Studio International: Visual Arts, Design and Architecture

Using his art as a form of meditation to alleviate chronic back pain, Sudanese artist Ibrahim El-Salahi turns his medication packets into miniature canvases. He talks here about his intricate drawings and how they are enlarged on to canvases – a mixture of detail and minimalism, suffering past and present, personal and general

Lubaina Himid – interview: ‘It is my intention to create artworks that examine ideas about how to invent new rules by which to live’

Lubaina Himid’s first solo exhibition in the US opens this week, debuting works that continue her longstanding project on identity, representation and survival. She talks here about this new work and her pioneering role in the 1980s in the British black arts movement.

Paula Rego in her studio © Nick Willing.

Paula Rego – interview: ‘I’m interested in seeing things from the underdog’s perspective. Usually that’s a female perspective’

From criticism of dictatorship in her native Portugal in the 60s to the 90s abortion series and Dog Women, Paula Rego’s subjects are as relevant today as ever. As Obedience and Defiance, her first UK retrospective in two decades, opens, she talks about her work and what inspires her.

Michael Craig-Martin. Bulb (red), 2011. Powder-coated steel, 79 1/8 x 131 1/8 x 1 in (201 x 333 x 2.5 cm). © Michael Craig-Martin. Photo: Lucy Dawkins. Courtesy the artist and Gagosian.

Michael Craig-Martin: Sculpture

For the first time, Craig-Martin’s sculptures are indoors and there is an Alice in Wonderland feel to wandering among everyday objects such as forks and safety pins on a vast scale.

Frank Bowling

This exhibition of Bowling’s work is colourful, joyous and long overdue. Covering the entire span of his artistic career, it reveals for the first time the importance of this overlooked artist.

Lee Krasner. Self-Portrait, c1928. The Jewish Museum, New York. © The Pollock-Krasner Foundation. Courtesy the Jewish Museum, New York.

Lee Krasner: Living Colour

This joyful exhibition, a testament to Krasner’s astonishing energy, creativity and capacity for reinvention, reaffirms her rightful status as a towering figure in postwar American art .

Lothar Götz, Dance Diagonal, 2019, work in progress. Photo: Eva Eastman, courtesy Towner Art Gallery.

Lothar Götz – interview: ‘In Britain, people think abstraction is just beautiful, but for me it also has a political aspect’

Artist Lothar Götz talks about designing a monumental mural for Towner Art Gallery, the politics of the Bauhaus and why he rejected figurative art.

Luchita Hurtado, Encounter, 1971 (detail). Oil on canvas, 12 x 243.2 cm. © 2019 Luchita Hurtado. Photo: Hugo Glendinning.

Luchita Hurtado: I Live I Die I Will Be Reborn

The 98-year old painter’s debut institutional exhibition showcases a lifetime of work that fuses the human with the cosmic, while speaking keenly to the present.

AI: More than Human

With AI seeping into all our lives, the Barbican should be congratulated for tackling such a prescient subject, and there are some real gems here. But has it missed a trick in making this a celebration rather than a critique of the technology that has such scope for abuse?.

From Higashimura Akiko (b1975), Princess Jellyfish, 2008-17. © Akiko Higashimura / Kodansha Ltd.

Mangaマンガ

The British Museum turns its attention to Japan’s distinctive medium of graphic storytelling, and reveals a diverse, culturally intriguing picture.

Workers!, Petra Bauer & SCOT-PEP, film still, 2018. Photo: Caroline Bridges.

Petra Bauer – interview: ‘The crucial thing was to make sure the sex workers were the ones leading the discussions, that they were the ones with agency’

Inspired by feminist film practitioners who emphasise the importance of making films with their subjects, not about them, Workers! is very much a collaboration between film-maker Petra Bauer and SCOT-PEP, a sex worker-led organisation in Edinburgh.

Dulwich Pavilion 2019: The Colour Palace

The Colour Palace is a monumental temporary pavilion by artist Yinka Ilori and architects Pricegore, bringing the heat and vibrant hues of Nigerian markets and mosques to the Sir John Soane-designed Dulwich Picture Gallery. But does it do more than simply draw attention and add ornament?.

Julie Cunningham, portrait. Photo: Rick Guest.

Julie Cunningham – interview: ‘I had the experience for many years of feeling like an object that was spun around and I don’t want to feel like that any more’

Seeking to erase embedded patriarchal structures and fixed gender identities through dance, Julie Cunningham’s choreography is often inspired by feminist texts. Their new work for Art Night 2019 promises to be full of energy – all night long!.

