Shows
Talk ArtSusie Hall & Russell Tovey (David Robilliard live episode at TKE Studios)We meet BAFTA winning producer Susie Hall to discuss the work of late artist David Robilliard and the Documentary she made with Talk Art’s very own Russell Tovey. Recorded live at TKE Studios, Margate, special thanks to Elissa Cray and all at the Tracey Emin Foundation.Artist David Robilliard changed Russell Tovey’s life. It was Robilliard who inspired Tovey’s love of art, his free attitude towards sex, as well as his own sexuality. He is one of the most important people in Tovey’s life, despite the fact that they never met...2025-04-0454 min
Talk ArtPeter BerlinWe meet legendary artist Peter Berlin from his home in San Francisco. Peter Berlin (born Armin Hagen Freiherr von Hoyningen-Huene) is a photographer, artist, filmmaker, clothing designer, model, and gay icon. Berlin started taking self-portraits of himself in the 1970s. By modifying his clothes, choosing various props and settings, and sometimes using double-exposure to create a second image, Berlin would photograph himself in ways that create a hyper-sexualized, overtly masculine image.We explore Mariposa Gallery's inaugural Los Angeles exhibition featuring the groundbreaking photography, art, and personal artifacts of Peter Berlin, an artist who...2025-02-211h 11
Talk ArtRussell T Davies (Christmas Special Episode)It's the Talk Art CHRISTMAS SPECIAL EPISODE!! Holiday Surprise!!!We meet Russell T Davies OBE, one of the UK’s foremost writers of television drama and television producer. Davies was Head Writer, Showrunner and Executive Producer of Doctor Who when it returned in 2005 and has written many of the new series’ most memorable episodes. He was awarded an OBE in 2008 for services to drama. Born in Swansea, Wales, Davies had aspirations as a comic artist before focusing on being a playwright and screenwriter. We discuss his passion for comic strips and cartoons from Peanuts...2024-12-241h 11
Talk ArtJoelle TaylorWe meet legendary poet Joelle Taylor.Joelle Taylor is the author of 4 collections of poetry. Her most recent collection C+NTO & Othered Poems won the 2021 T.S Eliot Prize, and the 2022 Polari Book Prize for LGBT authors. C+NTO is currently being adapted for theatre with a view to touring. She is a co- curator and host of Out-Spoken Live at the Southbank Centre, and tours her work nationally and internationally in a diverse range of venues, from Australia to Brazil. She is also a Poetry Fellow of University of East Anglia and the curator of...2024-12-061h 11
Talk ArtRobin de Puy, presented by WePresentWeTransfer x TalkArt special episode! We meet photographer Robin de Puy. This episode is brought to you by our friends at WePresent, the Academy Award winningarts platform of WeTransfer. Collaborating with emerging young talent to renowned artistssuch as Marina Abramović, Riz Ahmed and Talk Art's own Russell Tovey, WePresentshowcases the best in art, photography, film, music, literature and more, championingdiversity in everything it does.In this episode we'll be speaking to acclaimed photographer Robin de Puy about her newp...2024-12-0355 min
Talk ArtStudio Lenca (Live in Margate)Talk Art Live! We meet artist Studio Lenca (Jose Campos) within his recent solo exhibition 'Leave to Remain' at Carl Freedman Gallery in Margate. ‘Leave to Remain’ is the official term used by the UK Home Office, meaning someone who is allowed to stay in the UK with restrictions and without permanent legal status. According to the latest data from the UNHCR, 70.8 million people around the world have been forced from their own homes. Among them are 25.9 million refugees, over half aged under 18. In this latest body of work, Studio Lenca continues to explore his own displ...2024-08-1650 min
Talk ArtSir Elton John and David FurnishTalk Art exclusive! We meet Sir Elton John and David Furnish to discuss their epic, brand new exhibition Fragile Beauty. Opening this weekend, Saturday, 18 May 2024 at the V&A South Kensington.An unparalleled selection of the world's leading photographers, telling the story of modern and contemporary photography. Discover iconic images across subjects such as fashion, celebrity, reportage and the male body. This exclusive episode was recorded in person at the South of France home of Elton & David.Showcasing over three hundred rare prints from 140 photographers, Fragile Beauty is a major presentation of twentieth- and...2024-05-171h 33
Talk ArtRyan Murphy (New Year Special Episode)It's 2024!!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! We meet iconic writer, director, and producer RYAN MURPHY, best known for American Horror Story, Dahmer, Pose, The Andy Warhol Diaries, Ratched, The Watcher and Glee. We explore his love of collecting and preserving artworks including Old Masters, his passion for artists Andy Warhol, Patrick Angus, Helen Frankenthaler, restoring and safeguarding Hans Hofmann’s house/studio, how art inspires his own creativity and writing, plus we discuss the forthcoming new TV series Feud: Capote vs The Swans, produced by Ryan and co-starring Talk Art's very own Russell Tovey.Born November 9, 1965 in Indianapolis, In...2024-01-011h 24
Talk ArtTom of Finland + Durk DehnerTalk Art special episode with WePresent! We meet Durk Dehner to discuss TOM OF FINLAND as the 40th anniversary of the ToF Foundation approaches. Since first meeting Tom in 1978, Durk worked closely with the artist, serving from time to time as Tom's muse which continued until Tom's death in 1991. We also chat with Richard Villiani, the foundation's Creative Director.In 1984, the nonprofit Tom of Finland Foundation (ToFF) was established by Durk and Touko Laaksonen a.k.a. Tom of Finland (b.1920, Kaarina). As Tom had established worldwide recognition as the master of homoerotic art, the Foundation’s...2023-09-261h 13Talk ArtFiza KhatriTalk Art special episode with WePresent! We meet artist FIZA KHATRI to discuss their recent paintings. Their work represents intimate portraits and gatherings of human and nonhuman inhabitants of their community. They remix imagery from lived experiences, imagined fantasies, sacred landscapes, and archival research to imbricate the social, sacral, and political stakes of building ecosystems of cohabitation. Fiza Khatri was born and grew up in Karachi, Pakistan. They currently live in New Haven, CT and are an MFA candidate at the Yale School of Art in Painting and Printmaking. Follow @fklmnop on Instagram an...2023-09-191h 04Talk ArtTed RogersTalk Art special episode with WePresent!!! We meet TED ROGERS, a multidisciplinary artist based in Margate working predominantly with movement. Ted explores the extremities of movement through the neurodivergent and non binary lens; plowing their unwavering and infectious energy into any and all mediums, with a particular focus on entertainment and the deeper emotional aspects of humanity. This episode was recorded in front of a live audience within their debut solo show at Quench Gallery. They trained professionally in Musical Theatre before moving to London and finding nightlife, queer culture, gogo-dancing, drag, fashion, m...2023-09-121h 27Talk ArtGus Van SantSeason 18 begins!!! We meet GUS VAN SANT, iconic American film director, producer, painter, photographer and musician. We discuss his deconstructed Mona Lisa series, his friendship with Derek Jarman and how he became a painter in his teens, the lasting influence of his art teacher, and how painting informed his filmmaking!!!Gus Van Sant (b. 1952, Louisville, Kentucky), admired internationally as a filmmaker, painter, photographer, and musician, received his BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence in 1975. Since that time his studio painting practice has moved in and out of the foreground of a multi-disciplinary c...2023-09-081h 01Talk ArtLindsey Mendick (Live at Jupiter Artland)Russell & Robert meet leading artist Lindsey Mendick, recorded in front of an intimate live audience at Jupiter Artland, Edinburgh. We explore Lindsey's major new solo exhibition 'Sh*tfaced', her first solo show in Scotland. Running until 1st October 2023, this multi-layered exhibition of new ceramics, film and sculptural installations is presented across all of Jupiter Artland’s galleries.Lindsey Mendick’s work is one of confession, where taboo topics and uncomfortable truths are revealed with candour and humour. Her work is characterised by an intense attention to detail and verisimilitude, whereby