Ben Luke

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

Art and technology shows in London and Los Angeles, a restored 17th-century cosmic atlas—podcast

Curators at Tate and Los Angeles County Museum of Art discuss the ways in which technology has shaped artists’ work, plus a chat about the “mesmerising” Harmonia Macrocosmica

A brush withinterview

A brush with Léon Kruijswijk

The curator of the KW Institute for Contemporary Art, and co-curator of Present Future at Artissima 2024, on his take on art

A brush with… Jeff Wall — podcast

An in-depth interview with photographer Jeff Wall, discussing hallucinations, Franz Kafka and the inspiration he draws from comics

Hosted by Ben Luke. Produced by David Clack
Sponsored byBloomberg Connects

The $6.2m banana, Frank Auerbach remembered, Lindokuhle Sobekwa’s photographs of addiction in South Africa—podcast

Exploring this week’s New York auctions, which included Maurizio Cattelan’s now-infamous fruit, plus a tribute to the late German-British artist Auerbach and a chat with Sobekwa about a work from his powerful series, on view at the UK’s Sainsbury Centre

A brush with… Goshka Macuga — podcast

An in-depth interview with Turner nominee Goshka Macuga, discussing her influences from Eileen Agar to Stanisław Lem—and how she came to dance in her studio

Hosted by Ben Luke. Produced by David Clack
Sponsored byBloomberg Connects

Episode 300! British Museum, Tate Modern and V&A East directors in discussion

A special roundtable conversation touching on some of the biggest issues facing museums: from the need to address colonial histories to sponsorship and AI

Comment | The Barbican’s survey of Indian art avoids the pitfalls that plague so many political shows

This exhibition successfully traverses the terrain of art and geopolitics—an area often littered with clunkiness and earnest failure

Renaissance special: Michelangelo, Leonardo and Raphael in Florence, drawings and tapestries—podcast

A deep dive into two London shows bringing together key works of the movement, and a spectacular series of tapestries depicting the Battle of Pavia on view in San Francisco

American sculpture: race and racism, Warsaw’s Museum of Modern Art, Jusepe de Ribera in Paris — podcast

A chat about a Washington show offering a radical new perspective on the history of sculpture, plus how the major Polish museum has journeyed through political change towards opening, and a discussion of Ribera’s “most moving” work

US election, the glory of Siena, Gabrielle Goliath — podcast

What is at stake for the US cultural sector as the nation chooses its next president? Plus, a tour of 14th-century Sienese masterpieces and a conversation with Goliath about her ongoing video series Mango Blossoms

Comment | I thought I knew Stevie Wonder’s music until Arthur Jafa showed it in a new light

American artist Jafa's recent video work recontextualises Wonder's song 'As' as well as the film 'Taxi Driver'

Art Basel at the Grand Palais, Guillermo Kuitca at Musée Picasso and Małgorzata Mirga-Tas at Tate St Ives — podcast

We find out what happened when the art world descended on Paris for Art Basel, speak to Guillermo Kuitca about his new work for Musée Picasso and hear from Małgorzata Mirga-Tas about June, her work soon to go on display at Tate St Ives

In pictures: Frieze Focus thinks global

Our pick of the highlights from the fair's section for emerging galleries

Frieze, UK critics The White Pube, Giuseppe Penone and Arte Povera — podcast

We find out how the London fair went this year, speak to Gabrielle de la Puente and Zarina Muhammad about their new book and to Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev about her new show at the Bourse de Commerce in Paris

Nairy Baghramian: ‘Dissent is part of society, it is a healthy freedom’

The Iranian-born, Berlin-based artist discusses the beauty that lies in “in-between spaces”, and the relationship between art and democracy

A brush with…Sonia Boyce — podcast

An in-depth interview with the Golden Lion-winner, discussing her shift to social practice, the influence of Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald, and how William Morris’s wallpaper designs have made their way into her work

