‘Sex, death, race and religion’ – these are the topics that the London-based artists Gilbert and George announced they wanted to cover in this talk with Dr Nicholas Cullinan of the National Portrait Gallery. On Context offers insights into the artist’s relationship to concepts: from sculpture to the city, ‘picture making’ to posterity. Gilbert and George resist many of the contexts and interpretations projected onto their practice: trying to keep their work as accessible and open as possible,...

The London home of Galerie Thaddeus Ropac is a traditional eighteenth-century Mayfair townhouse, once home to the Bishop of Ely. But for artist Mandy El-Sayegh’s 2023 exhibition ‘Interiors’, its spaces were transformed into a riot of colour and pattern across paintings, textiles and furniture. In On Interiors, El-Sayegh talks to Dr Flavia Frigeri of the National Portrait Gallery, and Valerie Cassel Oliver of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, who is also the curator of the 2023 Spotlight...

The year 1993 marked a watershed for the famous Turner Prize, when it was awarded for the first time to a woman. That artist was Rachel Whiteread and the work was House in East London. In On Space, Whiteread is in conversation with the art historian Briony Fer. Together, they discuss the urges and concerns that underpin Whiteread’s work, from seminal works of the 1990s to her more recent projects, such as the site-specific commission unveiled in the summer of 2023 at Palazzo della Ragione in...

In On Power, London-based multidisciplinary artist Thomas J Price is in conversation with Dr Gus Casely-Hayford, the inaugural Director of V&A East. Together, they reflect on how monuments created for the public realm are not just aesthetic objects but artefacts often bound up in values, ideologies and power systems. Price, in his words, wants to convey ‘the sense of another person’ and has spent the past two decades creating large-scale figurative sculptures of everyday, unidentified...

In 2023, Frieze Masters fair sought to break the artist’s studio open to a new audience with a new section, Studio, curated by Sheena Wagstaff – the former Chairman of the Department of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Met and now Met’s Chair Emerita. In On Studios, Wagstaff talks with one of the Studio artists, Arlene Shechet, exploring how central the place and space of making is to her work, as well as its significance in the realm of creativity. 'It’s not a genius move, it’s just hard...

On Photography asks what it means today for an artist to work with a living, breathing icon, like the actress Tilda Swinton. Tim Walker, the noted artist and photographer, is joined by his long-time collaborator, stylist Jerry Stafford, to talk about their work together with Tilda Swinton. Dr Nicholas Cullinan, Director of the National Portrait Gallery, London, moderates the conversation. 'When I’m scared of something or someone, that scare turns into being photogenic. […] The situation...

In On Display, artist Shirin Neshat is in conversation with Jamie Fobert, the architect of London’s newly reopened National Portrait Gallery, and its Director, Dr Nicholas Cullinan, moderated by Tim Marlow, Director of the Design Museum. Neshat reflects on her 2018 portrait of Nobel Peace Prize awardee Malala Yousafzai that was commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery. The conversation explores the history of this much-loved institution and how its contemporary meaning is shaped through...

In 2005, British artists Maggi Hambling and Sarah Lucas met at the historic Colony Room Club in London’s Soho. There, they discovered that they shared the same irreverent and unapologetic attitude – and even the same birthday. In On Rebellion, chaired by Louisa Buck, these two British artists discuss their influences, their reactions to rules and expectations, facing up to mortality and being each other’s muse.   'I think great art creates somewhere where life and death cohabit, where life...

Frieze Masters presents this conversation with Anthea Hamilton & Nicholas Cullinan in partnership with Studio Voltaire @studiovoltairelondon. Their conversation explores the trajectory of Hamilton’s work, the geopolitical basis of her identity as a ‘Londoner’ and how elements from the ‘fourth dimension’ shape her work.  “We're actually functioning in a four-dimensional space, and I tried to think about what might be in the fourth dimension, if it's not just depth. And for me, those...

Frieze Masters presents Love Lucian: The Letters and Early Life of Lucian Freud in partnership with the Freud Museum (@freudmuseum) . This episode features Hannah Rothschild in conversation with Martin Gayford and David Dawson, speaking on their new publication and the first exhibition of Lucian Freud’s works at the Freud Museum London.  Exploring the overlapping themes present in both Love Lucian and the exhibition, the discussion draws out some interesting and lesser-known facets of...

Frieze Masters presents this conversation with Kamala Ibrahim Ishag and Hans Ulrich Obrist in partnership with the Serpentine (@serpentineuk). To celebrate the opening of her solo exhibition at Serpentine, Ishag returns to the RCA where she studied in the 1960s. She discusses her background, her relationship with nature and the influence of the Sudanese Zār cult on her work.  "If people are really genuine with their plants and they respect their plants, they should talk to them as human, as...

Frieze Masters presents this conversation with Doron Langberg & Nicholas Cullinan, Director of the National Portrait Gallery in London. Their conversation explores various aspects of Langberg’s work including his portraiture in the context of the resurrection of figurative painting, and the influence of his educational background.  "Painting really has always been my language, I feel like I almost think of it as my first language. I have been painting since I was very, very young and...

Frieze Masters presents this conversation with Zadie Xa & Vivien Zhang in partnership with Whitechapel Gallery (@whitechapelgallery). Their conversation explores Xa’s new exhibition at Whitechapel as they reflect on ideas of cultural identity, the appropriation and gentrification of symbols, and disparities between static and performance art.  "[The Yin Yang] feels like a very Korean or Asian thing. This is an authentic image that I can kind of attach meaning to, but then of course, it's...

Frieze Masters presents this conversation with Andra Ursuţa & Jeremy Deller in partnership with David Zwirner Gallery (@davidzwirner). Their conversation explores Ursuţa’s new exhibition at David Zwirner as well as her inclination towards using clichés and the ‘lowest’ regarded forms of artistry, her embrace of spirituality and the influence of the ancient on her work.  "I look at a lot of ancient sculpture. I think, at least in my opinion, that if you try to make something that answers...

Frieze Masters presents this conversation with Amy Sherald, Ekow Eshun and Jenni Sorkin in partnership with Hauser & Wirth (@hauserwirth). The panelists discuss Sherald’s practice and the relevance of her work within the canon of historical portraiture. This episode also marks the release of the artist’s first substantial monograph by Hauser & Wirth Publishers, providing a unique insight into her work and studio practice, alongside newly-commissioned texts.  "When I'm considering my...

Frieze Masters presents this conversation with Tyler Mitchell & Zoé Whitley in partnership with Gagosian (@gagosian). Their conversation explores Mitchell’s new exhibition, Chrysalis, at Gagosian, and a special commission for this year’s edition of Frieze Masters that reflects on his conceptual and editorial photography practices. His work is rooted in reinterpreting the tropes employed in both the Western canon of portraiture and the contemporary fashion magazine.  "Sitting at the...