Talk Art

Robert & Russell meet artists Teresa Farrell and Alvaro Barrington (Tt x AB) at their joint show at Emalin gallery, East London. Titled 'TALL BOYS & A DOUBLE ESPRESSO', the exhibition celebrates creative collaboration and the importance of friendships/conversation when making art. We discuss how the duo first met at Hunter college and the ways they continue to inspire, critique and challen...

Robert & Russell meet music icon Michael Stipe, best known as lead singer of R.E.M. We discuss his lifelong love of taking photographs (more than 37,000 so far), his childhood Nikon camera (a gift from his father), self-portraits, making sculptures, his friendship with Patti Smith, meeting members of the Beat Generation such as Allen Ginsberg & William Burroughs and why he dislikes his own...

It's Talk Art's ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY! Russell & Robert meet American painter Jamian Juliano-Villani in her Brooklyn studio to discuss topics as varied as being a noisy neighbour, Weezer's Green Album, an encyclopedic knowledge of both music & art history, watching Live Leak to stay tough, political correctness, a childhood growing up in her parents silk-screening factory printing merchandi...

Russell & Robert meet legendary American performance artist and musician Kembra Pfahler. We discuss growing up in California, her early performance art installations in 1980s Lower East Side (including sleeping in a storefront window for The Extremist Show at ABC No Rio), the impact of the AIDS crisis and how forming her band The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black helped transform her life....

Talk Art Live in London, with Ruinart! Russell & Robert meet Vik Muniz, the superstar Brazilian artist best-known for his complex photography made with a diverse range of materials including sugar, toys, diamonds and even trash to recreate and interpret famous images, such as the 'Mona Lisa' (which he executed in peanut butter and jelly), or a Picasso (created entirely with raw paint pigment)....

Talk Art New York!!! Russell & Robert visit NYC to meet gallerist Jasmin Tsou (JTT Gallery). We discover why she set up her Lower East Side gallery in 2012, initially exhibiting her peers, but soon expanding her program to include emerging artists in a climate that she describes as ‘scary and intimidating.’ Tsou has a very collaborative approach: ongoing conversations with colleagues have shap...

Talk Art NEW YORK!!! Russell & Robert meet painter Katherine Bernhardt in the BIG APPLE. We discuss her early paintings of ET, growing up in St Louis, a teenage exchange trip to Portugal & Morocco that led to a love of ceramics & berber rugs, before eventually moving to Chicago & New York to study art. We explore her love of Georgia O'Keeffe, Chris Ofili, Laura Owens, Stanley Whitn...

Russell & Robert meet artist Wong Ping at Camden Arts Centre, London for a special tour around his solo exhibition 'Heart Digger'. Wong Ping creates digital and sculptural works that reveal very human, often universal fantasies, through absurd narratives. Drawing from his own social encounters, he elaborates his stories into dark humorous tales that touch on political and cultural anxieties. D...

We're back! Talk Art Season 3!! Robert & Russell meet one of the world's most celebrated & iconic curators Hans-Ulrich Obrist. Best known for his groundbreaking work as Artistic Director of Serpentine Galleries, London, Obrist has curated shows by many of our favourite artists as wide-ranging as Rebecca Warren, Faith Ringgold, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Wolfgang Tillmans, Etel Adnan, Phyllida...

Russell & Robert meet British Vogue columnist & writer Raven Smith. We discover his definition of an Art Bro, the crossover between art & fashion, wandering through the Venice Biennale 2019, seeing a live performance by Rose McGowan, getting caught up in another performance where Raven had to hold a broom handle, drawing David Hockney’s paintings aged 6, writing his first book ‘Trivial...

Part 2 of a very special Talk Art episode diving deep into Edinburgh's creative scene, in partnership with Bombay Sapphire. Celebrating a decade since Russell & Robert first met at the Scottish National Gallery, the duo return to Edinburgh to uncover hidden gems of the city's art festival through a series of conversations with leading artists, curators and gallerists. Part 2: Kate Gray - COLLE...

Part 1 of a very special Talk Art episode diving deep into Edinburgh's creative scene, in partnership with Bombay Sapphire. Celebrating a decade since Russell & Robert first met at the Scottish National Gallery, the duo return to Edinburgh to uncover hidden gems of the city's art festival through a series of conversations with leading artists, curators and gallerists. Part 1: Claire Feeley, JU...

