Chloe Aridjis on Leonora Carrington
I am so excited to say that my guest on the GWA Podcast is the esteemed writer and novelist, Chloe Aridjis, speaking on her friend, LEONORA CARRINGTON!\n\nBorn in New York City, raised in the Netherlands and then Mexico City, Aridjis is a writer of numerous award-winning books, including three novels: Book of Clouds, Asunder, and Sea Monsters. \n\nAridjis is also the author of numerous books and essays, including an A\u2013Z profile on the artist we are very excitingly discussing today: Leonora Carrington, the great late British-born painter, who ran away to Paris in her teens before escaping Europe at the outbreak of the Second World War, and settling in Mexico City in the 40s, where she lived until her death in 2011. \n\nAnd it was in Mexico City that Aridjis got to know the surrealist, who she had tea with on Sundays and noted their extroardnary conversations that she published in, among others, Tea and Creatures with Leonora Carrington: A Photo Essay\u2026 a beautiful piece that looks at their friendship. In 2015, Aridjis went on to co-curate a major exhibition of Carrington\u2019s work at Tate Liverpool, affirming her as one of the greatest and most relevant artists to today\u2019s world. \n\nThis episode is going to be slightly different to usual, as back in 2019 \u2013 for one of our first ever podcast episodes \u2013 we discussed the life of Leonora Carrington with her biographer cousin, Joanna Moorhead. We also discussed Carrington briefly with writer Deborah Levy \u2013 so do check those out. But! Today I couldn\u2019t be more excited to be delving into Arjidis\u2019s memories with the artist, uncovering the mystical symbolism that populates her work \u2013 from vegetables to cats, eggs to giants, cauldrons to kitchens, underworlds to hybridised figures \u2013 her friendships, character, and of course her paintings and writings, too. \n\nLINKS:\n\nPAINTINGS DISCUSSED \u2013\u2013\nGiantess, c.1947: https://www.artbook.com/blog-featured-image-leonora-carrington.html\nGreen Tea, 1942: https://www.moma.org/collection/works/297568\nAnd Then We Saw the Daughter of the Minotaur, 1953: https://www.moma.org/collection/works/393384?artist_id=993&page=1&sov_referrer=artist\nThe Magical World of the Maya, 1963: https://maria-cristina.medium.com/great-art-the-magical-world-of-the-maya-by-leonora-carrington-interpretation-and-analysis-b642f8d04cf0\nSelf Portrait, 1937: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/492697\n\nChloe's exhibition: https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-liverpool/leonora-carrington\n\n--\n\nTHIS EPISODE IS GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED BY THE LEVETT COLLECTION:\n\nhttps://www.famm.com/en/\nhttps://www.instagram.com/famm.mougins // https://www.merrellpublishers.com/9781858947037\n\nFollow us:\nKaty Hessel: @thegreatwomenartists / @katy.hessel\nSound editing by Nada Smiljanic\nMusic by Ben Wetherfield