Ministry of Arts Podcast

In this episode Gary Mansfield speaks to David Böhm (@davidbohm1)   David Böhm & Jiří Franta The leading Czech artists David Böhm and Jiří Franta, an artistic duo since 2006, explore in their work the relation between drawing, performance and conceptual art. Known for drawing and painting on walls in galleries as well as in public spaces, Böhm and Franta present their distinctive percepti...

In this episode Gary Mansfield speaks to Konstantin Benkovich (@benkovich)   Artworks of Benkovich are in the permanent museum collections and in many private collections around the globe. Together with Pussy Riot and a number of other well-known Russian artists, he participated in the group exhibition “Russian Post-Soviet Actionism” at the Saatchi Art Gallery in London in 2017, various...

In this episode Gary Mansfield speaks to Tabish Khan (@londonartcritic) Tabish Khan is an art critic specialising in London's art scene and he believes passionately in making art accessible to everyone. He visits and writes about hundreds of exhibitions a year covering everything from the major blockbusters to the emerging art scene. Tabish has been visual arts editor for Londonist since 2013. Con...

In this episode Gary Mansfield speaks to Azarra Amoy (@azarraamoy)   Of Jamaican and Trinidadian descent, Azarra Amoy, is a graduate from University of the Arts London and holds a foundation degree in Graphic Design and a Bachelor’s Degree in Magazine Publishing.   She is a visual thinker and her practice can be defined in three strands; Artist, Designer and Creative Strategist which ove...

In this episode Gary Mansfield speaks to Hypha Studios (@hyphastudios)   Hypha Studios is a charity matching creatives with empty spaces & regenerating the high street with cultural hubs & events for local communities. By providing free studios & project space we act as an incubator for creatives to test new ideas without financial obstacles. We provide opportunities to those who...

In this episode Gary Mansfield speaks to Sokari Douglas Camp CBE (@sokaridouglascamp)   Sokari Douglas Camp was born in Buguma, Rivers State, Nigeria. She studied fine art at Central School of Art and Design and the Royal College of Art. Sokari has represented Britain and Nigeria in National exhibitions and has had more than 40 solo shows worldwide. In venues such as National Museum of Africa...

In this episode Gary Mansfield speaks to Richard Mackness (@richardmackness)   Richard Mackness is a contemporary artist, working primarily in sculpture. His work often deals with dualities such as Synthetic / Evolved, Earthly / Divine, Priceless / Worthless and is characterised by expressive form and precise handling of materials. Exhibitions include group shows at the Yorkshire Sculpture Pa...

In this episode Gary Mansfield speaks to Charlotte Colbert (@colbertcharlotte)   Language, psychoanalysis, socio-political constructions of gender and identity are at the heart of Colbert’s practice. Spanning film, photography, ceramics, and sculpture, she questions narrative structures and storytelling, weaving surreal and fantastical mise en scene in a documentarian approach to characters,...

In this episode Gary Mansfield speaks to Gavin Turk (@thisisnotgavinturk)   Gavin Turk (b 1967) is a British born, international artist. He has pioneered many forms of contemporary British sculpture now taken for granted, including the painted bronze, the waxwork, the recycled art-historical icon and the use of rubbish in art. Turk’s installations and sculptures deal with issues of authorship...

In this bonus episode Gary Mansfield speaks to Melody Travers (@melodytraversart) Melody is a French artist with a Masters in Art & Art History at the Université Paris VIII. She lived in London twelve years, developing her art whilst working in book publishing and art galleries. She spent two years working full time on her art at Wimbledon Art Studios; she has since moved her practice bac...

In this episode Gary Mansfield speaks to Paul Yule (@paul_yule)   Paul Yule is a South African born sculptor, photographer and film-maker, living in the UK. Having had an extensive career in photography and film-making, Paul turned to sculpture as a form of connecting with his Son, who studied sculpture at Central Saint Martins and had recently passed away. He slowly manipulated a small...

In this bonus episode Gary Mansfield speaks to Maya Sanbar (@mayasanbar)   Maya is an Artist and Filmmaker. Her work in both moving image and installation is centred on the art of storytelling. Footsteps on the Wind is her directorial debut in the narrative and animation world. Her experience is varied, her artworks being often collaborative and enabling of others adding their voices to a cen...

