Episode 32 ft. Joan Agajanian Quinn

Sighs and Whispers

Fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms is back this week with a conversation with art collector, muse, journalist, and editor Joan Agajanian Quinn. Joan Quinn has been a major force in the Los Angeles art scene for 70 years, as a collector, promoter, advocate, and friend to generations of artists. While amassing a large “accumulation” of art, her passion and collecting zeal also made her a muse for artists—what started as some artist friends painting and sculpting her portrait in the seventies, has now grown into a collection of over 300 portraits of Joan. In the late 1970s, Andy Warhol asked her to become West Coast editor of Interview magazine; a role she later held with several other publications. From the mid-1980s until 2020, Joan hosted public access TV shows where she interviewed artists and creatives. Now in her 80s, Joan is still actively engaging with artists and the art world. Part of her collection was featured at an exhibition at the Bakersfield Museum of Art earlier this year. Called “On the Edge: Los Angeles Art 1970s – 1990s from the Joan and Jack Quinn Family Collection” and put on with assistance from the Wonderful Company, it featured work from many of Joan’s artist friends: Robert Mapplethorpe, Jean-Michel Basquiat, David Hockney, Ed Ruscha, Zandra Rhodes, Larry Bell, Frank Gehry, Ed Moses, Helmut Newton, Billy Al Bengston, Antonio Lopez and many more. With sponsorship from the JHM Foundation, the exhibition is now on view at the Armenian Museum of America in Watertown, Massachusetts, where it has been extended until January 31st, 2022. To sign up for our newsletter, visit https://laurakitty.substack.com/ For full show notes, episode resources and a slideshow of photographs, head to https://sighswhispers.com/episode-32-joan-quinn Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guest Joan Agajanian Quinn