everyday scenes – a nightclub, a kitchen, a bedr...2023-07-281h 01Talk ArtAubrey LevinthalWe meet artist Aubrey Levinthal from her studio in Philadelphia!!!Softly-rendered portraits by Aubrey Levinthal explore contemporary psychology. In the works, figures go about familiar daily routines - eating, sleeping and daydreaming. The artist is inspired by a range of modernist painters, from portraitist Alice Neel to collagist Romare Bearden and modernist David Hockney. Her intentionally muted palette of predominantly grey tones is created by layering light washes of oil paint onto panels, and then scraping them down with a blade. This technique renders the skin of her characters as almost translucent - either emerging from...2023-02-241h 12Talk ArtSandra BernhardWe meet SANDRA BERNHARD, performer, actress, singer, comedian, author and ICON!!!! We discover the influence of her artist mother, growing up in Flint Michigan and meeting/collaborating with artists as wide-ranging as Nan Goldin, Mike Kelley, John Boskovich, Robert Mapplethorpe, Herb Ritts, and Keith Haring and her deep admiration for the work of Cindy Sherman. We also learn about her passion for expressing herself via fashion, walking the runway for Chanel and Comme des Garçons, and her iconic performances on Late Night with David Letterman in the 80s and 90s.Bernhard is currently starring (alongside o...2023-02-031h 11Talk ArtZachary QuintoWe meet the one and only ZACHARY QUINTO!!!! Leading actor, film producer and art collector, best known for his roles Sylar in Heroes, Spock in Star Trek, Margin Call, Angels in America and numerous seasons of American Horror Story, for which he received an Emmy award nomination.We discuss living with art, making his own watercolours, growing up in Pittsburgh, coming out publicly as gay in 2011, meeting Cindy Sherman, his close friendship with Leonard Nimoy, the original Spock and also an accomplished artist/art collector, plus what it was like filming the latest series of AHS...2022-10-281h 20Talk ArtMaureen PaleySeason 14 continues with VERY special episode with one of our all-time ART WORLD ICONS!!!! We meet the legendary gallerist MAUREEN PALEY. Inspiration to many of today's international contemporary galleries, Maureen was in fact the reason our co-host Robert Diament became inspired to change careers to work full-time in a gallery!We discover how she began her gallery programme in 1984 in a Victorian terraced house in London’s East End. Initially named Interim Art, the gallery changed its name to Maureen Paley in 2004 as a celebration of its 20th anniversary. Since September 1999 the gallery has been situated in...2022-10-071h 17Talk ArtAi Weiwei (Live at Kite Festival)SPECIAL EPISODE!!! Live Talk Art!!! Robert Diament meets legendary artist Ai Weiwei (*1957, Beijing) recorded at Kite Festival, Oxfordshire on 12th June 2022. Ai Weiwei lives and works in multiple locations, including Beijing (China), Berlin (Germany), Cambridge (UK) and Lisbon (Portugal). He is a multimedia artist who also works in film, writing and social media. Special thanks to Tortoise Media, Tom Macklin and the wonderful team at Kite Festival."Expressing oneself is a part of being human. To be deprived of a voice is to be told you are not a participant in society; ultimately it...2022-09-2347 minTalk ArtRose MatafeoNew Talk Art!!! JUBILEE SPECIAL with an ACTUAL QUEEN!! We meet Rose Matafeo, the BAFTA nominated comedian, writer and actor from New Zealand. Self confessed "curious nerd" who has a passion for art, craft and photography.We discover Rose's joy for creating her own artworks including dioramas and miniature models, photography and Lomo cameras, her obsession with the Pepper's Ghost illusion technique, textile art, embroidery and crochet. We learn about her artistic family including her artist father and how she was encouraged to collect and live with art since childhood!! We explore her passion for comic b...2022-06-031h 15Talk ArtZoé Whitley, Aaron Cezar, Kim McAleese (Turner Prize Judges special episode)Season 12 continues with another exclusive! We meet The Turner Prize Judges 2021!!! We rewind to discover the behind-the-scenes experiences of each judge; the highs and lows of organising the world famous art prize during a global pandemic. The members of the 2021 Turner Prize jury were:• Zoé Whitley, Director, Chisenhale Gallery• Aaron Cezar, Director, Delfina Foundation• Kim McAleese, Programme Director, Grand Union• Russell Tovey, Actor, Talk ArtThe Turner Prize is awarded annually to an artist born, living or working in Britain, for an outstanding exhibition or public presentation of their wor...2022-02-041h 18Talk ArtKate Bryan (Talk Art Live in London)TALK ART LIVE in London!!! Join the inimitable hosts of Talk Art, Robert Diament and Russell Tovey for a live podcast recording as they interview Kate Bryan.Kate Bryan is Global Head of Collections at Soho House and author of a new book about artists that died too young, 'Bright Stars'. Recorded at Soho House White City in front of a sold out live audience, they cover big names such as Vincent Van Gogh, Jean Michel Basquiat and shine a light on lesser known talents like Khadija Saye, Paula Modersohn Becker and Amrita Sher Gil.2021-11-191h 35Talk ArtOscar yi HouRussell & Robert meet artist Oscar yi Hou from his studio in New York. We discuss growing up in Liverpool, poetry, calligraphy and new paintings on the eve of the opening of his solo exhibition 'A sky-licker relation’ at James Fuentes Gallery:“Oscar yi Hou’s work is anchored in personhood. While this exhibition presents a series of new portraits, what yi Hou’s paintings really record is the relationship shared between the sitter and the artist. Foregoing fixed representation, the works in A sky-licker relation offer a testament to living alongside others. Made over the past year and...2021-08-271h 11Talk ArtTimmy MallettRussell & Robert meet British TV presenter and broadcaster Timmy Mallett to discuss his lifelong love for painting, sketching and ART!!! We discover why Timmy's been hailed 'the cycling artist' and how he recently became a TikTok sensation with 'Mallett's Palette', a series where Timmy paints on live stream in front of a global audience of art fans!! We take a trip down memory lane to celebrate our fond childhood memories of 1980s TV & POP CULTURE!!! Wacaday!!!We learn of Timmy's fascination with Vermeer, Bruegel and Dutch still life paintings, his love of Richard Dadd (English painter o...2021-08-201h 10Talk ArtLaurie AndersonNew Talk Art!!! Russell & Robert meet LIVING LEGEND Laurie Anderson @laurieandersonofficial, one of America’s most renowned – and daring – creative PIONEERS! Known primarily for her multimedia presentations, she has cast herself in roles as varied as visual artist, composer, poet, photographer, filmmaker, electronics whiz, vocalist, and instrumentalist. We discuss her most recent works, as well as her 2015 film 'Heart Of A Dog', a favourite of Russell & Robert's! We learn of her artist residency at NASA and even debate whether animals can make art and discover more about a car opera Laurie wrote involving actual cars honking their ho...2021-05-2140 minTalk ArtGraham Norton (Talk Art Book exclusive interview)TURNING THE TABLES ON TALK ART with GRAHAM NORTON!!!!To celebrate the launch of the debut Talk Art book, Russell & Robert meet legendary broadcaster and best-selling author Graham Norton to discuss the writing of Talk Art - The Book! That's right, it's TALK ART BOOK release day!!! We are PUBLISHED AUTHORS!!!A huge THANK YOU to all the talented artists whose artworks are featured in the book and to our superstar editor Ella Parsons and the team @octopus_books_ & @ilex_creative & @chroniclebooks for helping us every step of the way. Thanks to Jerry S...2021-05-1350 minTalk ArtGlenn LigonRussell & Robert speak to leading artist Glenn Ligon from his studio in New York. We discuss the New Museum's current exhibition “Grief and Grievance: Art and Mourning in America,” and his collaboration with the late curator Okwui Enwezor. We discover Glenn's interest in artist's work such as Jean Michel Basquiat, Robert Rauscheberg, David Hammons and the lasting influence of Steve Reich’s audio work 'Come Out' (1966). We learn how his work has referenced forgotten texts from history, inspiration from literature in particular writers including Zora Neale Hurston and the Harlem Renaissance, James Baldwin and Alice Walker. We discuss A...2021-05-071h 