Boss Women of the Art World: the White Pube

This series is meant as praise to some of the women who laid the foundations for or who currently shaking things up in the art world.

Since October 2015 when they began writing their candid reviews, Zarina Muhammad and Gabrielle de la Puente, the “art agony aunts” behind The White Pube, have taken on the art establishment like kids take on the world: shoelaces untied, withholding nothing, and telling the truth better than anyone else out there. They’re the “cowboy” critics of the art world, straddling a collection of cheeky memes and damning reviews of the socially stagnant art market. The London and Liverpool based critics write (and it’s much easier to read than Artspeak™) with penetrating honesty and an impromptu flow that communicates what they feel. They don’t grasp at elitism, are not held to the whims of any organisation, and have subsequently become the “Gossip Girl” of the art world.

Source: @thewhitepube — *Source:* *@thewhitepube*

Gabrielle de la Puente is the curator and manager of OUTPUT Gallery and curator for Little Man Gallery. She has also been critic in residence at Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art in London. Said best in her own words: “Across my critic + curator positions, I think about better ways of even being those things because I wanna help create a healthier art world (one that is less boring, less violent, and wholly less monied)” (GDLP).

Zarina Muhammad is a contemporary artist, writer and art critic. She is currently critic-in-residence for one year at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London with the keen intention of giving critical feedback to the Institute’s interior and public facing operations.

“I grew up drawing and making art and it was so nice. Then you get into the art world and it’s shit. We were being primed to be these artists who would read all these art journals as if it were our own fan fiction”

— Gabrielle de la Puente (Vogue)

There is a disconnect between art, the market, institutions, and people. The White Pube was founded on and exists to explore that gap, break it down, and come out with something more meaningful to a wider network of creatives/professionals/random individuals that stumble onto their page. Whether that’s reviewing video games, simmering on the capitalism of the white cube space, or facilitating conversation on supporting inclusivity in the arts. Reading through their work is like reading through someone’s journal. It’s all very personal and one is able to think and process along with the writing. Not only are their casual memes funny, their writing succinctly approaches complex subjects and invokes interior growth. Their work cuts to the centre of a given subject. In order to be better arts professionals, we need to be better people first.

“If you look at the make-up of society, why are the arts so different? Why is so much of the industry dominated by white, middle-class posh kids whose parents are in the arts anyway?”

— Zarina Muhammad (Vogue)

The White Pube isn’t just the two voices of Zarina and Gabrielle. They also have a Google Drive library of texts submitted to them including reviews, thoughts, poetry, short stories, zines and other content. The White Pube website is full of resources including essays on authenticity,

inclusivity, money, and most importantly, escaping the rut of the current trade. Zarina and Gabrielle write an advisory column for Dazed Voices (also linked on their website. They’re wizards with linking). They also have an artist residency that started in 2016. The web resident for July 2020 is visual artist and poet David Parnell.

They don’t mess around either. Zarina and Gabrielle are clear about their writing voice their opinions with fervour, but they’ve also set up this venture with transparency and accountability at the centre. They exemplify the changes expected of other art businesses. They’re clear about where they get their funding from (mostly Patreon). They make their finances public and easily accessible. Goals and changes are demarcated, and their artists are paid. Zarina and Gabrielle are upfront about everything. They respect their community and hold themselves to a commendable standard.

Writings by Zarina and Gabrielle and features on their collaborative voice through TWP have been included in publications such as Dazed Digital, Vogue, the Guardian, K(y)nk, e-flux, and GQ France. As Morgan Quaintance points out in her e-flux article The New Conservatism: Complicity and the UK Art World’s Performance of Progression, it’s important to note that they “have risen to prominence without the help or patronage of Art Review, Art Monthly, Frieze, or any other publication or established platforms in the UK.” Their work is personal, personable, critical and honest. With auction houses continuing to sell spoliated artworks, museums “struggling” to examine their practices, major art and luxury brands maintaining “monocultural” boards and galleries leaning further into the mega while small community spaces struggle, The White Pube is one of the few gut-honest sources out there.

The White Pube publishes a review/essay on Sundays in both written and audio formats, but they’re always updating social pages and staying in touch with their 52k strong community.

Boss Women of the Art World: the White Pube

Further Reading:

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Boss Women of the Art World: the White Pube

Further Reading:

Artist Highlight: Lou Zhenggang

MADE IN BED Magazine ISSUE 01: 20/20 VISION

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