The podcast “Les grandes dames de l’art” (“Great women of art”) gives a voice to the women artists of the 20th century. They talk about their work, their life, the world around them, and their achievements. Let us go in search of their presence, their secrets. Let us rediscover the hidden stories of women artists through their voices.
Following that of Leonor Fini, we hear the voice of another great surrealist woman artist, Leonora Carrington. Everything about her is surrealist: the way she spoke, expressed herself, and lived her life. Her world view, as the word “sur-realist” indicates, lies beyond or above reality. Listening to her is like entering an occluded and enchanted world where words lose their common meaning.
Leonora Carrington was an author as all as a painter. Her work was profoundly and voluntarily enigmatic; her paintings were often composed to be observed from right to left, opposite to the western reading direction. They often alluded to the past, the present, and the future all at once. This theme of upturning or rearranging the order of things can also be perceived in her writing.
“Les grandes dames de l’art” is a podcast produced by AWARE: Archives of Women Artists, Research and Exhibitions, in collaboration with the Institut national de l’audiovisuel, with the support of Maison Veuve Clicquot and the Ministry of Culture’s Délégation à la transmission, aux territoires et à la démocratie culturelle.
Coordinated by: Mathilde de Croix and the AWARE team
Directed by: Élodie Royer
Music by: Juliano Gil
Credits: Andrew Nelson
Sound Editing: Basile Beaucaire
Scientific Advisors: Catherine Gonnard and Marjorie Micucci
Translation: Beth Gordon
French Voice: Camille Morineau
English Voice: Lou Doillon
Translation of the Artist’s Voice: Eve Dayre