Poor Artists: The White Pube in Conversation with Frances Disley
Carmel Smickersgill, Tours & Activities Editor
Over the past ten years The White Pube has become infamous in the art world as a force of disruption, holding contemporary art accountable for its shortcomings in everything from class diversity to institutional racism. Alongside their witty and fired up art memes, they’ve been writing in depth essays for years, with nuance and insight that opens up conversations about the systems within contemporary art to a wider audience. 2025 sees the launch of The White Pube’s first book Poor Artists. Join them at the Bluecoat where they’ll be in conversation with Frances Disley.
The White Pube is the brainchild of art critics and writers Gabrielle de la Puente and Zarina Muhammad. Having started as a blog which has now grown to a podcast and the ever useful resource of the successful funding bids gallery. They also facilitate a monthly financial grant for working class artists.
Their first book Poor Artists is part fictional adventure, part satirical look at the contemporary art world and the social hellscape of 2025. In keeping with The White Pube’s quick wit and brutal honesty, it’s simultaneously a joyfully funny time and a brutally depressing look at the decisions artists beginning to embark on a career are faced with. Within the book you’ll find sentient mountains of discarded artworks, artists who live in disappearing magical castles and flesh-eating gallerists. Alongside contemporary slants on issues of financial burden and power structures the book is guaranteed to also be written with a lot of heart from two people who love art equally as much as they love calling out institutions.
Driving the conversation will be Liverpool based multidisciplinary artist Frances Disley. Another voice in the art world who prioritises solidarity and mutual support. Using her practice as a vehicle through which these ideas are promoted.
Held at the Bluecoat, this event is hosted by Dead Ink Bookshop.
