Art Unquoted

Art Unquoted is a podcast about contemporary art hosted by Charlotte Desaga and Esenija Bannan. Both bring decades of professional experience working with artists, museums, and galleries internationally.

Each episode begins with a quote from an art world protagonist. From there, the hosts explore what lies beneath: the philosophy, the assumptions, the deeper questions. What distinguishes Art Unquoted is the conversation itself. Grounded in real experience, the hosts bring both enthusiasm and critical thinking. They don't explain art, they explore it.
New episodes every other week.

Art Unquoted

Latest episodes

Episode IV: Ilit Azoulay -

Episode IV: Ilit Azoulay - "I'm not interested in producing clarity. I'm interested in creating conditions...

10m 1s

What if AI could generate 77 different versions of one person? Artist Ilit Azoulay did exactly that. Each AI actress performs Mary Stuck at a different age. Each one is different. Each one is real.

Referring to the re-opening of Villa Stuck in Munich and her exhibition "No Single View," Azoulay uses AI as a tool for the first time to explore identity, memory, and the impossibility of knowing anyone completely.
Listen to our episode: Is AI creating reality, or revealing it?
In our conversation, we engage and explore the many aspects of AI and see where it leads us....

Episode III: Robert Irwin - Seeing is forgetting the names of the thing one sees.

Episode III: Robert Irwin - Seeing is forgetting the names of the thing one sees.

8m 31s

"Seeing is forgetting the name of the thing one sees." Robert Irwin spent a lifetime turning this idea into art, stripping away language to make us truly perceive. In this episode, we ask why, in a world of constant naming, that might be the most radical act of all. Prepare to see differently.

Episode II: Francis Offman - Materials form a language.

Episode II: Francis Offman - Materials form a language.

11m 1s

„Materials form a language.“ But Adorno reminds us: there’s no such thing as innocent material. Every coffee ground, every scrap of paper carries meaning. In this episode, we explore how artist Francis Offman uses found materials to speak what can’t be represented.

Episode I (Part III): In Minor Keys

Episode I (Part III): In Minor Keys

16m 41s

 "To shift to a slower gear and tune in to the frequencies of the minor keys." 
– Koyo Kouoh, from her curatorial statement for the 61st Venice Biennale.

In Part 3, we explore the historical and contemporary dimensions of "In Minor Keys". From Giotto's 14th-century Cappella degli Scrovegni to Pierre Huyghe's Liminal at Punta della Dogana, we trace how contemplative, site-specific practice has always demanded slowness. A conversation about finding meaning in Venice's layered past and present.