Art historian T.J. Clark began his academic career with two groundbreaking works on the art of mid-nineteenth century France, expounding materialist theory of art that has remained his watchword for five decades, with books on Poussin, Cézanne, Picasso and modernism.
Those Passions: On Art and Politics (Thames and Hudson) distils a lifetime’s work through ... Show More
Today
Alexander Baron’s The Lowlife
Alexander Baron’s cult classic The Lowlife, first published by Black Spring in 1963, has recently been reissued by Faber. Set in Hackney in the aftermath of WW2, Baron’s novel follows the descent of Zola-reading gambler Harryboy Boas into the murky world of East End gangsters, ho ... Show More
1 h
Mar 18
Marina Warner & James Butler: Sanctuary
Drawing on a lifetime’s engagement with myth, literature and history as well as on her work with young refugees in Sicily in the ‘Stories in Transit’ project, Marina Warner’s latest book Sanctuary (William Collins) explores the concept of hospitality, the cult of relics, shrines ... Show More
1h 1m
Mar 16
Samuel Fisher & Helen Charman: Migraine
’Samuel Fisher’s prose moves with swift and sure tread across the glinting particulars of locality, until that condition, that curse, with its pains and pleasures, becomes universal. Our fate. Our challenge. Our discarded future' – Iain Sinclair In a London ravaged by climate cha ... Show More
54m 58s
Nov 2024
Maria Balshaw on Museums (+ Tracey Emin, Frida Kahlo, and more!)
I am so excited to say that my guest on the GWA Podcast is Maria Balshaw. Currently serving as Director of Tate, a position she has held since 2017, Balshaw began her career as an academic and lecturer in cultural studies. At the dawn of the 2000s, she swapped this to become Dire ... Show More
44m 22s
Nov 2023
A brush with... Sutapa Biswas
Sutapa Biswas talks to Ben Luke about her influences—from writers to musicians, film-makers and, of course, other artists—and the cultural experiences that have shaped her life and work. Biswas was born in Santinekethan, India, in 1962, and her work in painting, drawing, photogra ... Show More
1h 1m
Nov 2024
American sculpture—race and racism, Warsaw’s Museum of Modern Art, Jusepe de Ribera in Paris
<p>Shortly after the US election on 5 November, the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington opens The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture, a radical new perspective on the history of the discipline from 1792 to now. Ahead of its opening, Ben Luke speaks t ... Show More
1h 5m
Sep 2024
Episode 606 - Dmitry Samarov
Artist Dmitry Samarov returns to the show to bail me out after a stressful couple of weeks and to explore his fantastic new book, MAKING PICTURES IS HOW I TALK TO THE WORLD, a survey of his art from the '80s to today. We talk about the process of selecting pieces for the book, wh ... Show More
1h 35m
