On this week’s episode of the Friday Heaters Podcast, we’re joined by curator Diana Nawi, whose career has taken her from institutions including the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi and Pérez Art Museum Miami to co-curating Prospect New Orleans and Made in L.A. 2023 at the Hammer Museum. Now back in Los Angeles, Diana is a curator of contemporary art at LACMA.

We talk about what a curator actually does, how Diana found her way into the field, and why so much of her career has been shaped by relationships, curiosity, and what she describes as learning to “surf the wave in front of you.” She shares lessons from years of studio visits and working closely with artists, her approach to building exhibitions without forcing a predetermined idea onto the work, and why rigor remains central to how she thinks about art.

We also get into the particular character of Los Angeles as an art city, the role of institutions like LACMA, the Hammer Museum, and MOCA, what artists should know about building relationships with curators, and the challenges facing artists and institutions in today’s art economy. Along the way, Diana reflects on Made in L.A. 2023, the value of looking beyond the traditional centers of the art world, and why some of the most meaningful curatorial work begins with simply staying open to what artists are already doing.

On this week’s episode of the Friday Heaters Podcast🔥 we’re joined by Simon Brewer and Nathalie Martin, the duo behind Brewer Martin, a new Los Angeles gallery opening this fall.

As young gallerists representing the next generation of LA’s art scene, Simon and Nathalie are stepping in at a moment when much of the art world is talking about contraction, gallery closures, and what isn’t working. We talk about what it actually means to run a gallery today, what they learned working alongside established gallerists, and why they see this moment of change as an opportunity to build differently.

We also get into the evolving relationship between artists and galleries, creating space for experimentation and risk-taking, the challenge of bringing a new generation of collectors into the fold, and why the art world still has work to do when it comes to making people feel welcome. Along the way, Simon and Nathalie share how growing up in LA shaped their perspective, the artists and experiences that brought them together, and their hopes for building a gallery rooted in community, curiosity, and long-term relationships with artists.

Brewer Martin opens September 18 in Los Angeles with an inaugural exhibition by Jacob Fenton.

On this week’s episode of the Friday Heaters Podcast, we’re joined by Pablo José Ramírez, curator at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, fresh off the run of his exhibition 'Several Eternities in a Day'.

Pablo breaks down what a curator actually does, from developing an idea and selecting artists, to navigating the complicated machinery behind a major museum exhibition. We dig into the show’s focus on living and natural materials, why audiences shouldn’t feel pressure to “understand” contemporary art, and his approach to presenting artists from different cultures without reducing their work to identity or basic explanations.

Pablo also shares his journey from growing up in Guatemala to discovering contemporary art through politically engaged artists, eventually building an international curatorial career and finding a home in Los Angeles. We talk about the challenges facing museums today, bringing new audiences into art institutions, and why moments of uncertainty can create opportunities to rethink how the art world works.

And, as always, we make some room for life outside the art world with some detours into sleep hygiene, pilates bodies, Guatemalan coffee, the joy of backyard hoses, and the underrated importance of staying cozy🔥