talkPOPc Founder: Dena Shottenkirk
As both a professional philosopher and artist, I have received terminal degrees in each: my MFA in painting from Rutgers’ University Mason Gross School of the Arts, and my PhD in Philosophy from the CUNY Graduate Center. I was also staff art critic for both Artforum and Art in America and was the Head of the MFA at the Glasgow School of Art, along with positions at various other institutions. I have been working with the team at talkPOPc since our formation in 2012, while continuing as an Associate Professor in the Philosophy Department at Brooklyn College.
For more information on Dena visit denashottenkirk.org
talkPOPc Curatorial Adviser: Magda Sawon
Born in Warsaw Poland, Magdalena Sawon is a gallerist, art historian, writer, curator and educator. She is a co-founder and director of Postmasters Gallery established in New York in 1984 where she organized over 400 exhibitions. Postmasters Gallery opened in East Village in December 1984, moved to Soho in 1989 and - in 1998 - to Chelsea for 15 years. 2013-2022 Postmasters occupied a large two- exhibitions venue in Tribeca and is currently in its fifth reiteration as Postmasters 5.0, the roving, nomadic gallery. The radical change of the gallery model was widely covered in the press. The artworks are generally content oriented, conceptually based, and - most importantly - reflect engagement in issues of our time.
Sawon also works as an independent curator, lecturer, and consultant. She served on the board of Rhizome, a digital arts organization, now affiliated with the New Museum and is a founding member
talkPOPc Audio engineer and Podcast director: Andrey Ligayi
Andrey is the guy wearing the headphones, adjusting mic stands and volume knobs! He assists with all audio production for the talkPOPc project, and also runs a podcast of his own while working full-time in pharma/biotech marketing. He’s a Brooklyn College graduate, and does the behind the scenes work for our conversations. Evidently, that makes him a good listener!
Gilles Heno-Coe
Gilles Heno-Coe is an art historian, writer, curator, and art dealer based in New York City. Currently artist liaison director at Lévy Gorvy Dayan, he has also held positions as director at Garth Greenan Gallery, associate director at Craig F. Starr Gallery, and associate director at Matthew Marks Gallery. He has written for several publications and galleries, including The Brooklyn Rail, Film International, Matthew Marks Gallery, and Derek Eller Gallery, among others. Gilles has a BA from Williams College and an MA from The University of Texas at Austin, both in art history.
talkPOPc Project Manager: Flora Brandl
Flora Brandl is a PhD candidate in Art History at The Graduate Center, CUNY. Her research interests include global contemporary art, histories of performance art, postcolonial theory, and Cold War studies. She holds an M.A. in Contemporary Art Theory from Goldsmiths, University of London, and an M.A. in Performance Studies from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Flora has taught at Hunter College and at The Cooper Union, and was a Writing Across the Curriculum Fellow at Brooklyn College.
talkPOPc Photographer: John McCarten
John McCarten is a photojournalist and our photographer for gallery talks and public philosophy events. He is also the photographer for New York City Hall, where he documents all that goes on there as well. Always able to get the most vivid shot, it is John who sees the pleasure of the participants and captures it. johnmccarten.com
talkPOPc Videographer:
Katharina Birkmann
Katharina Birkmann is an interdisciplinary artist based in Vienna, currently studying Transart and Art and Film. Working across mediums including video, video installation and performance, she explores the relationship between media, narrative, and historical representation. By examining questions of representation and reflecting on the medium itself, she challenges traditional narratives and explores how histories are constructed and communicated. She has collaborated with institutions, like Austrian National Library, The Austrian Association of Women Artists (VBKÖ), and Volkstheater Vienna.
talkPOPc Puppeteer: Christina Rodriquez
Christina is an NYC-based puppeteer, puppet designer, and educator whose original puppet works have been featured at venues across the U.S. and as far away as the Czech Republic. She is the creator/puppeteer of ShakesBEARS, a puppet content platform that introduces children to classic literature and inspiring BIPOC figures (www.shakesbears.com). She also teaches puppetry at an arts-oriented school in New York and is the puppeteer for "Popsy"--the talkPOPc Puppet.
talkPOPc Treasurer: Aharon Grama
Aharon Grama is Administrative Coordinator in the Finance Office at Brooklyn College. He was raised in an ultra-orthodox community and left his community to live a self-determined life. He served 3 years in the military. He graduated from Brooklyn College, which he entered with an HSE (high school equivalency) in the BC bound program which he also was peer mentor in. Aharon served as the President of the Undergraduate Student Government at Brooklyn College.
talkPOPc Administrator: Francesca Salter
Francesca is a recent philosophy graduate of Brooklyn College. She graduated summa cum laude, having been awarded the Philosophy Merit Award (2024), the Philosophy award for outstanding work at the Humanities and Social Sciences Student Expo (2024), and the Beth J. Singer Philosophy Scholarship (2020 & 2021). As a lover of both art and philosophy, Francesca is passionate about talkPOPc’s core values, and she manages the project’s administrative responsibilities.
talkPOPc Intern: Emily McKissick
Emily is a French and philosophy student at Brooklyn College and previously studied music at Indiana University-Bloomington. She is talkPOPc’s student intern and runs the social media accounts. Emily is expected to graduate Spring 2025 and is excited for what the future holds.
talkPOPc Puppet: Popsey
This is our mascot. Always willing to listen and to philosophically ruminate, our puppet is a stand in for all our many Resident Philosophers: professional philosophers from many different universities who participant in talkPOPc and are the ones who are really the beneficiaries, for they get to LISTEN, first-hand, to the amazing things that participants say.