The first episode of 2025 of A brush with… features a conversation with Linder, who discusses her influences—from writers to musicians and, of course, other artists—and the cultural experiences that have shaped her life and work. Born Linda Mulvey in Liverpool in 1954, she is best known for her photomontages, made from images found in books and magazines across six decades. They bring together sex and sexual politics, glamour and grit, satire and seduction. Since emerging in the punk era of the late 1970s—a culture whose DIY approach and unflinching attitude to society her work embodies—Linder has reinvigorated a radical tradition of avant-garde art-making while developing a singular voice.
Linder, Untitled, 1979
© Linder Sterling. Courtesy of the artist; Modern Art, London; Blum, Los Angeles, Tokyo, New York; Andréhn-Schiptjenko, Stockholm, Paris and dépendance, Brussels
She reflects on the particularities of her native Britain while also addressing global struggles and themes, including feminism and class politics. She discusses her use of the scalpel as a “magic wand” in cutting up print material, her journey to Delphi and recent use of ancient Greek and Roman imagery, her fascination with Ithell Colquhoun and other Surrealists, the impact of reading Germaine Greer and the Brontës, how she has used the Playboy magazines once owned by the Brutalist architects Alison and Peter Smithson in a new body of work, and how she connects the Indian musical instruments, the dilruba and taus, with Barbara Hepworth. Plus, she answers our usual questions, including the ultimate: “What is art for”?
Please note this episode contains descriptions of abuse and sexual violence.
Linder, SheShe, 1981
Courtesy of the artist; Modern Art, London; Blum, Los Angeles, Tokyo, New York; Andréhn-Schiptjenko, Stockholm, Paris and dépendance, Brussels. Photo by birrer
Linder: Danger Came Smiling, Hayward Gallery, London, 11 February-5 May;
a version of the show, curated by Hayward Gallery Touring, will travel across the UK in 2025 and 2026: Inverleith House, Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh, 23 May-19 October; Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea, 7 November 2025-8 March 2026; Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool, 27 June-20 September 2026.
This podcast is sponsored by Bloomberg Connects, the arts and culture app.
The free app offers access to a vast range of international cultural organisations through a single download, with new guides being added regularly. They include several UK museums in which Linder has had solo shows, including the Chisenhale Gallery in London, The Hepworth Wakefield, Kettle’s Yard in Cambridge, and the Hayward Gallery in London, which hosts her exhibition Danger Came Smiling between February and May 2025. If you download Bloomberg Connects you’ll find that the guide to the Hayward will have in-depth features on that exhibition—including an audio tour led by Gilly Fox, the Hayward’s associate curator—from 11 February onwards.
