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The Why Factor: Separating the art from the artist

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Separating Art from Artist

15/04/2019 GMT

Separating the art from the artist

BBC World Service - The Why Factor, Separating the art from the artist

Why does what we know about an artist affect how we see their work?

Why can’t we judge art at face value? How does the identity, behaviour and cultural context of the artist play a part in how we approach their artwork? Edwina Pitman explores why we can’t seem to separate the art from the artist.

Guests:
John Myatt, artist
Paul Bloom, Professor of psychology and cognitive science at Yale University
Michelle Hartney, artist
Lionel Shriver, novelist
Ananya Mishra, PhD researcher in English, University of Cambridge
Svetlana Mintcheva, Director of Programs, National Coalition Against Censorship, New York
Bob Sturm, Associate Professor in Speech, Music and Hearing at Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm

Presented and Produced by Edwina Pitman
Editor: Richard Knight

(Photo: Woman looking at the Pablo Picasso painting The Dream. Credit: Leon Neal/Getty Images)

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