18Talk ArtPierce Brosnan OBERussell & Robert meet legendary actor Pierce Brosnan OBE, perhaps best known worldwide by another very significant name - BOND, James Bond!!!! 007 meets Talk Art!!! Speaking from his home in Kauai, Hawaii, we explore his passion for ART!!!We discuss Pierce's longterm dedication to painting which he first seriously started in 1987 with the work 'Dark Night'. We explore his recent phone drawings, his awesome film Thomas Crown Affair (THE 1999 movie that inspired Talk Art's infamous art heist question!) and how grief and trauma can inform creativity. We hear how art has been a constant companion during a...2021-04-021h 14Talk ArtNational Portrait Gallery (LGBTQ+ History Month Special Episode)To celebrate LGBTQ+ History Month 2021, Russell & Robert select their highlights from the National Portrait Gallery’s collection in London. We discuss David Hockney, Maggi Hambling, Isaac Julien and Howard Hodgkin to discover how artists were able to share their personal stories and passions to give permission to future generations to live freely and be themselves!Throughout LGBTQ+ History Month, and beyond, the National Portrait Gallery will be sharing the stories and portraits of those that have helped shape Britain. Stay connected with the Gallery by following them on social media (Instagram & Facebook @NationalPortraitGallery; @NPGLondon on Twitter), an...2021-02-1945 minTalk ArtRobert StilinTalk Art Season 8 continues!!! Robert & Russell meet leading designer Robert Stilin, from his apartment in Soho, New York!! World renowned for his timeless, elegant interior design work and furniture design, Stilin is an avid art collector and serves on the Director’s Council at the Whitney Museum of American Art. He has run his own design firm for over 25 years and has introduced numerous clients to artist's works, galleries and museums, encouraging them to live with and discover the art they love most. His work has been featured in Architectural Digest, Elle Decor, House Beautiful, W, and Hamptons Cottages and Ga...2021-02-051h 12Talk ArtRobert Andy CoombsTalk Art continues!! Russell and Robert meet artist Robert Andy Coombs, all the way from Miami Beach!!! We discuss photography, queerness, disability, sexuality, nudity, beauty and representation!!!Coombs was born and raised in Michigan’s upper peninsula in a little town bordering Wisconsin. Being a closeted gay male in a conservative rural environment, Coombs couldn’t wait to leave his small town behind. He received a scholarship to Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids where he studied photography and started living authentically as a gay male. In 2009, during a trampoline training accident, Coombs land...2021-01-291h 08Talk ArtDame Julia Peyton-Jones DBERussell and Robert meet Dame Julia Peyton-Jones DBE, legendary British curator and gallery director, currently Senior Global Director at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac in London, Paris and Salzburg. She formerly worked as Co-Director of the Serpentine Gallery in London for 25 years – the number of visitors to the gallery increased six-fold to over a million people a year in her tenure.We meet in her private Green Park office to discuss curating, painting, her passion for making her own artworks and wonderful advice for emerging artists! We explore more than 2 decades at the helm of @SerpentineUK, her close las...2021-01-151h 11Talk ArtStephen Fry (Christmas Special Episode)Merry Christmas Everyone!!! For this special Christmas Talk Art, Russell & Robert meet Stephen Fry, the legendary British actor, writer, comedian and all-round national treasure!!! This feature-length special episode was recorded remotely during lockdown from his home in Norfolk!We learn about Stendhal Syndrome where people faint upon looking at artworks of great beauty, the history of the Royal Academy (where he is a trustee), his admiration for Velázquez's 'Portrait of Pope Innocent X', his memories of meeting artists Francis Bacon, David Hockney, Tracey Emin and Damien Hirst plus what it was like to have his p...2020-12-241h 50Talk ArtLindsey MendickSeason 8 continues!!! Russell & Robert meet leading artist Lindsey Mendick in Margate on the eve of Robert's 40th birthday!!!We adore the autobiographical works of Lindsey Mendick whose personal memories are launchpads for complex, ambitious immersive installations filled to the brim with wild and exuberant ceramic sculptures and more recently paintings and textile works (which she collaborates on with her mother). Mendick's work has a gothic sensibility with themes of gruesomeness, disgustingness and repulsion frequently reappearing. Her oeuvre is an exhilarating exploration of the abject in everyday banality. We discuss her recent show at CCA Goldsmiths curated by S...2020-12-181h 16Talk ArtLauren WeedmanFor the final episode of Season 7, Russell & Robert meet Lauren Weedman, best known for her standout role as Doris on HBO's television series Looking (alongside Russell!). As well as being a leading actress and comedian (not comedienne - as we discuss!!!!!!), one of her longterm passions is painting and making art. On her instagram @ThisOneIsTitled, started during lockdown, Weedman revealed 'The Quarantine Series' of unique figurative paintings, which she sells from $200 via Instagram and have become incredibly popular with collectors all over the world! As a self taught artist, including series where she makes one new work a day...2020-11-251h 12Talk ArtCharlotte McDonald, Aflie Kungu and Rose Electra Harris (Bombay Bramble Special Episode)Talk Art Special Episode!!!! Russell and Robert meet three incredible emerging artists Charlotte McDonald, Aflie Kungu and Rose Electra Harris!!! We are very excited to continue our partnership with Bombay Sapphire, celebrating their new #RipeForDiscovery Artist Series.Russell recently worked alongside Bombay Sapphire as co-curator to choose three fantastic emerging artists to create unique limited edition artworks for new #BombayBramble gin bottle labels! Listen to learn all about the artworks of three incredible artists! Follow the artists on Instagram now to see more of their work and inspirations: @CharlotteMcdonaldArt, @Alfie.Kungu and @RoseElectraHarris!Charlotte...2020-11-031h 03Talk ArtKenny Schachter (QuarARTine special episode)Russell & Robert meet Kenny Schachter for Talk Art's Season 6 Finale... and what better way to close this special quarantine season than with art world ROYALTY!!!! Kenny is truly a polymath - dealer, artist, writer, collector, curator, lecturer and all-round LEGEND!!! We admire his deep love of art, the way he champions artists but also how he speaks truth to power, never afraid to call out bad behaviour or corruption.For this feature-length episode, we discuss Kenny's lifelong passion for art, his provocative column for Artnet and his favourite artists including Paul Thek, Tracey Emin, Robert Gober...2020-08-111h 41Talk ArtJennifer Gilbert (QuarARTine special episode)Russell & Robert meet Jennifer Gilbert, leading curator, gallerist and champion of Outsider Art!As founder of the Jennifer Lauren Gallery, her aim is to champion and exhibit international self-taught, disabled and overlooked artists who create works outside the mainstream art world and art history. Jennifer works closely with UK organisations, studios and communities supporting disabled artists, in order to promote new, unique artists and creators. She is passionate about being a voice and platform for under-represented artists, allowing their voices and talent to shine through. Through her work Jennifer hopes to: demystify what is regarded as...2020-08-041h 28Talk ArtWolfgang Tillmans (QuarARTine special episode)Talk Art exclusive!!! For this very special, feature-length episode, Russell & Robert speak to legendary artist Wolfgang Tillmans. We discuss growing up in Germany, his move to the Bournemouth, UK to study art, his collaboration with gallerist Maureen Paley and how he went on to become the first photographer to win the Turner Prize in 2000. We explore some of our favourite works including his portraits of Concorde airplanes, his unique approach to installing work, his passion for making music, his non-profit exhibition space Between Bridges which has included live concerts by artists such as No Bra (who he recently shot...2020-07-281h 39Talk ArtAnthea HamiltonRobert & Russell meet leading British artist Anthea Hamilton, best known for creating strange