
Ben Luke
Ben Luke is a contributing editor and podcast host at The Art Newspaper
The Big Review | Paris Noir at the Centre Pompidou ★★★★
This carefully paced show—one of the last before the Centre Pompidou’s five-year closure—marks a turning point in French exhibitions addressing the country’s colonial past
A brush with… Kent Monkman — podcast
Kent Monkman talks to Ben Luke about his influences—from writers to musicians, film-makers and, of course, other artists—and the cultural experiences that have shaped his life and work
Trump turns on museums and libraries, the art market’s 12% fall, Evie Hone and Mainie Jellett—podcast
What are the implications of the US president’s attempts to gut and transform arts organisations? Plus, discussions about the Art Basel and UBS Art Market Report 2025 and works by two leading Irish modernists
A brush with… Ed Atkins — podcast
Ed Atkins talks to Ben Luke about his influences—from writers to musicians, film-makers and, of course, other artists—and the cultural experiences that have shaped his life and work
Museum visitor figures, William Morris mania and Marguerite Matisse—podcast
Analysing the highs and lows of our recent attendance survey, plus a tour of a show exploring how the UK’s most famous Victorian designer ”went viral”, and a chat about the ways Henri Matisse’s daughter shaped his life and art
A brush with… Celia Paul — podcast
In this first episode of the new series of A brush with…, Ben Luke talks to the painter Celia Paul about her influences—including writers as well as contemporary and historic artists—and the cultural experiences that have shaped her life and work
A brush with Dhyandra Lawson
The curator of contemporary art at Los Angeles County Museum of Art on her cultural passions
The Frick: Annabelle Selldorf interview and our review, plus a Taiso Yoshitoshi woodblock print—podcast
A chat with the architect behind the New York institution’s transformation and an art historian’s view on it, plus a discussion about a sea-themed work by the last great ukiyo-e master
Alicja Kwade’s latest work, on show in Hong Kong, looks behind prison bars where time is torture
The Polish artist’s exhibition, Pretopia, draws on the origins and history of a former Victorian jail in the city
Jack Whitten at MoMA, Paris Noir at the Pompidou, Arpita Singh at the Serpentine—podcast
Tracing Whitten’s artistic development with the largest ever show of his work, the story of an exhibition exploring the lives of Black artists in France, and Hans Ulrich Obrist on a monumental painting by the esteemed Indian artist Singh
The big art world slowdown, Dutch culture funding crisis, Bruegel’s Hunters in the Snow—podcast
What’s behind the new, more measurement approaches to programming at museums, art fairs and more? Plus, a chat about current tensions around culture in the Netherlands and a close look at one of the most famous depictions of a wintery landscape
Comment | Balanchine is Modern master whose impact on contemporary art should not be overlooked
The choreographer’s formal gestures and patterns make him crucial to contemporary performance art
Censorship and Australia’s Venice Biennale pavilion, a controversial AI auction, and Elizabeth Catlett in Washington—podcast
What might the fallout be after Creative Australia’s unpopular decision to cancel Khaled Sabsabi’s project? Plus, AI art beyond this week’s open letter and a chat about Catlett’s terracotta sculpture ‘Tired’
Leigh Bowery at Tate Modern, Ukraine’s art world three years on, Max Beckmann and the Gothic Modern—podcast
Celebrating the life and work of the Australian performance artist, how Ukrainian artists and institutions are continuing to resist, and a close look at a pair of works from an Oslo exhibition
A brush with… Renée Green — podcast
Renée, known for her installations, video pieces and texts, reflects on the nature of ideas, on subjectivity and perception, and on memory—personal and collective
A brush with Sarah McCrory
The director of Goldsmiths CCA talks about her love of the Argentine conceptual artist Graciela Carnevale—and PG Wodehouse
Gee’s Bend quiltmakers, ‘degenerate’ art in Paris, and Mel Bochner remembered—podcast
Exploring the history and potency of the small quiltmaking group from Alabama, plus a new show looks at how the Nazis attacked Modern art and artists in Germany, and we discuss a 1969 work by one of the pioneers of Conceptualism
A brush with… Somaya Critchlow — podcast
Critchlow, known for her paintings and drawings of Black women, often nude, discusses the power of David Lynch’s films, the consistent importance to her of Japanese manga, and being “comfortable with feeling uncomfortable”
Anselm Kiefer, Hoor al Qasimi on the Sharjah Biennial, a Picasso Blue Period mystery—podcast
Exploring the trailblazing German artist’s early work, Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi on creating a world-class event in her home city and a hidden image at the Courtauld
A brush with… Thomas Ruff — podcast
Thomas Ruff discusses his interest in “the puzzle of photography”, how Piero della Francesca impacted his early works, and how the television show ‘Spitting Image’ proved an unlikely influence
Trump tariffs and Zona Maco in Mexico, India Art Fair, and American photography at the Rijksmuseum—podcast
How have recent US executive orders affected the mood on the ground at the leading Mexican fair? Plus a report from India Art Fair as it opens amid state elections, plus a chat about one of the earliest portrait photographs
A brush with… Linder — podcast
In the first episode of 2025, Linder, best known for gritty and glamorous photomontages, discusses the Manchester punk scene of the 1970s, the impact of reading Germaine Greer and the Brontës and using her scalpel as a ‘magic wand’
Comment | Art is powerful when allied to community—the late artists Donald Rodney and Noah Davis should remind us of that
The two artists, who are the focus of exhibitions opening in London in February, both died tragically young
Peter Hujar, Gregg Bordowitz and Rotimi Fani-Kayode: art and the Aids struggle— podcast
A special episode on three artists dealing with the crisis in different ways
Artists in Gaza respond to the ceasefire, Cimabue at the Louvre, a Baroque printmaking family—podcast
How can Palestinian artists rebuild after a devastating war? Plus, a discussion about Cimabue’s radical innovations in painting and three works from a family business of printmakers
Los Angeles wildfires, World Monuments Fund’s watch list, a Hokusai drawing manual—podcast
How the most devastating fires in Southern Californian history are affecting artists and art workers, plus chats about the work the WMF is doing to protect world heritage and a new book about Katsushika Hokusai’s methods
The Year Ahead 2025: market predictions, the big shows and openings—podcast
From the reimagined Frick Collection to Emily Kam Kngwarray at Tate Modern
Comment | Despite what some critics claim, art today isn’t really too obsessed with ‘social justice’
In viral essays and beyond, those who bemoan the dominance of identity politics in museums often reveal more of their own biases than of the art world's
A brush with... Beth Bate, director of Dundee Contemporary Arts
The joys of Agnes Martin, Middlemarch and The Cure
2024 in review: the biggest stories and the best shows - podcast
From the devastating war in Gaza to art attacks in museums, our editors analyse the year's biggest stories