Exhibitionistas: Notes on Art
Exhibitionistas: Notes on Art

Exhibitionistas: Notes on Art

Joana P. R. Neves, art curator and writer

Overview
Episodes

Details

Your art wonderment podcast.With art writer and visual arts curator Joana P. R. Neves. Your host takes you on journeys through London exhibitions, forgotten theories, rediscovered texts, and generous guests—be it art experts with an edge or curious non-art experts with spiky questions. Expect a variety of formats, each including an Art Etiquette segment midway, where a guest brings an art question. A Socratic process of truth extraction ensues. If you have an etiquette suggestion for Joana to explore, she'd love to hear it.We're currently on a special episode release while we fine-tune the show: Joana, the host, is revisiting books that provoked an aesthetic and literary shock along her art path. Virginia Woolf, Adolfo Bioy Casares, Marcel Proust, Chris Kraus and others have created some of the most powerful wordings about the role that art plays in life, sex, desire, love, story, history and more. Enjoy these literary plunges by (re)discovering the texts through Joana's chosen excerpts.Exhibitionistas was born to expand artistic practices into wider spaces of conversation. It's the symbolic cigarette after the art sex. Check out Joana's writing on her Substack, Art Thinkosaurus.

Recent Episodes

But Is It Good Art?... With Proust
MAY 4, 2026
But Is It Good Art?... With Proust
🔎 How do we spot a masterpiece? Can we really know if the art we’re looking at is any good? Which is to say, how do we recognize talent? And is pleasure a real indicator of artistic greatness?⚒️ Are there any identifying tools that may fit the unique shape of a new work of art?Spotting great art may be trickier but more exciting than we think. We look into Proust, specifically into one of the most intriguing narrative lines of In Search of Lost Time (Vol I): the presumed greatness of the famous actress, "La Berma”, inspired by the very real and very famous turn of the century Sarah Bernhardt, whose performance tests the main character’s artistic judgment. We’ll follow his tribulations with aesthetic anxiety, antcipation, experience, enjoyment and appreciation.Are these the steps to artistic paradise?Tune in to find out, and enjoy some beautiful excerpts of this magnificent, detailed, and wordy (in the best sense!) piece of literature. But... is it any good?Read Joana's essays: https://joanaprneves.substack.com/.To know more about our guests and our ideas → ⁠SIGN UP TO THE EXHIBITIONISTAS FILES.https://joanaprneves.substack.com/s/e...you can become a member and support us.Small donations are great! "Buys us a book": https://buymeacoffee.com/exhibitionistaTakeawayswhat is artistic talenthow to identify ithow Proust sees art and its judgementthe subjective power revealed in artstream of consciousnesswhat experience really meansaesthetic experience and experience of lif
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76 MIN
Dark Side of Creativity with Bioy Casares' "The Invention of Morel"
APR 20, 2026
Dark Side of Creativity with Bioy Casares' "The Invention of Morel"
Is there a dark side to creativity? Might it even be necessary? Are artists visionaries? Or is the future contained in the present, and if so, what will you do about it?As a an art writer and curator, Joana P. R. Neves, the host, steps back from her job, and steps into the questions it stimulates, about art and life, creativity and philosophy. And what better tools to explore the point were art intersects with life than books?In this episode, Joana presents and reads excerpts of this week's chosen book, The Invention of Morel (1940) by Adolfo Bioy Casares, and asks "is there a dark side to creativity?"Read Joana's essays: Art Thinkosaurus.To know more about our guests and our ideas → ⁠SIGN UP TO THE EXHIBITIONISTAS FILES.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://joanaprneves.substack.com/s/exhibitionistas⁠⁠+ you can become a member and support us.Small donations are great! "Buys us a book": ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://buymeacoffee.com/exhibitionista⁠⁠.Takeawaysgenre literature and avant-gardeThe artifice of creativity of Adolfo Bioy Casares's 'The Invention of Morel'The ethical implications of technology and creativityChapters00:00 The Island of Isolation06:36 The Mysterious Miracle37:28 Introduction to Adolfo Bioy Casares and 'The Invention of Morel'47:50 The Island and Its Inhabitants56:00 Morel's Invention and Its Implications01:04:29 The Narrator's Response and Ethical Considerations01:19:02 The Dark Side of Creativity and Technology01:30:14 The Interconnection of Human Condition and Technology
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64 MIN
Creative Flow with Virginia Woolf
APR 6, 2026
Creative Flow with Virginia Woolf
Your host, writer and curator Joana P. R. Neves, challenges you to explore the mystery of a missing paragraph in Virginia Woolf's 'The Mark on the Wall', and its significance for creative pursuits. You're about to dwell on the flow of consciousness as creative flow – the art of mastering and letting go simultaneously.How do we create? How to we get to that special place where we're in control while accepting the randomness of the reactive materials we work with? And what does that say about life?Links, as promised:Explorations of Sex and Self (reference to the Angel in the House): https://joanaprneves.substack.com/p/explorations-of-sex-and-selfAbout being drawn to "minor works": https://joanaprneves.substack.com/p/when-art-says-the-unspeakableSubscribe to the free newsletter (and become a paid member if you can): https://joanaprneves.substack.com/subscribeBuy us a book, support