Hosted by Ben Luke. Produced by David. Clack
Sponsored byBloomberg Connects

Mike Kelley, a pivotal period of contemporary Indian art, Raoul Dufy and Berthe Weill — podcast

Celebrating the “negative joy” of the American artist Kelley in a new Tate retrospective, a period of change in India explored at the Barbican, and a conversation about a work once owned by the pioneering woman gallerist Berthe Weill

Podcast | Episode 100: A brush with… Marlene Dumas

An in-depth interview with the endlessly daring Dumas, discussing her admiration for Nicole Eisenman and Diane Arbus, and the impact of Francisco Goya on her practice

Hosted by Ben Luke. Produced by David Clack
Sponsored byBloomberg Connects

Monet in London, Matisse in Basel, Frankenthaler in Florence — podcast

A chat with the curator of a new show featuring Monet's Thames views—in the very room where many were painted, plus trips to Basel and Florence for 'Matisse: Invitation to the Voyage' and 'Helen Frankenthaler: Painting without Rules'

A brush withinterview

A brush with... Gemma Peppé, founder of Art on a Postcard

“If you don’t create art yourself, you can borrow from artists to express how you feel, how you see the world and what’s important to you.”

Podcast | A brush with… Robert Longo

An in-depth interview with "collision" artist Robert Longo, who explains the process behind his responses to works by everyone from Jackson Pollock to Rembrandt

Hosted by Ben Luke. Produced by David Clack
Sponsored byBloomberg Connects

Glenn Ligon in Cambridge, new Gauguin biography, Teresa Margolles’s Fourth Plinth commission — podcast

The American artist on his interventions at the Fitzwilliam Museum, a chat about a new publication exploring Gauguin’s complex character, and the details on a new London sculpture paying tribute to trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming communities

Podcast | A brush with… Rana Begum

An in-depth interview with sculptor and painter Rana Begum, exploring her experiences with the Qur’an, J.M.W. Turner and negotiating the London cityscape

Hosted by Ben Luke. Produced by David Clack
Sponsored byBloomberg Connects

Why writing off the Mona Lisa would serve the Louvre better than worshipping it

The Paris museum should forget about the hugely costly move of the Leonardo painting and focus instead on the myriad other masterpieces in its collection

Van Gogh blockbuster, the birth of Impressionism, Juan Pablo Echeverri — podcast

A tour of the National Gallery’s landmark exhibition with our Van Gogh expert Martin Bailey, plus a new book zoning in on the Impressionists’ “Terrible Year” and a highlight from Museum Folkwang’s hair-themed show

The art market slump, the artist freed in the US-Russia prisoner swap, Max Ernst in Paris — podcast

What’s behind the troubles facing auction houses and galleries? Plus, Sasha Skochilenko recounts her experience of being arrested—and incarcerated—in Russia, and the story behind a 1937 Surrealist painting by Ernst

Podcast | A brush with… Arthur Jafa

An in-depth interview with the filmmaker and sculptor, discussing his eye for systemic and historic inequity, and how Anne Imhof and Mahalia Jackson have influenced his practice

Hosted by Ben Luke. Produced by David Clack
Sponsored byBloomberg Connects

Podcast | A brush with… Eva Rothschild

An in-depth interview with the sculptor, exploring the 'material giddiness' of making work—and the profound effect of Sinead O’Connor

Hosted by Ben Luke. Produced by David Clack
Sponsored byBloomberg Connects

Podcast | A brush with… Michael Craig-Martin

An in-depth interview with the artist spanning his 50-year career, exploring his influences, use of humour, and how he succeeds in making the humdrum so compelling

Hosted by Ben Luke. Produced by David Clack
Sponsored byBloomberg Connects

Podcast | A brush with… Charline von Heyl

An in-depth interview with the artist, exploring her description-defying work and her ability to keep us all guessing

Hosted by Ben Luke. Produced by David Clack
Sponsored byBloomberg Connects