and surreal artworks and large-scale installations. Recorded on 5th January 2020 at Spiritland, Kings Cross.We discuss the experience of being a Turner Prize nominee, meeting Gaetano Pesce the Italian architect and design pioneer, working with curator Ruba Katrib from New York’s Sculpture Center and the important power of a “yes”. We explore her image archive, often printed-out images including Moschino fashion designs that inspired her iconic 'brick suits', the collaborations & editions made for Studio Voltaire’s House of Voltaire shop.We con...2020-07-211h 11Talk ArtShawanda Corbett (QuarARTine special episode)Robert & Russell meet artist Shawanda Corbett, best known for her ceramics, paintings and performances. Shawanda is a recent recipient of The Turner Bursary which replaces the Turner Prize 2020, recognised for her significant contribution to contemporary art in the UK during the past 12 months. We discuss the themes within “Neighbourhood Garden”, her current debut solo exhibition at Corvi-Mora gallery in South London, studying at the Ruskin at Oxford University, her admiration for her tutor Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, the ceramics of Magdalene Odundo and her love of jazz music including Eric Dolphy, Charles Mingus, Alice Coltrane & John Coltrane. We discus...2020-07-171h 06Talk ArtAna Benaroya (QuarARTine special episode)Season 6 continues! Russell & Robert chat to emerging artist Ana Benaroya from her studio in Jersey City, New Jersey. Recorded remotely on 19th April 2020 during lockdown, we are massive fans of Ana's paintings!!!We discuss her early career as an illustrator, her love of cartoons, her passion for drawing, identifying with male characters in 80s/90s movies growing up and how she developed studies of the human body, in her early paintings of male physicality and how her focus has recently shifted to representing women’s bodies, particularly women in positions of power, muscularity, the influence of su...2020-07-1459 minTalk ArtAindrea Emelife (QuarARTine special episode)New Talk Art! Russell & Robert meet Aindrea Emelife, art critic, independent curator, advisor and arts presenter.We discuss her recent powerful mission statement written for The Independent newspaper investigating how the art world can step up for Black Lives Matter. Aindrea spoke to leading figures for their perspectives including Jasmine Wahi, the Holly Block Social Justice Curator at the Bronx Museum in New York, Eva Langret, artistic director of Frieze London, Osei Bonsu, curator of international art at Tate Modern and Courtney J Martin, director of Yale Centre for British Art in Connecticut.W...2020-07-1052 minTalk ArtEllie Goulding and Caspar Jopling (QuarARTine special episode)On this week's Talk Art, we're feeling the POWER of LOVE! Russell & Robert chat to the captivating superstar duo of Ellie Goulding and Caspar Jopling from their home in Oxfordshire.As passionate art collectors, we learn about the artists they admire and collect including Rebecca Warren, Julie Mehretu, Tracey Emin, Donna Huanca, Raymond Pettibon, George Rouy, Wolfgang Tillmans, Jack Whitten, Raqib Shaw, Cy Gavin, Christina Quarles and Ellie’s favourite - a neon of a double cross by Jonathan Horowitz in rainbow colours. We hear about the shyness of their first date visiting two exhibitions in Lond...2020-07-071h 18Talk ArtKatherine Bradford (QuarARTine special episode)Season 6 continues! Recorded remotely on 3rd April 2020 during lockdown, Russell & Robert chat to leading artist Katherine Bradford, best known for her radiant paintings of swimmers, superheroes, ships and dreamy landscapes that critics describe as simultaneously representational and abstract, luminous, and richly metaphorical.We explore how Katherine changed her life aged 30 years old to become an artist moving with her twin children from Maine to New York City, making friends with Chris Martin and other passionate intense painters in 1980s Brooklyn: "It was quite a new idea. People were not going to Brooklyn to be artists. So we...2020-06-301h 15Talk ArtJonathan Lyndon Chase (QuarARTine special episode)Season 6 continues! Recorded remotely on 1st May 2020 during lockdown, Russell & Robert chat to Philadelphia-based artist Jonathan Lyndon Chase whose paintings and drawings focus primarily on queer black bodies in everyday, domestic spaces.We explore the importance of family including Jonathan's husband Will (who is also their studio manager), sea horses, shyness, Bipolar disorder, identifying as non-binary and the value of having a studio in their hometown of Philadelphia. We discuss humour, depicting the messiness of the human body, bodily fluids, queerness, gender performativity & 'performing' ourselves including Du Bois' Double Consciousness, Judith Butler's Gender Trouble and a...2020-06-2359 minTalk ArtRose McGowan (QuarARTine special episode)Talk Art Season 6 continues! Recorded during lockdown on 19th April 2020 from the Mexican jungle, Russell & Robert chat to Rose McGowan, leading activist, author, singer, actress and creative polymath.We discuss her debut album 'Planet 9', how creativity can promote healing, why Rose sees America as a cult, growing up as a child in the Children of God cult, Rose & Robert's shared admiration for her previous partner Marilyn Manson's Mechanical Animals album & the song Coma White that written about Rose's life story. We discover why she loves collecting art and how the works she's chosen are closely...2020-06-1649 minTalk ArtToyin Ojih Odutola (QuarARTine special episode)Recorded in New York on Sunday 26th January 2020, Russell & Robert meet leading artist Toyin Ojih Odutola, best known for her multimedia drawings and works on paper, which explore the malleability of identity and the possibilities in visual story-telling. Interested in the topography of skin, Ojih Odutola has a distinctive style of mark-making using only basic drawing materials, such as ballpoint pens, pencils, pastels and charcoal. This signature technique involves building up of layers on the page, through blending and shading with the highest level of detail, creating compositions that reinvent and reinterpret the traditions of portraiture. Ojih Odutola credits...2020-06-021h 20Talk ArtJosh O'Connor (QuarARTine special episode)Russell and Robert chat to leading English actor Josh O'Connor. We discuss family connections to art with his artist/ceramicist grandmother Romola Jane, the ongoing search to buy back her previously sold studio art pottery, his sculptor grandfather John Bunting who's wooden sculptures, bronzes & stone works was a contemporary of Henry Moore and teacher to artist Antony Gormley. We explore Josh's love of Modern British Art, learning to draw as taught by his grandfather, continuing to create his own drawings in adulthood which filmmaker Xavier Dolan has expressed admiration for.We explore his experiences working with...2020-05-291h 00Talk ArtLenz Geerk (QuarARTine special episode)Russell & Robert chat to critically acclaimed German artist Lenz Geerk. Recorded at the start of lockdown, we discuss his psychologically charged paintings that are seemingly removed from any specific time or place. Emphasizing his subjects in such a way as to draw out the hidden emotions of the human psyche, Geerk depicts people at the threshold of excitation and in the throes of exploration or emotional tension. We discuss his daily journey to the studio, links in his work to art history icons Morandi, Hopper & Modigliani, growing up painting Knights and football players, 1920s style & the film Call Me By Your N...2020-05-261h 00Talk ArtTim Blanks (QuarARTine special episode)Russell & Robert meet legendary fashion writer Tim Blanks, Editor-at-large of Business Of Fashion and a passionate art fan/collector. We discuss growing up in New Zealand, hanging out in the late 70s with artist collective General Idea in New York, meeting Andy Warhol in Toronto, the influence of David Bowie, his love of The Photographer’s Gallery, collecting photography including Juergen Teller and a classic Horst photograph of Marlene Dietrich. We learn of his admiration for a new generation such as photographer Jack Davison, stylist Ib Kamara and designer Craig Green plus we hear his perspective on the future of...2020-05-221h 04Talk ArtAlice Rawsthorn OBE (QuarARTine special episode)Russell & Robert meet Alice Rawsthorn OBE, the award-winning British design critic and author. Based in London, she is chair of the boards