The Art Bystander

Roland-Philippe Kretzschmar
  • 5.0 (2)
  • ARTS
  • UPDATED MONTHLY

Meet the individuals who drive the art industry today and tomorrow; from artists to gallerists, curators, financial backers, advisors, collectors, and more. Hosted by Roland-Philippe Kretzchmar. More on www.theartbystander.com and www.instagram.com/theartbystander Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. FEB 2

    #36 Roland-Philippe Kretzschmar

    This episode is for you — my loyal friends and followers who share my deep love for the purest form of human expression there is: art. Many of you have asked me to open up more, to share what sits behind the platform, the voice, and the choices — so here we are. As The Art Bystander marks its three-year anniversary this February, I sit down for an intimate conversation with my life and business partner, Ellen. Together we reflect on why I started The Art Bystander, what has driven it from the beginning, and what continues to guide everything we do. From the bottom of my heart — thank you for being part of this journey, for your curiosity, your trust, and your presence. I’m deeply grateful you’re here with us. #theartbystander Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    43 min

  2. 12/05/2025

    #35 Marlies Wirth

    Today on The Art Bystander, I speak with Marlies Wirth, Curator for Digital Culture and Head of the Design Collection at the MAK in Vienna, about one of the most quietly radical figures of late-20th- and early-21st-century culture: Helmut Lang. Our conversation turns not to his later sculptural practice, but to the architecture of a legacy that reshaped how we understand design, communication, identity, and the very idea of what a fashion house could be. The MAK’s new exhibition, Excerpts from the MAK Helmut Lang Archive — running 10.12.2025 → 03.05.2026 — reflects on the years 1986–2005, a period in which Lang’s vision dissolved the boundaries between disciplines. His work unfolded across clothing, graphics, architecture, staging, branding, and digital experimentation — not as separate gestures, but as parts of a single cultural language. Long before he stepped away from fashion, Lang had already begun to operate like an artist moving across mediums, using every surface as a site of meaning. This retrospective reveals how deeply his ideas anticipated the world we now take for granted. It recalls the moment he livestreamed a runway before the internet had become a stage; the years when he turned New York itself into an extension of his voice; the way his presentations and stores became environments rather than commercial spaces. Lang’s legacy is not simply a story of minimalism or aesthetic restraint — it is a study in how form can become communication, and how identity can be constructed with both precision and quiet intensity. In speaking with Marlies, the past becomes newly vivid: not nostalgic, but architectural. We explore how Lang’s decisions — from the shape of a jacket to the rhythm of a campaign, to the destruction of his own archive — can be understood as part of a larger narrative about authorship, memory, and the courage to redefine oneself. This episode looks back at the cultural landscape Helmut Lang helped build, and the echoes of his vision that continue to structure how we see and experience the world today. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    43 min

  3. 11/09/2025

    #34 Paris Photo

    Welcome back to The Art Bystander, the podcast that explores the stories, ideas, and people shaping the world of contemporary art. Our host Roland-Philippe Kretzschmar is taking you behind the scenes of one of the most influential art fairs in the world — Paris Photo. Founded in 1997, it has become the leading international fair dedicated entirely to photography, a place where artists, collectors, curators, and institutions converge to celebrate and challenge the medium. Joining me are Florence Bourgeois, Director of Paris Photo, and Anna Planas, Artistic Director. Together, they’ve been redefining what a photography fair can be — expanding its cultural scope, international reach, and curatorial ambition. In this conversation, we’ll discuss the evolving role of photography in the art ecosystem, how Paris Photo bridges artistic and commercial worlds, and what it takes to curate a fair that remains both relevant and visionary. So whether you’re a collector, a photographer, or simply curious about how images shape our times — this episode is for you. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    37 min

  4. 10/09/2025

    #33 Francesca Grima

    Today on The Art Bystander, our host Roland-Philippe Kretzschmar is joined by Francesca Grima — Creative Director of GRIMA Jewellery, and the guardian of one of the most influential design legacies in modern jewellery. Her father, Andrew Grima, changed everything. Often called the father of modern jewellery, he treated gold like sculpture, embraced raw stones in their natural form, and pushed the art of adornment into the realm of architecture and abstraction. His pieces were worn by royalty, collected by icons, and displayed in major museums — yet his spirit always remained independent and quietly rebellious. Francesca has carried that legacy forward in her own way. Since taking over the house in 2007, she’s reimagined GRIMA as a contemporary atelier — producing small, handcrafted collections and bespoke pieces alongside her mother, Jojo. Each work still bears that unmistakable GRIMA DNA — sculptural, textured, and fearless — but now infused with Francesca’s own sensitivity to form, emotion, and modern life. In our conversation, we’ll talk about what it means to inherit and evolve a creative legacy, the emotional side of making wearable art, and how Francesca balances intuition, heritage, and innovation in a world that moves faster than ever. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    43 min

