dealing with the question of whether and how one can unlearn normative thinking and behavior, such as gender-specific categorisatio

    56 min
  3. Joanna Szproch, visual artist & art mediator | EP71 Subtext & Discourse Art World Podcast

    MAR 7

    Joanna Szproch, visual artist & art mediator | EP71 Subtext & Discourse Art World Podcast

    Joanna Szproch is a Polish, Berlin-based visual artist and activist. Her practice blends photography as a performative and instrumental medium with archival materials, writing, and participatory projects. She explores female resilience through embodiment and conviviality. Committed to analogue processes, she creates art books, installations, and collaborative works that challenge societal norms and empower women. Her debut monograph Alltagsfantasie (2023) reflects her bold artistic vision.   See more of Joanna's work on her official website (https://joannaszproch.com/), follow her new instagram page (https://www.instagram.com/joanna.szproch/), and subscribe to her substack newsletter (https://joannaszproch.substack.com/). Photo book video showing Alltagsfantasie on vimeo: https://vimeo.com/847340512   Michael Dooney: https://beacons.ai/michaeldooney   This episode of Subtext & Discourse Art World Podcast was recorded on 19. February 2025 between Perth (AU) and Berlin (DE). Portrait supplied by artist with Droste effect.

    1h 13m
  4. Enrico Stefanelli, Photolux Festival | EP70 Subtext & Discourse Art World Podcast

    FEB 27

    Enrico Stefanelli, Photolux Festival | EP70 Subtext & Discourse Art World Podcast

    Enrico Stefanelli (b.1962, Lucca, Italy) is the founder and artistic director of Photolux Festival, the biennial of photography in Lucca, Italy. From 2010 to 2017, he worked as curator for the European Photo Exhibition Award (epea), a project sponsoring young photo talent, which developed as a collaboration between four European foundations, including the Körber Foundation in Germany. He has been appointed as an expert for portfolio reviews at Les Rencontres d'Arles, CENTER, Santa Fe - Colorado, and Kaunas Festival in Lithuania. He has sat on the selection committee of the World Press Photo Foundation's Joop Swart Masterclass, the Leica Oskar Barnack Award and the Prix Piclet. As well as the international jury for Manuel Rivera-Ortiz Foundation for Documentary Photography & Film. He has also published various texts on photography in the international specialised press, and has curated exhibitions of renowned photographers such as Gianni Berengo Gardin and Stanley Greene. In addition to Tim Hetherington, Jan Saudek, Horst P. Horst, VII Agency, Nobuyoshy Araki, Boris Mikhailov and David Douglas Duncan.   Visit the official website of the Photolux Festival: https://www.photoluxfestival.it/en/ You can follow both the Photolux Festival - https://www.instagram.com/photoluxfest/ - and Enrico Stefanelli - https://www.instagram.com/enricostefanelli/ - on Instagram.   Michael Dooney: https://beacons.ai/michaeldooney   This episode of Subtext & Discourse Art World Podcast was recorded on 23. January 2025 between Perth (AU) and Lucca (IT). Portrait of Enrico Stefanelli taken by Michael Dooney on 10. July 2024 in Lucca, Italy.

    43 min
  5. Pilar Mata Dupont, visual artist & filmmaker | EP69 Subtext & Discourse Art World Podcast

    FEB 18

    Pilar Mata Dupont, visual artist & filmmaker | EP69 Subtext & Discourse Art World Podcast

    Pilar Mata Dupont is a multi-award-winning Argentinean-Australian artist based in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Her practice spans video, installation, performance, and photography. Using highly theatrical and cinematic methods, she uses allegory and narrative to reimagine/rework histories and classical texts and aims to create alternative readings that question the conditions of the construction of dominant narratives that shape history.  In 2015 she won the Plymouth Contemporary Open in the United Kingdom, and a residency prize at the 19th Contemporary Art Festival Sesc Videobrasil in São Paulo, Brazil. She has shown work internationally in museums and galleries, including the Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul; Secession, Vienna; Pori Art Museum, Pori, Finland; Württembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart; and, as part of Rencontres Internationales film festival, the Gaîté Lyrique, Paris. In 2012, she was a recipient of a Mid-Career Fellowship from the Government of Western Australia. In collaboration with Tarryn Gill, she participated in the Biennale of Sydney and won the Basil Sellers Art Prize in 2010. As part of multi-artform collective Hold Your Horses, she made work commissioned by the Akademie der Künste in Berlin in 2012.   Pilar's website with past projects and news about her practice: https://pilarmatadupont.com/ Updates and insights on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pilar_matadupont/ She is represented by MOORE CONTEMPORARY gallery in Perth, Australia: http://moorecontemporary.com/artists/pilar-mata-dupont/   Michael Dooney: https://beacons.ai/michaeldooney   This episode of Subtext & Discourse Art World Podcast was recorded on 9. January 2025 in Perth, Australia. Portrait by Joris van den Einden.