Russell & Robert meet superstar actress, writer, director & keen watercolourist Lena Dunham in her London hotel room for a feature-length Talk Art exclusive! We discuss painting ‘en plein air’ & embracing nature in Wales this Summer, what it was like growing up as daughter of two legendary artists Laurie Simmons & Carroll Dunham and remembering New York as a child during the 1980s...

Russell & Robert meet London–based artist, illustrator, ceramicist and textile designer John Booth. Best-known for his graphic works featuring multi–layered collages of textures and colours, Booth draws inspiration from artists including Karel Appel and Betty Woodman as well as from retro children’s playgrounds and postmodern Italian designers. Born in Scotland in 1984 and raised in Cumbria, B...

Talk Art's LIVE PREMIERE recorded at the Latitude Festival on Sunday 21st July 2019. Russell & Robert meet Deborah Frances-White, the iconic comedian and Guilty Feminist herself. We discuss growing up in Australia, studying at Oxford University, collecting art, feminism and creativity. We mention the Help Refugees charity in this episode. To learn more please visit: www.helprefugees.org Specia...

Russell & Robert meet leading documentary and fashion photographer Jamie Hawkesworth. We discuss Milton Avery, forensic photography, the power of natural light, a dedication to analogue cameras, taking Kate Moss’ portrait in India and documenting landscapes of Antarctica. We learn about Jamie’s early project 'Preston Bus Station' and explore his later collaborations with JW Anderson...

Russell & Robert meet painter Rose Wylie, one of their all-time art heroes, at her Kent home-studio where she’s painting for a New York solo show opening later this year at David Zwirner. We discuss the impact of film on her painting including Gus Van Sant, why the early paintings of Cezanne are the greatest, painting people she respects such as Serena & Venus Williams, alchmey bottles, he...

Russell & Robert meet Austrian-born fashion designer Raimund Berthold. A graduate of Central St Martins, Raimund spent four years working with leading fashion houses in London & New York including Alexander McQueen & Vivienne Westwood before launching BERTHOLD in 2009, the London-based gender-neutral eponymous clothing brand for the makers and shapers of culture. We discuss what it's l...

Robert & Russell meet broadcasting legend Janet Street-Porter CBE at her home in East London. We discuss reading & self improvement, comic strip art, her godmother who was a big influence in her teenage years, French cinema & the films of Jean Cocteau, her favourite composers including JS Bach and Philip Glass as well as a memorable Gustav Metzger performance that she saw whilst studyi...

Robert & Russell meet legendary painter, musician and poet Billy Childish. We discuss white suits, Dada, a Kurt Schwitters-inspired tattoo, punk rock, Van Gogh and why he got expelled from studying at Saint Martins in 1980. We find out about his friendship with Peter Doig, relationship with Tracey Emin, his breakthrough exhibitions with curator Matthew Higgs at not-for-profit art space White C...

Robert & Russell meet British artist John Stezaker. World-renowned for his collages, we discover how he chooses his source material - typically old film stills, vintage postcards, or Hollywood headshots. In a world saturated by images, Stezaker's manipulations create space both physically and metaphorically for alternative interpretations, for exploring the seams and fissures of the visual wor...

Talk Art returns! To kick off Season 2, Russell & Robert meet Zoe Bedeaux, the multi-disciplinary artist, poet, super-stylist and creative shapeshifter. We discuss harlequins, Picasso, Irving Penn and Louise Nevelson. Whilst learning about Zoe's collaborations with iconic image makers Judy Blame, Ray Petri and more recently leading photographers Juergen Teller and Tim Walker. You can view Zoe'...

Welcome to the final episode of Season 1! Robert & Russell meet leading actress, writer & director Zawe Ashton, author of new book 'Character Breakdown' and who initially came to prominence as Vod in Channel 4's Fresh Meat. We discuss Zawe's recent leading film role in art-world satire Velvet Buzzsaw (in which she starred alongside Renee Russo & Jake Gyllenhaal). We learn about artwork...

Robert & Russell meet British sculptor Phyllida Barlow CBE at the Royal Academy of Arts for an hour-long private tour of her current solo exhibition 'cul-de-sac'. World-renowned for using materials such as plaster, cardboard, scrim and cement, which turn the conventions of traditional sculpture on its head. We discuss her best-known works including the Tate Britain Commission 2014, and her ins...

Russell & Robert meet leading actor Luke Evans, star of Beauty and the Beast, The Hobbit, Girl on the Train and Dracula Untold. We discuss collecting art while he's filming in different locations around the world, his friendship with iconic artist duo Gilbert & George, learning to draw in charcoal for his leading role in The Alienist and fond memories of growing up in Aberba...