  5. 09/30/2025

    #32 Elliot Safra

    The art world is undergoing a profound transformation. Traditional models of collecting and dealing are giving way to new players, platforms, and hybrid business models that blur the lines between galleries, auction houses, advisors, and digital marketplaces. At The Art Bystander, we are closely following these shifts—where technology, luxury, and creativity intersect to redefine how art is experienced, bought, and sold. In this context, our host Roland-Philippe Kretzschmar is joined by Elliot Safra, a figure at the forefront of these changes. Safra is the co-founder of The Art Marketplace, an online platform facilitating global private sales, and the founder of AndArt Agency, a creative consultancy dedicated to building collaborations between luxury brands and the art world. With a background that includes leadership in the Chairman’s Office at Christie’s and as Senior Director of Global Strategy at Lévy Gorvy (now Lévy Gorvy Dayan), as well as early experience in Management Consulting and Private Equity, he brings a unique vantage point on how the evolving art economy is reshaping opportunities for collectors, brands, and cultural institutions alike. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    47 min

  6. 09/12/2025

    #31 Volta & Affordable Art Fair

    In this episode, our host Roland-Philippe Kretzschmar turns the spotlight on two art fairs that have each shaped the mid-tier ecosystem in distinct ways. The Affordable Art Fair, founded in London in 1999 by Will Ramsay, has grown into a global franchise with editions in over a dozen cities — from Hong Kong to Hamburg, New York to Stockholm. With its price cap of around €10,000, the fair has opened the art market to tens of thousands of new collectors and offered emerging artists a platform to reach international audiences. Representing AAF in this conversation is Carl-Wilhelm Hirsch, who has helped steward its mission of accessibility and growth. The Volta Art Fairs, launched in Basel in 2005, are known as the “discovery fair,” championing solo presentations and younger galleries that bring experimental voices to the fore. Active today in both Basel and New York, Volta has built a reputation as the place where collectors often encounter artists just before they break through. Here, we hear from Francesca Starling, who has been instrumental in shaping Volta’s evolving vision. Together, these two fairs embody a vital counterpoint to the mega-fairs that dominate headlines. They prioritize intimacy, accessibility, and discovery — serving as laboratories where new collector generations are nurtured and where artistic risk-taking remains possible. As always, I’m fascinated by how the future of the art market unfolds, and conversations like this reveal how fairs at this scale — human, innovative, and open — might shape the next chapter of global collecting. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    49 min

  7. 09/04/2025

    #30 Brenda Weischer

    In this episode of The Art Bystander, the host Roland-Philippe Kretzschmar, is meeting a guest who is one of the most distinctive cultural commentators of her generation: Brenda Weischer, known to many simply as BrendaHashtag. Brenda is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose work moves fluidly between fashion and art. A graduate of Central Saint Martins in London, she has always approached fashion less as a marketplace and more as a form of cultural language and archive. She first made her mark with Disruptive Berlin, a project that treated vintage fashion as living cultural memory. Later, during her time as Fashion Editor at 032c, she developed Brenda’s Business—a series of interviews and essays that quickly became essential reading for their fearless look at designers and creatives through the lens of philosophy, critique, and cultural storytelling. At the same time, she built a wide audience as BrendaHashtag—a voice that is direct, unfiltered, and unmistakably her own. Her sharp commentary, minimalist aesthetic, and instinct for connecting fashion back to art, identity, and culture have made her a reference point far beyond the fashion industry. Today, through her own podcast Brenda Awareness, she continues to create dialogues that are as much cultural reflections as they are interviews. What fascinates me about Brenda is the clarity of her vision: she doesn’t play a role, she embodies it. She shows us how fashion, writing, and culture can merge into one continuous practice of thinking and making. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    55 min

  8. 08/23/2025

    #29 Camilla Engström

    In this episode, Roland-Philippe Kretzschmar of The Art Bystander is honored to have Camilla Engström as guest—an artist whose bold, dreamlike paintings have captured audiences around the world. Born in Örebro and now based in Los Angeles, Camilla has developed a unique visual language where landscapes, flowers, and the female form intertwine—often playful, always deeply connected to nature, and full of vitality. This September she opens her ninth solo show with Carl Kostyál, Två Hjärtan, at Hospitalet in Stockholm. The exhibition is a true full-circle moment: her very first show with the gallery was also at Hospitalet, back in 2022, and now she returns to the newly restored space as one of their most celebrated artists. What makes this show especially meaningful is that Camilla is expecting her first child. The works are infused with that experience—pregnancy as transformation, as mystery, as strength. As she herself has said, the presence of the female form is intentional, a way to center and give shape to this life-changing journey. After this exhibition she will take a hiatus, making Två Hjärtan the last chance for audiences to see new work from her for some time. In today’s conversation we’ll explore her evolution as an artist, the inspirations behind her latest paintings, and how personal transformation is shaping her practice. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    45 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
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About

Meet the individuals who drive the art industry today and tomorrow; from artists to gallerists, curators, financial backers, advisors, collectors, and more. Hosted by Roland-Philippe Kretzchmar. More on www.theartbystander.com and www.instagram.com/theartbystander Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Information

  • Creator
    Roland-Philippe Kretzschmar
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    36
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Roland-Philippe Kretzschmar
  • Show Website
    The Art Bystander

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