In this episode of Excuse Me, Erin is joined by Alayo Akinkugbe, independent writer, curator, and founder of A Black History of Art - the platform reshaping how Black artists, sitters, curators, and thinkers are represented across art history.

Founded in 2020, A Black History of Art combines powerful imagery with accessible, thoughtful commentary, making art history easier to engage with while challenging the long-standing erasure of Black narratives. The platform now reaches over 67,000 followers and has expanded into A Shared Gaze, Alayo’s podcast featuring conversations with Black contemporary artists about their lives and work.

The conversation centres on Alayo’s debut book, Reframing Blackness: What’s Black About “History of Art”? Through five incisive chapters, the book explores how Blackness has been positioned within Western art history, from museums and academic curricula to feminism, muses, and exhibitions. Alayo discusses the lasting impact of institutional neglect and why it’s vital that cultural organisations, schools, and universities learn from the errors of the past.

This episode is especially personal, as Erin and Alayo studied art history together at Cambridge University, where the Eurocentric framework of the course is a key point of reflection in the book. Together, they discuss reframing art history, institutional responsibility, and the emotional and political weight of visibility.

Excuse Me is a podcast by MyArtBroker, exploring art, culture, and the stories behind the images that shape how we see the world.

Season 1, Episode 4

In this episode, Erin sits down with photographer Charles Moriarty, whose intimate images have shaped some of the most recognisable moments in contemporary culture. Born in Dublin and drawn to London at eighteen, Charles quickly found himself behind the camera in the music industry, where in 2003 he photographed the iconic cover for Amy Winehouse’s debut album Frank. The portrait, tender and quietly electric, captures not just an artist at the beginning of her ascent, but the genuine friendship at the heart of their connection.

Since then, Charles’ work has spanned institutions and publications including TATE, VICE, DIESEL, Highsnobiety, and Phoenix Magazine. He has published three deeply personal photographic books: Before Frank, a tribute to Amy and the trust they shared; X, a decade-long exploration of masculinity through portraiture; and Brock, his forthcoming release documenting four formative years with actor and bodybuilder Brock Yurich.

This year also marks the launch of The Decisive Moment, the podcast he co-hosts with Carrie Kania of Iconic Images Gallery, where the pair explore the ever-evolving, multi-faceted world of photography.

Charles appeared on our social series last year, choosing a Francis Bacon, so we are especially excited to see what he brings to the table today. In this conversation, he reflects on the images that have shaped him, the stories behind his most intimate portraits, and the emotional weight a photograph can hold. Thoughtful, open, and rich with the visual sensitivity that defines his work, this episode offers a rare window into the mind of an artist who sees people with extraordinary clarity.

Season 1, episode 3 of the Excuse Me podcast by MyArtBroker.

This week, Erin sits down with Verity Babbs, the art historian, comedian and presenter whose signature mix of sharp insight and absolute silliness has made her one of the most inviting voices in the art world. Verity has just released her new book, The History of Art in One Sentence, born from her viral social series where she answers big art-history questions in small, funny, brilliantly clear bursts.

In this episode, Verity talks through the five artworks she would dream of owning, revealing the stories, relationships and personal memories that sit behind each choice. From the glowing theatricality of Holman Hunt’s The Light of the World at Keble College (complete with its iconic chapel light-switch moment), to the sensual, intertwined lives of the Bloomsbury Group captured in Duncan Grant’s Bathers by the Pond, her picks are as much about people as they are about painting .

She also shares her love of Alfred Wallis and the purity of his late-in-life paintings, shaped by her time filming in St Ives, before jumping into the rebellious joy of spotting Invader mosaics in cities around the world. And, in true Verity fashion, her final choice takes us to the potteries of Stoke-on-Trent, where a humble Spode Christmas sample plate becomes a story about craft, community, pride and a designer who had never actually seen a Christmas tree before attempting to draw one .

Across the conversation, Verity reflects on humour as a way into art, the intimidating culture around “knowing enough”, the soft-boy energy of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, charity-shop treasure hunts, and what it really means to own an artwork in the first place.

Warm, witty and full of brilliant art-historical side quests, this is a joyful episode that captures exactly why people love Verity’s voice.

The second episode of the Excuse Me podcast by ⁠MyArtBroker⁠.

See more here: ⁠https://www.myartbroker.com/articles/excuse-me

In our very first episode, Erin-Atlanta Argun sits down with Professor Alan Read, whose unforgettable street interview outside Somerset House became one of the most loved moments in the Excuse Me series. Alan is the first Chair of Theatre at King’s College London, a writer, broadcaster, and lifelong champion of the arts, and his original response to our question captured the imagination of more than three million viewers.

In this conversation, Alan opens up about the five artworks he would dream of owning and why. He talks about the power of looking, the responsibility of putting things on walls, and the role art plays in shaping who we become. From his deep affection for Chaim Soutine’s Pastry Chef, to the raw emotional pull of Pat Douthwaite’s Green Shield Stamps collage, to the quiet charge of Vija Celmins’ heater, and the dignity of street musicians captured on film, Alan brings each work to life with rare clarity and generosity.

He also reflects on his own relationship with painting, mental health, protest, public space, theatre, and the stories that shape us. It is thoughtful, moving, surprising, and full of the spirited curiosity that made his original street moment go viral.

A fitting start to the Excuse Me podcast by MyArtBroker.

See more here: https://www.myartbroker.com/articles/excuse-me

Introducing the podcast version of our viral social media series - from the team at MyArtBroker.