Interviews

A volunteer mathematics teacher with students at Tufts, Mound Bayou, Mississippi (1968), Doris Derby.

‘We were documenting for history’ – an interview with Civil Rights photographer Doris Derby

The activist, educator and artist discusses a lifetime spent fighting for racial justice – and the role that images can play in this struggle

10 Jul 2020
Gabriele Finaldi, director of the National Gallery, London.

‘Art is important to the recovery of our country’ – an interview with Gabriele Finaldi

The director of the National Gallery on what visitors can expect when the museum reopens – and how, while it’s been closed, it has been rethinking its relationship with its audience

4 Jul 2020
Julio Le Parc, photographed in his studio in Cachan in February 2020 by Claire Dorn

The joyful art of Julio Le Parc

The Argentinian-born artist, now in his tenth decade, reflects on a life devoted to trying new things

20 Jun 2020
Lonnie Holley in Birmingham, Alabama.

‘The truth is contagious’ – an interview with Lonnie Holley

The artist and musician first turned to sculpture after a personal tragedy, but his work is rooted in the history of the American South

16 Jun 2020
Emilie Gordenker outside the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam on 1 June, when the museum reopened.

‘This is the moment to reach out to our Dutch public’ – Emilie Gordenker on the reopening of the Van Gogh Museum

The museum’s director talks about how the institution can best serve its audience in challenging times

8 Jun 2020
Yinka Shonibare, photographed at his studio in London in February 2020.

The wit and wisdom of Yinka Shonibare

The artist discusses his plans for a new residency in Lagos, and delves into the serious mischief of his sculptures

2 May 2020
Uffizi director Eike Schmidt in front of Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, at the reopening of the gallery’s room dedicated to the artist in 2016. Photo: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP/Getty Images

‘We are ready to open’ – the Uffizi Galleries prepare for life after lockdown

Uffizi director Eike Schmidt discusses plans to reopen the galleries as the Italian government eases lockdown regulations

30 Apr 2020
Christo and Jeanne-Claude at The Pont Neuf Wrapped (1975–85) in 1985.

‘Freedom cannot be invented’ – an interview with Christo

The artist discusses his unorthodox methods, his long partnership with the late Jeanne-Claude, and finally being allowed to wrap the Arc de Triomphe

28 Mar 2020
Pietà (detail; c. 1720), Melchor Pérez Holguín.

Pathos in Potosí – a Bolivian masterpiece at LACMA

Curator Ilona Katzew discusses the restoration of a Pietà by Melchor Pérez Holguín – one of the most singular South American painters of his day

9 Mar 2020
View of The Last Supper (1464–68) by Dieric Bouts (c. 1415–75) in St Peter's Church, Leuven. Photo: Ⓒ Rudi Van Beek; courtesy M Leuven

‘It’s an artistic overview of one of the most productive moments in the city of Leuven’

Curator Peter Carpreau talks about the masterpieces of Flemish art housed in the recently restored St Peter’s Church in Leuven

28 Feb 2020
The Somerset levels at dusk (1998), Don McCullin. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth; © Don McCullin

‘I’ve earned my reputation out of other people’s downfall’ – an interview with Don McCullin

The legendary photographer talks about his images of war abroad and poverty at home – and what now draws him to landscapes

22 Feb 2020
Rose Wylie photographed in her cottage in Kent in November 2019.

‘When you’re an artist, you don’t have to do what you’re told to do’ – an interview with Rose Wylie

Inspired by everything from Tarantino films to chocolate biscuits, the artist’s exuberant, comic-strip canvases are utterly unmistakable

18 Jan 2020
Bateau ivre en détresse (detail; 1987) Jacqueline de Jong.

Freedom of movement – the lively paintings of Jacqueline de Jong

The artist’s canvases are full of colour and motion and an energetic sense of play

14 Jan 2020

‘We are on the brink of a different world’ – Caroline Lucas MP turns to curating

The Green Party MP takes her pick of the Towner Art Gallery’s permanent collection – and hopes it will spur others to climate activism

13 Jan 2020
‘The Coming Community’, installation view, Freelands Foundation, London, 2019.

Community spirit – an interview with Grace Ndiritu

The artist started out working with textiles – but has since broadened her focus to explore alternative communities

20 Dec 2019
Einkreisung (1976/80), Valie Export.

Viennese whirlwind – the feminist artist who outraged Austrian society

With a London gallery restaging Valie Export’s exhibition at the Venice Biennale in 1980, the artist looks back at her controversial body of work

19 Dec 2019
Recreation of a baroque feasting table in c. 1650, conceived and made by Ivan Day with taxidermy by David Astley and seafood and fruit models by Tony Barton.

‘Sugar paste is very fine, finer than porcelain’ – the art of historical banquets

The food historian Ivan Day talks about the historical table settings he has recreated for an exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum

25 Nov 2019
No.18 (1993/2019), Keith Coventry.

‘My work often has an element of humour – but it’s not particularly funny’ – an interview with Keith Coventry

The artist explains how his new lollipop-stick collages connect Pop art, Bauhaus, and ancient Athenian comedy

18 Nov 2019
Betye Saar (b. 1926), photographed in her studio in Los Angeles in 2019.

‘The way I start a piece is that the materials turn me on’ – an interview with Betye Saar

The artist discusses her stereotype-busting sculptures, and explains why major shows in Los Angeles and New York are ‘just another gig’

16 Nov 2019
Cerith Wyn Evans.

Stockhausen, Duchamp, and exit signs – an interview with Cerith Wyn Evans

The artist talks about the wide-ranging references in his neon installations and other works – from modernist music to yoga

4 Nov 2019
Still from We Live in Silence (2017; detail), Kudzanai Chiurai.

‘I can’t not think of Brexit, in relation to declarations of independence’ – an interview with Kudzanai Chiurai

The Zimbabwean artist discusses his film ‘We Live in Silence’, screened at the opening of Goodman Gallery’s new London premises

31 Oct 2019
Pool of Tears II (2000), Kiki Smith.

‘If you can outlive most men, all of a sudden you can be venerated’ – an interview with Kiki Smith

The versatile artist talks about her love of printmaking – and being in it for the long haul

26 Oct 2019
Agnes Denes walking through her installation Wheatfield – A Confrontation (1982) in the Battery Park landfill, New York.

‘My art is about overcoming our limitations’ – an interview with Agnes Denes

The artist talks about what it meant to plant a wheatfield in Manhattan – and why she wants her work to outlive her

11 Oct 2019
Imran Perretta filming the destructors (2019).

‘Making already complex things more complex’ – an interview with Imran Perretta

The artist discusses his latest film, whose title – the destructors – is borrowed from a short story by Graham Greene

9 Oct 2019