of trustees at Chisenhale Gallery in East London and The Hepworth Wakefield art gallery in Yorkshire. Alice was awarded an OBE for services to design and the arts.We discuss growing up in Manchester, studying at Cambridge University, her role as design critic for New York Times with a weekly column that ran for more than a decade, her experiences as a Turner Prize judge in 1999 and as director of the Design Museum in...2020-05-191h 11Talk ArtEdward Enninful OBE (QuarARTine special episode)Russell and Robert meet Edward Enninful OBE, editor-in-chief of British Vogue. Over the past two and a half years as editor-in-chief of the famed publication, he has helped shape a new vision for fashion media — not just in the UK, but globally — where he has placed a “diversity of perspective” at its core.Enninful has described his vision for British Vogue as “about being inclusive. It’s not just the colour of your skin but the diversity of perspective.” He has made art a priority including interviews and features with artists as varied as Lubaina Himid, Steve McQueen (wh...2020-05-1559 minTalk ArtAmoako Boafo (QuarARTine special episode)Russell & Robert meet leading artist Amoako Boafo. Best known for his contemporary portrait paintings, Boafo’s portraits are enticing in their lucidity, accentuating the figures in each work, who are regularly isolated on single colour backgrounds, their gaze the focal point of each work. Combing brushwork with finger painting, his use of paint is thick and gestural, the contours of the body’s almost soften into abstraction. The most well known of his series, the Black Diaspora portraits serve as a means of celebration of his identity and Blackness.We discuss his recent residency & exhibition in Miami...2020-05-121h 06Talk ArtKevin Love and Jane Suitor (QuarARTine special episode)Russell and Robert meet American basketball legend Kevin Love and leading British art advisor Jane Suitor. Love is best known for playing for the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers. He is a five-time All-Star and won the 2016 NBA championship with the Cavaliers. Outside of sport, Love is a passionate art collector, closely advised by Suitor. Beginning his collecting journey in his late 20s, he has already built an impressive Blue Chip art collection including artists as varied as Ed Ruscha, Doug Aitken, Tracey Emin, Antony Gormley, Richard Prince, Rashid Johnson and many more.We find out how Kevin...2020-05-0848 minTalk ArtJerry Saltz (QuarARTine special episode)Russell and Robert meet legendary art critic and writer Jerry Saltz for a feature-length special QuarARTine episode, as critical times call for critical thinking!!!!We discuss the future of art and the art world after coronavirus, what he remembers from the early 90s crash and his respect for how British artists responded and thrived. We find out why he wrote his new book 'How To Be An Artist', the decision to give up being an artist himself to drive trucks and limousines for over a decade, how he found his voice as an art critic for...2020-05-051h 19Talk ArtLisa Yuskavage (QuarARTine special episode)Russell and Robert chat to legendary artist Lisa Yuskavage. Best-known for her groundbreaking, provocative figurative paintings, Lisa‘s images occupy a space between high and low; the sacred and the profane.In this feature-length special episode, we discuss her journey to making the work she truly loved, combatting working-class guilt whilst studying at Yale (and her friendship with architectural artist Maya Lin), reading a Diane Arbus biography, how an Alice Neel documentary influenced her thinking on having a family, interrailing across Europe in the early 80s, discovering her voice as an artist leading to her breakthrough 1990s...2020-05-011h 24Talk ArtRózsa Farkas (QuarARTine special episode)QuarARTine continues!! Russell & Robert chat with gallerist, writer and curator Rózsa Farkas. Founder and Director of Arcadia Missa, a gallery focusing on “contemporary art with intent” that “began as a self-organised space in austerity Britain”. Beginning in 2011 as a multi-platform Peckham project space, it evolved into a commercial gallery by 2014 and is now located in Soho, central London. The space has provided new aesthetic approaches and alternative organisational structures with a dynamic exhibition programme and extensive publication platform.We discuss how to run a gallery during lockdown (including online publications and viewing rooms), the importance of peer-l...2020-04-281h 03Talk ArtMaria Balshaw CBE (QuarARTine special episode)Russell and Robert chat to Maria Balshaw CBE, Director of Tate, a family of four art galleries in London, Liverpool and Cornwall known as Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. Balshaw is Tate’s first female Director.We discuss the effect of the lockdown on Tate museums, filming guided tours for their website of the on-hold blockbuster Andy Warhol and Aubrey Beardsley exhibitions for the public to access during lockdown, the increased global usage of their website during the pandemic in particular as a resource for children's art education, her passion for gard...2020-04-241h 03Talk ArtJordan Casteel (QuarARTine special episode)Russell and Robert meet leading artist Jordan Casteel who has rooted her practice in community engagement, painting from her own photographs of people she encounters. Posing her subjects within their natural environments, her nearly life-size portraits and cropped “subway” compositions chronicle personal observations of the human experience.In February 2020, Casteel opened a major solo exhibition 'Within Reach', curated by Massimiliano Gioni, at the New Museum. Bringing together nearly forty paintings spanning her career, including works from her celebrated series Visible Man (2013–14) and Nights in Harlem (2017), along with recent portraits of her students at Rutgers University, where she is an As...2020-04-2155 min
Talk ArtSir Elton John CBE (QuarARTine special episode)Russell and Robert chat to music legend & flamboyant superstar Sir Elton John CBE from lockdown at his home in Los Angeles. We discuss art collecting, a lifelong obsession that began by collecting dinky toys and vinyl records during childhood, buying Man Ray posters at Athena when he first started songwriting with Bernie Taupin, why he started his photography collection in the early 1990s, what it was like to be photographed by Irving Penn, why he just missed out on getting his portrait taken by Robert Mapplethorpe, his friendships with contemporary artists such as Nathaniel Mary Quinn and Catherine Opie...2020-04-1746 minTalk ArtSomaya Critchlow (QuarARTine special episode)Russell and Robert meet British artist Somaya Critchlow whose figurative paintings of women explore facets of race, sex and culture. Working mostly on a small scale, her works depict bold, curvaceous and self-possessed female characters, of her own creation, that simultaneously combine and subvert the culture expectations of race, gender and power in the history of portraiture. They are self-reflective and personal, and at the same time commentary of the cultural, class and political dynamics of contemporary society.We discuss the bringing together of pop culture influences including 'Love and Hip Hop', Cardi B, Lil' Kim...2020-04-1458 minTalk ArtBilly Porter (QuarARTine special episode)Ladies and Gentleman, the category is TALK ART!!!! Russell and Robert chat to superstar Billy Porter, the leading actor, singer, writer, fashion icon and star of award-winning TV show POSE. We chat about the lockdown closure of Broadway and New York's theatres, losing two friends to the Coronavirus pandemic, his appreciation for Lady Gaga, Erykah Badu, Boy George and Madonna, writing new music and a recent conversation with Salma Hayek that helped him realise that he makes & lives performance art! We explore his show-stopping red carpet outfits designed by Christian Siriano, Rick Owens and The Blonds (the fashion duo behind...2020-04-1054 minTalk ArtDoron Langberg (QuarARTine special episode)Russell and Robert meet artist Doron Langberg, an Israeli-born, Brooklyn-based painter. Langberg paints in the style of genre painting and portraiture, addressing issues of gender and sexuality creating a shared experience of love and desire through the surface and subjects of his paintings. Langberg paints large-scale portraits of family, close friends and lovers. These visualizations of queerness—both his own and