Art from the Outside

This episode, we are thrilled to be joined by the artist Pat Oleszko.

Born in Detroit in 1947 and now based in New York, Pat has spent decades building a singular universe of characters and "wearing her work." Her practice is rooted in humor, social commentary, and defiance of authority, reflecting the issues of our time back at us through performances that pull from burlesque, commedia dell’arte, and protest movements.

In the early 1970s, Pat began creating wearable sculptures that she would activate through performances. For instance, in Patty Cake from 1972, she shimmied out of a three-tiered fabric cake dripping with rosettes.

In the early 1980s, Pat first began creating her “inflatables” as a way to make large-scale sculptures without relying on the need for constructed, heavy armatures.

Following her awarding of the Rome Prize in 1998, Pat spent a night in jail for the very work for which she was awarded: her role as spectacular sculptress provocateur— this time incarnated as The Nincompope, a facsimile of the papacy paraded through the streets of Vatican City to the ire of the polizia.

In a sign of her universal appeal, Pat is one of the few artists who have been featured in both Playboy and Sesame Street Magazine.

This year, Pat was the subject of a solo exhibition at the SculptureCenter titled Pat Oleszko: Fool Disclosure. The exhibition will open at the Museum Cobra in Amsterdam on November 21. It will run until April 2027 and will then travel to the Centro Pecci in Prato, Italy.

Pat is represented by David Peter Francis Gallery.
https://davidpeterfrancis.com/pat-oleszko

Welcome to this episode of our special Art from the Outside series around this year’s Whitney Biennial. 
In this special series, we’re going behind the scenes and getting an inside look at this important and exciting exhibition. 
We’ll be talking to the exhibition’s curators to learn more about the history of the biennial, how it’s made, and what to look out for when you visit over the next few weeks. 
We’ll also be chatting with artists included in the exhibition. They’ll share some of their personal stories and help us understand what it was like participating in the biennial, as well as new ideas and realizations they’ve had along the way. 
Today we are thrilled to be joined by the artist Leo Castañeda. Born in Columbia in 1988, Leo is a multimedia artist and video game designer exploring Latin American Surrealism in the Digital Age. His artwork primarily takes form in episodic games and immersive installations that meld atmospheric paintings, video, mixed reality, wearables, and sculpture.
Leo Castañeda has received multiple fellowships, including the Knight Foundation Arts + Technology Fellowship and the YoungArts Artist Technology Fellow.
Some artists (and video games) discussed in this episode:
Roberto Matta
Dark Souls
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Sonic the Hedgehog
Elden Ring

You can experience Leo's work in the biennial here
https://whitney.org/exhibitions/camoflux-recall-grotto

Welcome to the very first episode of our special Art from the Outside series around this year’s Whitney Biennial!
In this special series, we’re going behind the scenes and getting an inside look at this important and exciting exhibition. 
We’ll be talking to the exhibition’s curators to learn more about the history of the biennial, how it’s made, and what to look out for when you visit over the next few weeks. 
We’ll also be chatting with artists included in the exhibition. They’ll share some of their personal stories and help us understand what it was like participating in the biennial, as well as new ideas and realizations they’ve had along the way. 
For our first episode in the series, we’re very excited to be chatting with the exhibition’s talented curatorial duo, Marcela Guerrero and Drew Sawyer.
Learn more about the Biennial here: https://whitney.org/exhibitions/2026-biennial
Some artists discussed in this episode:
Jimmy De Sana
Drew Broderick
Zach Blas
Jason Rhoades
Raven Halfmoon
Martine Gutierrez

In this episode, we are joined by the artist Hew Locke.
Hew was born in Edinburgh in 1959 but spent his formative years in Guyana, arriving just as the country was establishing its independence from British rule. He returned to Britain in 1980, where subsequently received his BA and MA in art.
In his work, Hew explores languages of colonial and post-colonial power, and the symbols through which different cultures assume and assert identity.
Fusing historical source material with a keen interest in current affairs, he focuses attention especially on the UK, the monarchy and his childhood home of the then newly independent Guyana.
Hew’s work has been exhibited across the world but I’m going to mention some personal highlights. One is The Procession from 2022, a large scale installation for the Duveen Hall Commission at Tate Britain.
Another favorite is Gilt, an installation of four gilded sculptures in the shape of trophies that he made for the Façade at The Metropolitan Museum in New York, also in 2022.
On June 21, Hew will open Passages at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston. He will also open a show at PPOW in New York on September 11.
Some artists discussed in this episode:
Frank Bowling
Sonia Boyce
Lubaina Himid
Donald Locke
For more content and updates, follow us on Instagram @ArtfromtheOutsidePodcast
https://www.instagram.com/artfromtheoutsidepodcast

This episode we are thrilled to be joined by the artist Martine Gutierrez. Martine is a transdisciplinary artist whose work uses photography, video, and performance to examine how identity is constructed and portrayed. Her projects range from billboards and music videos to her celebrated magazine Indigenous Woman, where she takes on every role — artist, subject, and producer — to challenge pop-culture tropes around gender, beauty, and representation.
Her work has been shown internationally, including at the 58th Venice Biennale and in exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, LACMA, Crystal Bridges, the Pérez Art Museum, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Her work is also held in major collections including MoMA, the Whitney, the Guggenheim, SFMOMA, LACMA, Crystal Bridges, the National Gallery of Art, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Martine will be in the 2026 Whitney Biennial.
Martine received her BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and lives and works in New York.
Martine is represented by Fraenkel Gallery and Ryan Lee Gallery
https://fraenkelgallery.com/artists/martine-gutierrez https://ryanleegallery.com/artists/martine-gutierrez/
Some artists discussed in this episode:
Yoko Ono
Marina Abramović
Follow along on Instagram at @artfromtheoutsidepodcast
https://www.instagram.com/artfromtheoutsidepodcast