    55 min
  6. Pablo Giori, International Photography Festival Association | EP68 Subtext & Discourse Art World Podcast

    FEB 11

    Pablo Giori, International Photography Festival Association | EP68 Subtext & Discourse Art World Podcast

    Pablo Giori is the co-founder and director of the Experimental Photo Festival, the Ágora, School of Experimentation, and the  International Photography Festivals Association (IPFA) in Barcelona. His interest in experimental analogue photography was born out of his work as a documentarian, historian, and archivist with the estate of Pere Català (Valls, Alt Camp, 1889 – Barcelona, 1971). The Catalan photographer, publicist, and writer is most known for republican posters and propaganda during the Spanish Civil War. He also had contact with various avant-garde associations in Barcelona, and his work can be related to photographers such as Man Ray, Moholy-Nagy, Renger-Patzsch and Sougez, among others. Pablo Giori holds a Bachelor's degree in Philology (National University of Tucumán), a master's degree in Cultural Studies (University of Girona), a master's degree in Strategic Communication (Universitat Rovira i Virgili) and a PhD in Contemporary History (Universitat de Girona). He has taken courses on Photographic archives management in the digital environment and on Preservation, conservation and digitization of photographic originals at the Institut d'Estudis Fotogràfics de Catalunya.   Pablo Giori's official website with information about his photography projects and academic work.- https://en.pablogiori.com/- https://www.instagram.com/pablo.giori/ International Photography Festivals Association (IPFA)- https://www.photographyfestivalsassociation.com/- https://www.instagram.com/experimentalphotofestival/ Experimental Photo Festival Barcelona- https://en.experimentalphotofestival.com/- https://www.instagram.com/photographyfestivals/   Michael Dooneyhttps://beacons.ai/michaeldooney   This episode of Subtext & Discourse Art World Podcast was recorded on 3. February 2025 between Perth (AU) and Barcelona (ES). Portrait supplied by Pablo Giori.

    55 min
  7. Jessa Fairbrother, visual artist | EP67 Subtext & Discourse Art World Podcast

    FEB 5

    Jessa Fairbrother, visual artist | EP67 Subtext & Discourse Art World Podcast

    Jessa Fairbrother (b. London) is a British visual artist whose work spans stitch, photography, performance and drawing. The body is her main material. She holds an MA in Photographic Studies from the University of Westminster (2010) and trained at drama school in London in the 1990s.  This laid the groundwork for her ongoing investigation of how art and audience collide. The artist book of her work Conversations with my mother, is held in collections at Tate Britain, the V&A, London and The Museum of Fine Art, Houston.  Yale Centre for British Art and Bristol Museum and Art Gallery also hold pieces from this series. Her companion piece, Role Play (Woman with Cushion) is included in Acts of Creation: On Art and Motherhood – a Hayward Touring exhibition travelling the UK throughout 2024-2025 and included in the 2024 Thames and Hudson book of the same name by curator of the show, Hettie Judah. She is a Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust scholar, training at the Royal School of Needlework in historical hand embroidery, which she incorporates into her photographic work. This is now embedded in her long-term multi-faceted project A Fencing Manual for Women, which has also been supported in it’s development by a DYCP grant from the Arts Council of England, The Oppenheim-John Downes Memorial Trust, Hosking Houses Trust, Gane Trust and GRAIN as well as private sponsors. Jessa became an RWA Academician in 2023. She works from her studio in Bristol, UK.   Jessa's official website.https://jessafairbrother.com/ Follow Jessa on Instagram.https://www.instagram.com/jessfairbrother/ Tate Papers: Severance: Jessa Fairbrother’s Conversations with My Mother 2016 - Jennifer Mundyhttps://www.tate.org.uk/research/tate-papers/33/severance-jessa-fairbrother-conversations-my-mother   Michael Dooneyhttps://beacons.ai/michaeldooney   This episode of Subtext & Discourse Art World Podcast was recorded on 27. October 2024 between Perth (AU) and Bristol (UK). Portrait of Jessa Fairbrother by Trish Morrissey in the Acts of Creation: On Art and Motherhood exhibition at MAC in Birmingham.

    1h 6m
  8. Anthony Luvera, socially engaged artist, writer, and educator | EP66 Subtext & Discourse Art World Podcast

    JAN 17

    Anthony Luvera, socially engaged artist, writer, and educator | EP66 Subtext & Discourse Art World Podcast

    Anthony Luvera is an Australian socially engaged artist, writer, and educator based in London. The long-term collaborative work he creates with individuals and communities has been exhibited widely in galleries, public spaces, and festivals, including the UK House of Commons, Tate Liverpool, The Gallery at Foyles, the British Museum, London Underground’s Art on the Underground, National Portrait Gallery London, Four Corners, Belfast Exposed Photography, Australian Centre for Photography, PhotoIreland, Malmö Fotobiennal, Goa International Photography Festival, Les Rencontres D’Arles Photographie, Oslo Negative, and Landskrona Foto Festival. His writing has appeared in a range of publications including Trigger, Photography and Culture, Visual Studies, Photoworks, Source, and Photographies. Anthony is Associate Professor of Photography in the Centre for Arts, Memory and Communities at Coventry University, and editor of Photography For Whom?, a periodical about socially engaged photography. Anthony is Chair of the Education Committee at the Royal Photographic Society, and a Trustee of Photofusion. He has designed education and mentorship programmes, facilitated workshops, and given lectures for the public education departments of National Portrait Gallery, Tate, Magnum, Royal Academy of Arts, The Photographers’ Gallery, Barbican Art Gallery, and community photography projects across the UK.   Anthony's official website.https://www.luvera.com/ Follow Anthony on Instagram to keep up to date with his projects. https://www.instagram.com/anthony_luvera/   Michael Dooneyhttps://beacons.ai/michaeldooney   This episode of Subtext & Discourse Art World Podcast was recorded on 30. October 2024 between Perth and London. Portrait photo supplied by guest.

    54 min
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About

The art world and associated market are famously opaque and can at times be exclusive. Berlin based gallery director and educator Michael Dooney speaks with artists, curators and other professionals who share their personal experiences of this unique field. If you have ever felt unsure about walking into a gallery, wish to understand more about creativity or better understand how this complex industry works, then tune in every second Monday to hear the insightful conversations with these inspiring individuals.

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