In this episode Gary Mansfield speaks to Lise Bouissière (@lisebouissiere)   Lise Bouissière is a Franco-British artist. She graduated from Central Saint Martins School (London) and  Villa Arson (Nice, France). Bouissière is a Royal Society of Sculptors member. Over the past ten years, she has shown in solo and group shows across the United Kingdom and Italy, including at The Royal Socie...

In this episode Gary Mansfield speaks to Kipling Hunt (@kipling_hunt)   Born in London, Hunt has also lived in Barcelona, Birmingham and in semi-rural isolation on the borders of Wales. Kipling makes fine art pieces in ceramic, in paint, in print, in film, or in fact any medium most able to deliver each concept in question with assurance and panache.   Kipling has also worked for over a...

In this episode Gary Mansfield speaks to Duncan McAfee (@duncanmcafee)   McAfee essentially approaches painting as a game. He arranges figurative and abstract elements from art and visual culture to make hybrid paintings, brightly coloured, comic-book exquisite-corpses. His recent Exploding Heads series could be portraits of the mad prophets of some post apocalyptic cult. Constructed from bro...

In this episode Gary Mansfield speaks to Keira Rathbone (@typewriterart) Keira Rathbone is an established fine artist living and working in London. She grew up in Dorset, gained a BA (hons) in Fine Art at the University of the West of England, Bristol. Since 2003 she has developed a unique drawing technique, employing a manual typewriter as a drawing tool. Rathbone draws images from life using her...

In this episode Gary Mansfield speaks to Dion Kitson (@dionkitsonstudio) Dion Kitson is an emerging artist born in Dudley and his portfolio spans sculpture, film, collage, text-art, and sound. Dion is using the space as a gallery to show artists from the West Midlands and to show his own work and archive. Having graduated in 2020 with BA Fine Art from Birmingham School of Art, he has since been aw...

In this bonus episode Gary Mansfield speaks to Akshita Gandhi (@iamakshitagandhi) A Love Letter to My Home A solo exhibition of new work by Akshita Gandhi Is India truly free seventy-five years after its independence? The Indian Independence Act, which established India's independence from British imperialism, went into effect in August 1947. However, the act partitioned India, causing significant...

In this bonus episode Gary Mansfield speaks to KAI LAB (@kai.lab_)   We are a London-based arts and design practice that creates electronic, mechanical and sonic artworks. All with backgrounds in the physical sciences, we place a heavy emphasis on research and development.  Our projects are driven by the desire to understand the core components of intriguing, complex and beautiful natura...

In this episode Gary Mansfield speaks to Pure Evil (@pureevilgallery) Pure Evil was born Charles Uzzell Edwards in South Wales in 1968. He grew up in a world of art thanks to his father, Welsh painter John Uzzell Edwards . The father’s artwork undoubtedly impacted his son, demonstrated in a range of influences from Cubism to Minimalism, from Picasso to Chagall. The physical and cultural landscape...

In this episode Gary Mansfield speaks to kennardphillipps (@kennardphillipps) kennardphillipps is a collaboration between Peter Kennard and Cat Phillipps working since 2002 to produce art in response to the invasion of Iraq. It has evolved to confront power and war across the globe. The work is made for the street, the gallery, the web, newspapers & magazines, and to lead workshops that develo...

In this episode Gary Mansfield speaks to Paul Kneen (@paulkneenart)   Art allows me to be free. It takes me on unexpected journeys not just within my creative process but through the opportunities art has presented along the way. Street art was one of those journeys. It opened my eyes to a whole new world of splats, drips and spray paint. It gave me the confidence to be more creative, more experim...

In this bonus episode Gary Mansfield speaks to Arturo García de las Heras (@agheras73)   “I love sharing my artwork and love the feeling of reward when somebody is interested on it. I look for impacting lovely warm images, to make the spectator feel good and somehow linked to the artwork he/she is observing. I must admit I don't have a profound philosophy behind my artwork (paintings, photography...

In this episode Gary Mansfield speaks to Hippo Screenprinters (@hippo_screenprinters) Hippo Screenprinters offer a hand-pulled, fine art screenprint editioning service for artists, galleries, band merchandisers, interior designers and print publishers. We work closely with every client, throughout the process, to ensure that the final print edition fulfills your expectations. We print onto most su...

In this episode Gary Mansfield speaks to Elizabeth Prentis (@elizabethprentis)   Elizabeth is currently exploring painting and is developing a body of 2D work with performative ties. Bold and direct, Prentis' paintings are often confronting- challenging the audience on their own boundaries and expectations. Prentis' practice is not tied to one medium in particular; paintings act as blueprints for...