our researches: https://buymeacoffee.com/exhibitionistaWe're fine-tuning the show in the background, so we're on a hiatus of sorts–but episodes will drop every two weeks, now on Mondays. We've clarified our purpose: we're now Exhibitionistas - Notes on Art, which feels good and more in tune with our vibe.TakeawaysTextual discrepancies in literary works can reveal insights into the author's creative process.Favorite texts can deeply influence creativity and self-perception. Better than self-help books? Find out for yourself!The Mark on the Wall by Virginia Woolf explores the balance between creative control and letting go, reflecting the complexities of the artistic process.Chapters00:00 Unraveling the Mystery11:41 Introduction to the Special Series17:28 Virginia Woolf's Life and Influence32:31 The Angel in the House and Creative Freedom01:01:24 Reading 'The Mark on the Wall'
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51 MIN
Art Writing versus Speaking About Art - Art Topic
MAR 6, 2026
Art Writing versus Speaking About Art - Art Topic
ART TOPIC is is an exploration of a topic through visual arts or vice-versa. Hosted by Joana P. R. Neves, this episode is an experiment in opposing writing to oral communication. It also engages with queer lives at the height of modernism, the notion of genius and its patriarchal tendencies, as well as the intriguing, unique couple of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas.Discover Joana's text "G is for Genius, Grammar and Girl", published on her Substack Art Thinkosaurus. She reads it here as a performance of sorts, with mistakes, reflexions and all, to test voice versus word. What will she discover?Explore Joana's Substack and become a member for the price of a latte: https://joanaprneves.substack.com/What you get from this episode:How do we write about art? Is talking about art different than writing about it?Is Modernism entangled in Gender issues? How did gender influence modernism and vice-versa? Why were we obsessed with the "genius"? To know more about our guests and our ideas → ⁠SIGN UP TO THE EXHIBITIONISTAS FILES.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://joanaprneves.substack.com/s/exhibitionistas⁠⁠+ you can become a member and support us.→ DONATE (give it some time for the donorbox window to charge):⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://exhibitionistaspodcast.com/support-us⁠⁠If you appreciate Exhibitionistas but can only go for a small donation: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://buymeacoffee.com/exhibitionista⁠⁠For behind the scenes clips, links to the artists and guests we cover, and visuals of the exhibitions we discuss follow us on Instagram: @exhibitionistas_podcast#visualarts #visualartist #arteducation #joanaprneves #exhibitionistas #exhibitionistaspodcast #arttalk #art #visualartsepisode #visualartspodcast #contemporaryart #talkart #londonexhibitions #londongallery #londonmuseum #bestlondonart #arthistory #arttheory #exhibition #gertrudestein #alicebtoklas #modernism #gender #queerlives #queerart
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63 MIN
Visual Arts and Fiction? Laisul Hoque's book: Babu Bangladesh! N. Atif Choudhury
FEB 20, 2026
Visual Arts and Fiction? Laisul Hoque's book: Babu Bangladesh! N. Atif Choudhury
ART BOOK CLUB is a segment where a guest suggests a book which was not written with visual arts in mind and yet is a source of inspiration, guidance and / or creativity for their work. Hosted by Joana P. R. Neves, this episode welcomes visual artist Laisul Hoque.How can a work of fiction influence the work of an artist?Can a visual arts practice be illuminated by storytelling? How can art practices she light on the value and limitations of archives and photographic documentation of the past?To what extent do images convey the truth?Is visual arts the territory where we reckon with our ties with the past, and our emotional needs?Laisul chose: Babu Bangladesh!, written by Numair Atif Choudhury.To know more about our guests → ⁠SIGN UP TO THE EXHIBITIONISTAS FILES.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://joanaprneves.substack.com/s/exhibitionistas⁠+ you can become a member and support us.What you get from this episode: Curating revelations, unexpected curating methods, lessons in community, art philosophies, ethical art questions.If you appreciate Exhibitionistas but can only go for a small donation: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://buymeacoffee.com/exhibitionista⁠For behind the scenes clips, links to the artists and guests we cover, and visuals of the exhibitions we discuss follow us on Instagram: @exhibitionistas_podcast0:00 Intro04:19 Choosing an artistic career11:13 Autobiography in visual arts18:26 Book: Babu Bangladesh! By NUmair Atif Choudhury20:14 How a book intersects with personal life22:15 The personal, the politics, the art, the book28:20 What is Babu Bangladesh! about?35:14 Family photo archive and visual arts39:26 Break and call for action41:43 Speculative fiction as device for truth telling45:58 Why is Babu Bangladesh! In English?48:32 Taking ownership of the historical archive?56:18 StorytellingThe Ground Beneath Me: An artistic exploration of care01:03:34 Displaced spaces of art01:10:16 Does art provide answers?01:21:14 Outro #visualarts #visualartist #bangladeshiartist #bangladeshart #arteducation #artbookclub #bookclub #bangladeshfiction #numairatifchoudhury #joanaprneves #exhibitionistas #exhibitionistaspodcast #arttalk #art #visualartsepisode #visualartspodcast #contemporaryart #talkart #youngartist #bowarts #nunnerygallery #londonexhibitions #londongallery #londonmuseum #bestlondonart
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81 MIN