The art that stays with you isn't the art that pleases you. It's the art that names the thing stuck at the back of your throat — the one you couldn't quite say out loud — and then makes it real.
That's Lucia Pietroiusti. Curator of the Golden Lion-winning Sun & Sea, Head of Research & Emergence at the new Hartwig Museum in Amsterdam and Curator of The 2027 Autostrada Biennale.
In this conversation, we get into why the works that last speak to the body before the mind, and what it really takes to hold space for art that risks making people uncomfortable. We talk about ideas behaving like people, about institutions learning to hold a piece of an artist's life rather than commissioning a piece of their work, and about being tethered and free at the same time.
I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
The artworks that stay with us often bypass explanation. They reach "something stuck at the back of your throat" before the intellect catches up, reminding us that feeling can be a form of knowledge.
Meaning isn't delivered by the artist and received by the audience. It emerges in the space between them. The work offers coordinates, not conclusions - people find their own way through.
Art creates meaning, connection, and transformation in ways that go beyond language. The most powerful art isn't the art that explains the world. It creates the conditions for people to feel, experience, and discover something they couldn't quite access before.
Trust intuition, trust audiences, trust long-term relationships, and trust that meaningful work often emerges from uncertainty rather than certainty.
BEST MOMENTS
"An artwork that stands the test of time is one that speaks not to your mind, but to something that's stuck at the back of your throat. And in a sense allows you to release that."
“There´s the sort of belly register - the heart, the body register, then there's the brain register, all of it working together…you're not over-emphasizing that it has to be understood intellectually first.”
“Ideas behave like people - they need rooms to move through, and time to become whatever they are going to become.”
EPISODE RESOURCES
https://www.instagram.com/luciapietroiusti_/
https://luciapietroiusti.earth/
PODCAST HOST BIO
With over 35 years in the art world, Ceri has worked closely with leading artists and arts professionals, managed public and private galleries and charities, and curated more than 250 exhibitions and events. She has sold artworks to major museums and private collectors and commissioned thousands of works across diverse media, from renowned artists such as John Akomfrah, Pipilotti Rist, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and Vito Acconci. Now, she wants to share her extensive knowledge with you, so you can excel and achieve your goals.
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This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/