those of the many queer subjects depicted—move beyond the traditional shorthand of signs and easily recognizable queer iconographies. Instead, Langberg contextualizes queer sexuality and intimacy within larger narratives of everyday life. Follow @DoronLangberg on Instagram and Yossi Milo Gall...2020-04-0755 minTalk ArtRufus Wainwright (QuarARTine special episode)Russell and Robert return for Season 5! Recorded primarily during quarantine lockdown, we’ve reached out to international creative guests from art, design, music, sport, fashion, TV and film. Every Tuesday & Friday (yes, twice a week!) we will bring you voices that inspire us and that we hope will inspire you too. These are unprecedented, scary, challenging and deeply sad times. We strongly believe in art and in its power to unify, to resonate, to bring hope through adversity, to offer encouragement but most of all to shine light in the darkest of moments.For episode 1 of Ta...2020-04-0353 minTalk ArtIssy Wood (QuarARTine special episode)Russell and Robert return for Season 5! Recorded primarily during quarantine lockdown, we’ve reached out to international creative guests from art, design, music, sport, fashion, TV and film. Every Tuesday & Friday (yes, twice a week!) we will bring you voices that inspire us and that we hope will inspire you too. These are unprecedented, scary, challenging and deeply sad times. We strongly believe in art and in its power to unify, to resonate, to bring hope through adversity, to offer encouragement but most of all to shine light in the darkest of moments.Fo...2020-03-3100 minTalk ArtMark GatissRobert & Russell meet Mark Gatiss, the influential British actor, screenwriter, director and novelist. We discuss Mark's recent BBC4 art documentary 'John Minton: The Lost Man of British Art', celebrating the life and work of the highly prolific and successful 20th century English artist whose work is now all but forgotten. A contemporary of Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud, Minton suffered psychological problems, self-medicated with alcohol, and in 1957 died by suicide. We chat in depth about Mark's forthcoming documentary on the life of illustrator Aubrey Beardsley, a peer of Oscar Wilde, whose black ink drawings revealed the grotesque, the decadent...2020-03-271h 09Talk ArtAlasdair McLellanRussell & Robert meet leading British photographer Alasdair McLellan. World-renowned for his sensitive approach to photography across fashion, portraiture, landscape or documentary, his work embraces references high and low, classical and pop, and continues to reflect contemporary conversations around gender, sexuality and identity. McLellan’s photography has been exhibited at the ICA, Somerset House, National Portrait Gallery and Phillips. We discuss the British male nude, his recurrent photography of Yorkshire hometown Doncaster, a longterm collaboration with skateboarder/artist Blondey McCoy and striking front-cover portraits for The Gentlewoman of subjects as varied as Margaret Atwood, Beyoncé, Julia Davis, Vivienne Westwood and Björk...2020-03-201h 09Talk ArtPrincess JuliaRobert & Russell meet the one-and-only legend that is Princess Julia!!!! We discuss her endless creativity across different worlds of music, fashion and art, life-drawing and her weekly trip to ‘Sketch Sesh’, her friendship with DJ Jeffry Hinton, and how she started DJing herself at queer spaces in London. We find out what it’s like to be photographed by Wolfgang Tillmans, her memories of being the coat check girl at Blitz & Taboo nightclubs, Leigh Bowery, Boy George, Jordan (a Malcolm McLaren protégé who featured in Derek Jarman’s film Jubilee) and the long lasting influence & legacy of that era. We discuss...2020-03-131h 00Talk ArtIma-Abasi OkonRussell & Robert meet British artist Ima-Abasi Okon. Ima's current solo exhibition is at VOID, Derry~Londonderry and runs until 25th April 2020. This episode was recorded in July 2019 during an earlier iteration of Ima's solo exhibition at Chisenhale Gallery, London. Ima works with sculpture, sound and video to produce installations that explore exhibition-making as an exercise in syntax, adopting linguistic and grammatical structures within her installations as a way of complicating the construction of knowledge. For the VOID iteration of the commission, a series of industrial air conditioners are adapted to become hosts for a new m...2020-03-061h 02Talk ArtLouis FratinoRussell and Robert meet American artist Louis Fratino in London! Drawing inspiration from personal experience and, more recently, photographic source material, Fratino makes paintings and drawings of the male body. His work includes portraits, nudes, and intimate scenes of male couples engaged in activities ranging from the mundane to the graphically sexual. The result is a body of work that is a loving and honest expression of the contemporary gay experience. With great attention to surface and color, features such as an earlobe, belly button, body hair, or the curves and planes of the body are accentuated and stylized...2020-02-2856 minTalk ArtKAWS (NYC special episode)Talk Art NYC!!! Russell & Robert meet artist Brian Donnelly aka KAWS at his Brooklyn studio for a rare glimpse into the private world of one the world's most iconic creative figures. KAWS engages audiences far beyond the museums and galleries in which he regularly exhibits. His prolific body of influential work straddles the worlds of art and design to include paintings, murals, large-scale sculptures, street art, graphic and production design. Over the last two decades KAWS has built a successful career with work that consistently shows his formal agility as an artist, as well as his underlying wit, irreverence...2020-02-211h 02Talk ArtTai ShaniRussell & Robert meet Tai Shani, multidisciplinary British artist and joint-winner of the Turner Prize 2019. Shani’s practice encompasses performance, film, photography and sculptural installations, frequently structured around experimental texts. She is currently a Tutor in Contemporary Art Practice at the Royal College of Art.Taking inspiration from disparate histories, narratives and characters mined from forgotten sources, Shani creates dark, fantastical worlds, brimming with utopian potential. These deeply affective works often combine rich and complex monologues with arresting, saturated installations, manifesting equally disturbing and divine images in the mind of the viewer. We discuss her...2020-02-141h 10Talk ArtDenzil ForresterRobert & Russell meet legendary British artist Denzil Forrester. We discuss 40 years of painting, his childhood in Grenada, the impact of moving to London in 1967 aged 11, his memories of making drawings in London's dub & reggae nightclubs of the late 1970s-80s, his admiration for Jah Shaka's sound system and the drive to create paintings that documented the club scene he cherished. We learn about racially-motivated arrests of the time including Forrester's own unjust arrest as a student followed by the death of Winston Rose a few years later, a friend of Forrester’s who died while under police restraint. Forrester we...2020-02-071h 10Talk ArtTommaso Corvi-MoraRobert and Russell meet leading gallerist & ceramicist Tommaso Corvi-Mora. We discuss growing up in Italy, moving to Germany for a pivotal first summer job working with Alighiero Boetti for a Bonner Kunstverein show, becoming a gallery assistant with Esther Shipper in Cologne, his early love of artist Joseph Beuys, and his longterm passion for the late Cuban-American artist Félix González-Torres. We explore collecting art, how he started his gallery in South London in the same building as Greengrassi (owned by his partner Cornelia Grassi), his representation of leading artists including Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Alvaro Barrington, Jennifer Packer, Ro...2020-01-311h 01Talk ArtHannah Quinlan and Rosie HastingsRussell and Robert meet artists Hannah Quinlan and Rosie Hastings. We explore the challenges & benefits of making art as a duo, letting go of your ego when collaborating, their decision to build their own @GayBar venue where they hosted one-off events over a 4 year period in their South London studio (complete with a bouncer, actual cocktail glasses and the occasional police raid!!!). We learn what it was like travelling around the country to make ‘UK Gay Bar Directory (UKGBD)’ (2015–16) a 5 hour video archive of LGBTQ social spaces. We discuss a ‘Gay Pride