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Artist interview
podcast

A brush with... Tess Jaray

An in-depth interview with the artist on her cultural experiences and greatest influences, from Henri Matisse to W.G. Sebald

Sponsored by
Hosted by Ben Luke. Produced by David Clack and Aimee Dawson
1 February 2023
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Artist Tess Jaray

Photo: Turkina Faso

Artist Tess Jaray

Photo: Turkina Faso

A brush with...

In this podcast, based on The Art Newspaper's regular interview series, our host Ben Luke talks to artists in-depth. He asks the questions you've always wanted to: who are the artists, historical and contemporary, they most admire? Which are the museums they return to? What are the books, music and other media that most inspire them? And what is art for, anyway?

British painter Tess Jaray talks to Ben Luke about her influences—including those from the worlds of literature, music and, of course, art—and the cultural experiences that have shaped her life and work.

Tess Jaray's Yellow Drop (2008)

© Tess Jaray. Photo: Sam Roberts Photography. Courtesy Karsten Schubert London

For more than 60 years, Jaray relentlessly explored pictorial and architectural space through abstract painting. Born in Vienna in 1937 but based in the UK since she was a child, she achieved notable success early in her career but is only now gaining the recognition that she has long deserved for building one of the most singular and consistent bodies of work in recent British painting. Steeped in the history of her medium, she balances hard edges and precise handling with a distinctive colour sense that lends it a powerful emotional resonance.

Tess Jaray

Tess Jaray: ‘I wanted to make space, to make something that you could disappear into’

Ben Luke

Tess Jaray's Virgin and Child with two Angels (2019)

© Tess Jaray. Photo: Sam Roberts Photography. Courtesy Karsten Schubert London

Among much else, she discusses her instinctive response to the landscape of Worcestershire, England, where she grew up; the impact of the New York School on the UK art scene of the 1960s; her trip to Morocco in Henri Matisse’s footsteps; the enduring influence of Italian architecture and painting; and her friendship with the writer W.G. Sebald. Plus, she gives insight into her studio life and answers the ultimate question: what is art for?

Tess Jaray's Victoria Station Concourse (1985)

Richard Bryant, courtesy PACA. Sharon Morris.

• Tess Jaray, Karsten Schubert, London, 16 March-15 April. Gwangju Biennale: Soft and Weak Like Water, Gwangju, South Korea, 7 April-9 July.

This podcast is sponsored by Bloomberg Connects, the arts and culture app.

The free app offers access to a huge range of international cultural organisations through a single download, with new guides being added regularly. They include the Whitechapel Gallery and Serpentine Galleries, both of which held key exhibitions of Tess Jaray’s work in the 1980s. The Serpentine Galleries’ guide reflects the breadth of content available on the app, with sections on current exhibitions, including in-depth audio and visual features, as well as historic shows, the full history of the Serpentine Pavilions, and the galleries’ podcasts.

Artist interviewA brush with...podcastTess JarayContemporary art
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