Ben Luke
Ben Luke is a contributing editor and podcast host at The Art Newspaper
A monument to the Holocaust in textile: Anni Albers’s Six Prayers
On this week’s podcast, we hear about the solemn memorial at the heart of Tate Modern’s survey of the Bauhaus artist
In the Sotheby’s saleroom with the self-destructing Banksy, plus Bauhaus pioneer Anni Albers
We go behind the scenes of one of the most publicised stunts in auction history with our correspondent Anny Shaw who was there that evening. Then we get a tour of Tate Modern's Anni Albers retrospective with its curator Briony Fer, speak to the artist's biographer Charles Darwent and the head of the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation, Nicholas Fox Weber. Produced in association with Bonhams, auctioneers since 1793.
The National’s 'sweetest song': how Ragnar Kjartansson convinced US rock band to play a song repeatedly for six hours
Icelandic artist's video work is in New Museum's pop-up show in London
In pictures: six budding stars at Frieze London
The Focus section for younger galleries and artists is always the most dynamic element of the fair
Artists’ battle for refugees is beginning to pay off
Amid the din of cynical populists the voices of these fragile communities are needed more than ever
Frieze special: the fair and the top shows, with Doris Salcedo and Ragnar Kjartansson
We talk to the art market specialist Melanie Gerlis about the fair, to Doris Salcedo and Ragnar Kjartansson about their shows, Massimiliano Gioni about the New Museum’s video-art pop-up in London—and Louisa Buck discusses Frieze's special Social Work section. Produced in association with Bonhams, auctioneers since 1793.
Francis Upritchard: the confessions of a magpie Kiwi
The New Zealand-born artist’s show at the Barbican Art Gallery reflects her diverse approach to materials, including a rare Brazilian rubber called balata
Special: the rise and rise of contemporary African art
On the eve of the 1-54 fair for contemporary African art, we talk to an artist, a curator, an art fair founder, a gallerist and an auctioneer about the long overdue recognition of the diverse art of a continent. Produced in association with Bonhams, auctioneers since 1793.
Van Gogh’s postman didn't deliver: how Samuel Courtauld swapped portrait for famous Sunflowers
In this week’s podcast, hear how the British collector changed his mind and acquired the National Gallery's star attraction
Courtauld’s Impressionists. Plus, Armenian treasures at the Met
How Samuel Courtauld’s collection ignited Britain’s passion for Impressionists. Plus, New York’s Metropolitan Museum looks at Armenia, the first country to convert to Christianity. Produced in association with Bonhams, auctioneers since 1793.
Christian Marclay on the physical demands of making The Clock
The Swiss-American artist tells this week’s The Art Newspaper podcast about the effects of the three years’ editing of his masterpiece, now on view at Tate Modern
Does Van Gogh's Starry, Starry Night feature the Milky, Milky Way?
On our latest podcast, we explore how a modern reconstruction of the night sky in June 1889 shed light on the artist's late masterpiece
Van Gogh in the asylum. Plus, Christian Marclay on The Clock
Our correspondent Martin Bailey and art historian Martin Gayford talk about Van Gogh's time at the asylum of Saint-Paul-de-Mausole and Christian Marclay tells us about his ground-breaking work The Clock. Produced in association with Bonhams, auctioneers since 1793.
London's National Portrait Gallery’s contemporary art programme resonates more with the art world than the public
Though not as dire as first thought, visitor figures for the museum's contemporary shows have still been poor
Tate blockbuster to prove Pierre Bonnard was a great Modern painter
Exhibition opening in January will also show how the notoriously shy artist responded to the very traumatic experiences of the First and Second World Wars
Tate St Ives wins Art Fund Museum of the Year award
Judges praise “breathtakingly beautiful” extension and the way the museum is “embedded in its community”
Podcast episode 39: All about the biennials
We talk to Sally Tallant, the artistic director of the Liverpool Biennial, about the 10th edition opening next week. And Jane Morris, an editor-at-large of The Art Newspaper, joins Ben Luke to discuss “peak biennial”
Tate St Ives: a deeper community connection on the Cornish coast
After a bumpy start, the extension to the Tate’s westernmost outpost has been welcomed and is now enabling the gallery to reach its full potential
What swung it? Former Museum of the Year judges reveal the qualities that led to the winners
All museums and galleries do important work—so what makes a truly visionary organisation?
Podcast episode 37: Art and football plus John Akomfrah interview
With the World Cup in full swing, we look at a London show exploring football as a cultural phenomenon with its co-curator Eddy Frankel, and talk to the British film-maker John Akomfrah about his exhibition at the New Museum, New York.
Podcast episode 36: Berlin Biennale and Art Basel
We explore the two big European art world events of the past week: Arsalan Mohammad is in Berlin with the curator Serubiri Moses and the critic and curator Annika von Taube, and Ben Luke speaks to Melanie Gerlis, writer for the Financial Times and The Art Newspaper, on the line from Basel.
Artists as cryptofinanciers: welcome to the blockchain
Curious new relationships between art and capital are being enabled by cryptofinance, which places “monetary value” at the heart of the creative process
Lynn Hershman Leeson: Cool Science
The US pioneer of digital art discusses her passion for cutting-edge biology and its influence on her new multimedia exhibition, Anti-Bodies
Podcast episode 35: Freud, Bacon, Hockney and the post-war London scene; and Signals gallery
We talk to Martin Gayford about his book Modernists and Mavericks and sitting for portraits by Freud and Hockney. And we explore a show celebrating the Signals gallery, where Latin American and European avant-gardes converged.
What was it like to conduct Marcel Duchamp's only live television interview?
Fifty years on, Joan Bakewell remembers speaking to the pioneering artist for the BBC, shortly before his death
A great send-off: Howard Hodgkin's extraordinary final paintings go on show at Gagosian
Late artist completed six paintings in five weeks, all of which are included in London gallery exhibition
Podcast episode 34: Venice Architecture Biennale, and the Brutalist social housing debate
Edwin Heathcote of the Financial Times reviews the Biennale, and Christopher Turner on his controversial exhibition focusing on Alison and Peter Smithson’s Robin Hood Gardens housing estate.
Artists show their power to effect change
In the visual arts, a greater sense of activism is possible, and it’s being helped by the absorption of a broader range of disciplines and media into the canon
Podcast episode 33: Absent friends—Howard Hodgkin's final paintings; Robert Indiana remembered
We talk to Antony Peattie, the music writer and partner of the late Howard Hodgkin and to Barbara Haskell, curator of Robert Indiana's 2013 retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.
Podcast episode 32: David Chipperfield on the new Royal Academy
The Academy’s £56m project opens, with subtle additions and revamps by the British architect. Chipperfield talks about the subtleties of architecture, the RA’s chief executive Charles Saumarez Smith discusses funding and the quirks of the institution and we review the buildings and its displays with Jane Morris.