float’ they designed for Art Night (2019) in Walthamstow, their film...2020-01-2445 minTalk ArtLawrence Abu HamdanRussell & Robert speak with Lawrence Abu Hamdan, an artist, audio investigator and recent Turner Prize joint-winner. Lawrence's work explores ‘the politics of listening’ and the role of sound and voice within the law and human rights. He creates audiovisual installations, lecture performances, audio archives, photography and text, translating in-depth research and investigative work into affective, spatial experiences. Abu Hamdan works with human rights organisations, such as Amnesty International and Defense for Children International, and with international prosecutors to help obtain aural testimonies for legal and historical investigations. He is a member of Forensic Architecture at Goldsmiths London where he received his...2020-01-171h 09Talk ArtGrayson Perry CBETalk Art returns for Season 4!! Robert & Russell meet Grayson Perry CBE, the legendary English artist, Royal Academician, writer and broadcaster. Best known for his ceramic vases, tapestries and cross-dressing, as well as his observations of the contemporary arts scene, and for dissecting British "prejudices, fashions and foibles". We discuss Essex & the 'Cockney diaspora', the relationship between his collages & pots, transvestism, inviting fashion students at St Martin's to create dresses for his persona Claire, his admiration for fashion designers like Manish Arora & Alessandro Michele, iconic women like Countess Raine Spencer, why he enjoys making limited editions & multiples, his childhood teddy bear...2020-01-1055 minTalk ArtJoyce Pensato (NYC special episode)This special episode of Talk Art is an interview with the late, great, legendary artist Joyce Pensato. Joyce was one of Russell & Robert’s favourite painters, who in recent years became a close friend to both. We were honoured to be invited by Joyce to visit her in New York on 28th May 2019 to record what became her last interview. We discuss growing up in Brooklyn, the encouragement of her father (an outsider artist who often made her toys), her love of German Expressionism in her teens but also Gauguin and Van Gogh, of whom she made a clay sc...2019-12-2042 minTalk ArtHaroon MirzaRobert & Russell meet British artist Haroon Mirza, best known for installations that test the interplay and friction between sound, light waves and electric current. He devises sculptures, performances and immersive installations, such as The National Apavillion of Then and Now (2011) – an anechoic chamber with a circle of light that grows brighter in response to increasing drone, and completely dark when there is silence. An advocate of interference (in the sense of electro-acoustic or radio disruption), he creates situations that purposefully cross wires. He describes his role as a composer, manipulating electricity, a live, invisible and volatile phenomenon, to make it da...2019-12-131h 19Talk ArtJon Key (NYC special episode)Talk Art New York!!!! Russell & Robert meet multidisciplinary artist Jon Key. Key is a queer black man originally from the small rural town Seale, Alabama now living and working in Bushwick, NY. A writer, designer and painter, his work excavates the lineage and history of his identity through four themes: Southerness, Blackness, Queerness, and Family. Through the process of writing, photography and painting, Jon’s work is portrayed graphically through four colours: Green, Black, Violet and Red. Respectively, these colours intertwine memory and intimate recounting of the four pillars grounding the work.We discuss his breakthrough 2019 solo sho...2019-12-0650 minTalk ArtHelen Cammock (Live in London)Talk Art Live in London! Russell & Robert meet British artist Helen Cammock, nominated for the Turner Prize 2019 and winner of the 2018 Max Mara Arts Prize for Women. This special episode was recorded live in front of a sold-out audience at Art Assembly in Walthamstow, organised by Art Fund and the National Art Pass. Learn more at: www.artfund.org/talkartHelen Cammock works across film, photography, poetry, spoken word, song, printmaking and installation. We discuss 'The Long Note' (2018), her film that celebrates the involvement of women in the civil rights movement in Derry in 1968. Originally commissioned...2019-11-2957 minTalk ArtCaroline CoonWARNING: this episode of Talk Art contains strong language! Russell & Robert meet legendary English artist Caroline Coon. We discuss 50 years of painting in Ladbroke Grove, feminism, her longterm political activism, the importance of being socially conscious, decriminalising sex work, growing up in Kent, punk rock, managing The Clash & writing for Melody Maker in the 1970s. We explore the influence of artist Pauline Boty who helped found British Pop art, and was the only female painter in the movement, inheriting Boty's paints after her early death at the age of 28, and we consider the lasting power of painting but also ceramics...2019-11-221h 08Talk ArtDavid Dawson (on Lucian Freud)Russell & Robert meet artist David Dawson for a private, after-hours tour of 'Lucian Freud: The Self-portraits', the breathtaking new exhibition he has curated at the Royal Academy of Arts, London. We discuss being assistant/head of studio for the last 20 years of Freud's life, Leigh Bowery, going to Taboo nightclub, Freud's early drawings and paintings inspired by surrealism, his grandfather Sigmund Freud and how Freud got all his information for his paintings from looking. We explore Freud's friendships with Francis Bacon and Frank Auerbach, what it's like to be a nude model for Freud's paintings - Dawson was subject...2019-11-1559 min
Talk ArtSir Ian McKellen CBERussell & Robert meet iconic British actor Sir Ian McKellen CBE at his home in East London. We have a private tour of Ian’s art collection including stunning works by L.S. Lowry, David Hockney, Andrew Logan, textile artist John Allen and an Antony Gormley cast iron figure he chose to display in the River Thames at the end of his garden! We learn about Ian’s childhood in Bolton and how his father’s natural talent for art meant Ian chose a different way to express himself on stage and screen! However his own passion for art led him to buy...2019-11-0848 minTalk ArtAlvaro Barrington & Teresa FarrellRobert & Russell meet artists Teresa Farrell and Alvaro Barrington (Tt x AB) at their joint show at Emalin gallery, East London. Titled 'TALL BOYS & A DOUBLE ESPRESSO', the exhibition celebrates creative collaboration and the importance of friendships/conversation when making art. We discuss how the duo first met at Hunter college and the ways they continue to inspire, critique and challenge each other to grow as artists. We discuss being a contrarian, hosting live music, art performances and even dancing within the gallery context to build and expand community. We explore concepts within Alvaro's concurrent solo at Sadie Coles gallery...2019-11-011h 10Talk ArtMichael StipeRobert & Russell meet music icon Michael Stipe, best known as lead singer of R.E.M. We discuss his lifelong love of taking photographs (more than 37,000 so far), his childhood Nikon camera (a gift from his father), self-portraits, making sculptures, his friendship with Patti Smith, meeting members of the Beat Generation such as Allen Ginsberg & William Burroughs and why he dislikes his own handwriting. We explore his recent collaboration with Sam Taylor-Johnson on the video for his new solo single ‘Your Capricious Soul’ (which is also raising funds for charity Extinction Rebellion), his admiration for artist/poet John Giorno, Brit...2019-10-251h 19Talk ArtJamian Juliano-Villani (NYC special episode)It's Talk Art's ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY! Russell & Robert meet American painter Jamian Juliano-Villani in her Brooklyn studio to discuss topics as varied as being a noisy neighbour, Weezer's Green Album, an encyclopedic knowledge of both music & art history, watching Live Leak to stay tough, political correctness, a childhood growing up in her parents silk-screening factory printing merchandise for pop bands, her friendships with NYC artists Brian Belott, Billy Grant & Borna Sammak, her favourite artists including Mario Merz (and Arte Povera), Chilean painter Roberto Matta, Ivan Albright, Allen Jones, Walter Price and Ashley Bickerton, plus we explore her extensive & entertaining lists...2019-10-181h 07Talk ArtKembra PfahlerRussell & Robert meet legendary American