Ben Luke

Ben Luke is a contributing editor and podcast host at The Art Newspaper

Who is Octavia Butler and why is the art world obsessed with her writing?

The late author’s sci-fi stories have inspired artists such as Alberta Whittle, Candice Breitz, Toyin Ojih Odutola and Precious Okoyomon

‘It sounds like a cliché to say you’ve fallen in love with Italy’: artist Emma Talbot on her greatest influences

The artist tells us about her favourite music, artists and the cultural experience that changed the way she sees the world

Summer of Seoul: why the South Korean capital is a new art world hub

Plus, the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize winner: a basket made with horsehair

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Documenta 15: why is the show so scandalous?

Plus, the Warhol-Prince copyright dispute, and Juan Muñoz at Spain’s Centro Botin

Hosted by Ben Luke. With guest speakers Kabir Jhala and Jane Morris. Produced by David. Clack, Aimee Dawson and Henrietta Bentall
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Velázquez’s Pope eclipses Bacon's 'silly' screamers

A firsthand encounter with the Spanish artist's portrait of Pope Innocent X in Rome puts the later interpretations in perspective

A brush with... Megan Rooney

An in-depth interview with the artist on her cultural experiences and greatest influences, from Maxine Kumin to Henry Moore

Hosted by Ben Luke. Produced by David Clack, Aimee Dawson and Henrietta Bentall
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Francis Bacon: why Tate returned a 1,000-piece archive

Plus, US photographer of queer women, Alice Austen; and Michel Majerus at Art Basel

Hosted by Ben Luke and Aimee Dawson. With guest speaker Martin Bailey. Produced by David Clack and Henrietta Bentall
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Musicals to motherhood: the Serpentine Galleries' Lucia Pietroiusti on her greatest influences

The curator tell us about her favourite books, television shows and artists

Mediafeature

Why virtual reality is a medium still in need of ‘cradling’

Artists and developers using VR have made huge leaps, but a better user experience is long overdue

A brush with... Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster

An in-depth interview with the artist on her cultural experiences and greatest influences, from Gustave Moreau to Peter Pan

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Stan Douglasinterview

Stan Douglas on working with music, cinema and time—and why he stopped making video for five years

The ground-breaking artist is showing his early work Onomatopoeia in Art Basel's Unlimited section

Crypto crash: what now for NFTs and the art world?

Plus, Norway’s mega-museum and a Spanish-American screen in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art

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A brush with... Emma Talbot

An in-depth interview with the artist on her cultural experiences and greatest influences, from Sassetta to Klimt

Hosted by Ben Luke. Produced by David. Clack and Aimee Dawson and Henrietta Bentall
Sponsored byBloomberg Connects

New shows reveal how Picasso was inspired by the Old Masters

Plus, Chris Levine's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II; and a rise in political interference in museum leadership

Hosted by Ben Luke and Louisa Buck. Produced by David Clack and Henrietta Bentall
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A brush with… Stan Douglas

An in-depth interview with the artist on his cultural experiences and greatest influences, from Agnes Martin to Samuel Beckett

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The hunt for looted Cambodian objects—are they hidden in the West's museums?

Plus, the dark truth of the Marcos family’s extravagance and Ruth Asawa at Modern Art Oxford

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Booksreview

The enigma of Philip Guston: two books unpack artist's fascination with dualities

Coinciding with opening of controversially postponed Guston show, these publications are vital to grasping the artist's contribution to post-war American art

Frieze Week in New York: mammoth auction sales and a shifting art fair landscape

Plus, the Albers Foundation plans a Senegal space, and a golden Indian manuscript at the British Library

Hosted by Ben Luke. With guest speaker Benjamin Sutton. Produced by David. Clack, Aimee Dawson and Henrietta Bentall
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Saving Ukraine’s heritage: an eyewitness account of relief efforts

Plus, the Cezanne blockbuster at The Art Institute of Chicago and Nicola L.’s Gold Femme Commode at Alison Jacques

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A life saved by art: Lonnie Holley on making work inspired by trauma, 'garbage'—and being stranded on an English island

Known for his sculptures assembled from material other people might consider rubbish, the US artist will be performing his improvised voice and piano compositions during London Gallery Weekend

London Gallery Weekend: the must-see exhibitions in West and Central London

As the event kicks off on Friday 13 May, critic Ben Luke chooses the best shows to visit

America's racial reckoning: inside the controversial Guston show

Plus, London's new Queer Britain museum and a rediscovered work by Caterina Angela Pierozzi

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Podcastspodcast

Macron wins: what now for the French art scene?

Plus, Walter Sickert at Tate Britain and Gordon Parks at the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh

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Matisse’s masterpiece The Red Studio recreated 100 years later for New York show

The objects in the painting—including several of the artist's own works—have been brought together for an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, which later travels to Copenhagen

The women-dominated Venice Biennale has been criticised for sacrificing quality—revealing just how necessary such progressive projects really are

Described by some as a “politically correct” move, around 90% of the artists in Cecilia Alemani's exhibition 'The Milk of Dreams' are female

The stuff of dreams: Cecilia Alemani delivers a perfectly judged Biennale

The Milk of Dreams is a "show of ripples and resonances, one that honours its artists"

The best of the Venice Biennale: our critics’ review

Plus, artists Francis Alÿs, Sonia Boyce, Shubigi Rao and Na Chainkua Reindorf on their national pavilion shows; and a Bellini masterpiece

Hosted by Ben Luke. with guest speakers Louisa Buck and Jane Morris. Produced by Julia Michalska, David. Clack, Aimee Dawson and Henrietta Bentall
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Marlene Dumas at Palazzo Grassi review—exhausting and uplifting at once

Venice exhibition elegantly displays the tension between seduction and repulsion in the South African artist's work

Podcastspodcast

Photographer Edward Burtynsky on his Ukrainian heritage and our 'predator species running amok'

Plus, Winslow Homer at the Met and China's Russia problem

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A brush with... Nari Ward

An in-depth interview with the artist on his greatest cultural influences, from The Staples Singers to Piero Manzoni

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