performance artist and musician Kembra Pfahler. We discuss growing up in California, her early performance art installations in 1980s Lower East Side (including sleeping in a storefront window for The Extremist Show at ABC No Rio), the impact of the AIDS crisis and how forming her band The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black helped transform her life. We chat about Availabism (a term coined by Kembra - making the best of what's available), Future Feminism, drawing, body paint, Punk rock, her respect for artists Karen Finley, David Wojnarowicz and experimental filmmaker Kenneth Anger, the poetry o...2019-10-111h 18Talk ArtVik Muniz (Live in London)Talk Art Live in London, with Ruinart! Russell & Robert meet Vik Muniz, the superstar Brazilian artist best-known for his complex photography made with a diverse range of materials including sugar, toys, diamonds and even trash to recreate and interpret famous images, such as the 'Mona Lisa' (which he executed in peanut butter and jelly), or a Picasso (created entirely with raw paint pigment). Muniz taps into our collective memory of known and recognisable images and artworks. With a wry and canny combination of high and low, Muniz uses the photograph not in the traditional sense, as a recording of reality...2019-10-041h 10Talk ArtJasmin Tsou (NYC special episode)Talk Art New York!!! Russell & Robert visit NYC to meet gallerist Jasmin Tsou (JTT Gallery). We discover why she set up her Lower East Side gallery in 2012, initially exhibiting her peers, but soon expanding her program to include emerging artists in a climate that she describes as ‘scary and intimidating.’ Tsou has a very collaborative approach: ongoing conversations with colleagues have shaped JTT’s program and remain at the heart of her activity as a gallerist. We explore the work of her artists Marlon Mullen, Diane Simpson, Issy Wood, Jamian Juliano-Villani & Borna Sammak. For more details visit www.jttnyc.com and vi...2019-09-271h 05Talk ArtKatherine Bernhardt (NYC special episode)Talk Art NEW YORK!!! Russell & Robert meet painter Katherine Bernhardt in the BIG APPLE. We discuss her early paintings of ET, growing up in St Louis, a teenage exchange trip to Portugal & Morocco that led to a love of ceramics & berber rugs, before eventually moving to Chicago & New York to study art. We explore her love of Georgia O'Keeffe, Chris Ofili, Laura Owens, Stanley Whitney & Mary Heilmann, why she started to paint Pink Panther & Garfield, her recent experiences exhibiting in Tokyo, making tiles & plates in Guadalajara and why she chose to renovate a new painting studio in Puerto Rico. We...2019-09-2052 minTalk ArtWong PingRussell & Robert meet artist Wong Ping at Camden Arts Centre, London for a special tour around his solo exhibition 'Heart Digger'. Wong Ping creates digital and sculptural works that reveal very human, often universal fantasies, through absurd narratives. Drawing from his own social encounters, he elaborates his stories into dark humorous tales that touch on political and cultural anxieties. Digitally rendered in a seductive technicolour language, they recall the modernism of Fernand Leger, the pop language of Tom Wesselman or Allen Jones, and the design aesthetic of The Memphis Group and early 1980s video games. These simple but seductive...2019-09-1346 minTalk ArtHans-Ulrich ObristWe're back! Talk Art Season 3!! Robert & Russell meet one of the world's most celebrated & iconic curators Hans-Ulrich Obrist. Best known for his groundbreaking work as Artistic Director of Serpentine Galleries, London, Obrist has curated shows by many of our favourite artists as wide-ranging as Rebecca Warren, Faith Ringgold, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Wolfgang Tillmans, Etel Adnan, Phyllida Barlow, Marina Abramović, Yoko Ono and many, many more. We discuss his childhood passion of reading books, an early exploration of curating and collecting art postcards, the impact of meeting Alighiero E Boetti in his mid teens and his first group exhibition (curated in his k...2019-09-061h 03Talk ArtRaven SmithRussell & Robert meet British Vogue columnist & writer Raven Smith. We discover his definition of an Art Bro, the crossover between art & fashion, wandering through the Venice Biennale 2019, seeing a live performance by Rose McGowan, getting caught up in another performance where Raven had to hold a broom handle, drawing David Hockney’s paintings aged 6, writing his first book ‘Trivial Pursuits’ in Berlin (a collection of irreverent essays on modern life to be published in 2020) and why he chose to travel recently to Egypt. Check out Raven's hilarious Instagram account @raven__smith. Thanks for listening! Series 2 has been SO fun to record...2019-08-2339 minTalk ArtEdinburgh Art Festival - Part 2Part 2 of a very special Talk Art episode diving deep into Edinburgh's creative scene, in partnership with Bombay Sapphire. Celebrating a decade since Russell & Robert first met at the Scottish National Gallery, the duo return to Edinburgh to uncover hidden gems of the city's art festival through a series of conversations with leading artists, curators and gallerists.Part 2:Kate Gray - COLLECTIVE GALLERYSorcha Carey - EDINBURGH ART FESTIVALStuart Fallon - TALBOT RICE GALLERY"Edinburgh's creative and cultural scene is completely unique," says Russell Tovey. "Robert and I couldn't wait to go...2019-08-2157 minTalk ArtEdinburgh Art Festival - Part 1Part 1 of a very special Talk Art episode diving deep into Edinburgh's creative scene, in partnership with Bombay Sapphire. Celebrating a decade since Russell & Robert first met at the Scottish National Gallery, the duo return to Edinburgh to uncover hidden gems of the city's art festival through a series of conversations with leading artists, curators and gallerists.Part 1:Claire Feeley, JUPITER ARTLANDLaura Simpson & Lesley Young, EDINBURGH SCULPTURE WORKSHOPAdam Benmahklouf - Artist, Educator and Art Editor of THE SKINNY"Edinburgh's creative and cultural scene is completely unique," says Russell, "Robert and I...2019-08-1650 minTalk ArtLena DunhamRussell & Robert meet superstar actress, writer, director & keen watercolourist Lena Dunham in her London hotel room for a feature-length Talk Art exclusive! We discuss painting ‘en plein air’ & embracing nature in Wales this Summer, what it was like growing up as daughter of two legendary artists Laurie Simmons & Carroll Dunham and remembering New York as a child during the 1980s AIDS crisis. We learn about Lena’s favourite artists including Lisa Yuskavage, Ellen Birkenblit, Lee Krasner, Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth) & Lucy Jones, her childhood admiration for John Waters, Steve Martin and teen crush on Leonardo DiCaprio, working with Brad Pitt in the...2019-08-091h 31Talk ArtGavin TurkRobert & Russell meet leading artist Gavin Turk. They discuss tailored suits, artist persona, veganism and a lifetime interest in the surreal form of an egg. We explore Turk's iconic early works including four antiqued mirror cubes in 'Robert Morris Untitled 1965-72' (1990) and the iconic 'Cave' (1991) an ‘historical blue plaque’ to commemorate work done by the artist during his time at the Royal College of Art, as well as a 'Tea Stain' (2004) edition that Russell gifted to Robert on his 30th birthday. This episode is released on the same day as Turk unveils a giant new bronze sculpture 'Oeuvre (Verdigris)' at S...2019-04-1958 minTalk ArtSarah Hadland and Laura AikmanWe celebrate the holidays with two dear friends, the actresses Sarah Hadland and Laura Aikman (both stars of The Job Lot comedy sitcom with Russell). Topics include Olafur Eliasson’s melting ice installation highlighting climate change, Yayoi Kusama’s infinity mirrored room, the paintings of LS Lowry, Beryl Cook, Picasso and Ed Ruscha. Plus we discover which guest once pole danced for Madonna! Happy Christmas everyone. We will return in Spring 2019 with a weekly season. Love Russell and Robert X Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.2018-12-2753 minTalk ArtIntroducing Talk ArtWelcome to Talk Art! Actor Russell Tovey and gallerist Robert Diament discuss how they first became friends a decade ago, plus more recent adventures at Frieze Art Fair, the Turner Prize, South London Gallery and other exhibition highlights in London, as well as Robert's gallery relocating to the seaside town of Margate, Kent. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.2018-10-1939 min