Installation view, Wohl Central Hall, Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2019. Photo: © David Parry/ Royal Academy of Arts.

Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition 2019

The spectacle that is the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and the stylishness of its visitors has, it seems, never waned and, from the outset, the press has contributed to its reputation. Its visitors are just as important as the artworks they come to see.

Antoni Tàpies, Duat, 1994. 250 x 600 cm. © Antoni Tàpies. Courtesy Waddington Custot.

Writings on the Wall

This exhibition is a tribute to six 20th-century artists who drew inspiration from the street art and graffiti they found in their cities, in a celebration of mark making both ancient and modern.

Tweets by @studiolatest

Gerhard Richter: Seascapes

An exhibition of Richter’s seascapes goes on display at Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, proving that, even for the modern painter, he holds an irresistible fascination.

Thomas Kilpper: The Politics of Heritage vs the Heritage of Politics

Edinburgh Printmakers celebrates its new home with an exhibition by Thomas Kilpper, in which the German artist-activist takes on historical and political themes around colonialism and Brexit.

Raffi Kalenderian. Robert, Bob, and Seymour, 2019. Oil on canvas, 84 x 120 x 1.5 in (213.36 x 304.8 x 3.81 cm). Courtesy of the artist and Vielmetter Los Angeles. Photo: Robert Wedemeyer.

Raffi Kalenderian – interview: ‘It’s like banging your head against a brick wall, but if you get through to the other side it feels so good’

For Kalenderian, painting is all about excitement. His radical portraiture – as much of the scene as of the sitter – is a celebration of experimentation and problem-solving. Here, he speaks about what attracts him to his subjects and how he goes about capturing them.

Andrew Marr talking to Studio International in his London studio, 2019. Photo: Nick Howard.

Andrew Marr – interview: ‘Everybody is angry and upset. We’ve messed things up – that’s what the paintings are about, which is why I called them the Brexit paintings’

The broadcaster, writer and former BBC political editor talks about how his painting and drawing practice has changed since his stroke six years ago, having two exhibitions this month – and how Brexit crept into some of his work.

Leonor Antunes speaking to Studio International at the opening of a seam, a surface, a hinge or a knot, Portugal in Venice 2019. Photo: Martin Kennedy.

Leonor Antunes: a seam, a surface, a hinge or a knot – Venice Biennale 2019

Leonor Antunes combines her sculpture and craft to open up conversations within architectural spaces. Here she discusses the 20th-century figures, both known and lesser known, who inspired her Portugal installation for the Venice Biennale.

Renate Bertlmann talking to Studio International at the opening of Discordo Ergo Sum, Pavilion of Austria, Giardini, Venice, 2019. Photo: Martin Kennedy.

Renate Bertlmann: Discordo Ergo Sum – Venice Biennale 2019

Renate Bertlmann’s work is rooted in 1970s feminism, yet her message is entirely contemporary. She talks to us about celebrating sensuality and honesty of emotional expression –anger as well as tenderness, fear and lust.

Shirley Tse speaking to Studio International at the opening of Stakeholders, Hong Kong in Venice 2019. Photo: Martin Kennedy.

Shirley Tse: Stakeholders – Venice Biennale 2019

The artist talks about accommodation and negotiation as expressed in her Venice installation, Stakeholders: a multi-dimensional sculpture using hand turned wood and 3D printed elements.

Remy Jungerman speaking to Studio International at the opening of The Measurement of Presence, Dutch Pavilion, Venice Biennale 2019. Photo: Martin Kennedy.

Remy Jungerman and Iris Kensmil: The Measurement of Presence – Venice Biennale 2019

Jungerman and Kensmil’s installations for the Dutch Pavilion explore issues of race, identity, culture, history and art history. Here, at the opening of the show, Jungerman talks about the sources of his work in Dutch and European modernism, Winti, an Afro-Surinamese religion, and his Maroon ancestry.

Shu Lea Cheang speaking to Studio International at the opening of 3x3x6, Taiwan for Venice 2019. Photo: Martin Kennedy.

Shu Lea Cheang: 3x3x6 – Venice Biennale 2019

Shu Lea Cheang’s multi-media installation for Venice uses its ancient prison setting well to explore the biographies of historical and contemporary sex offences, and ponder the impacts of today’s omnipresent digital surveillance.

Simone Kenyon, Into The Mountain, performance, 30 May - 2 June 2019, Cairngorms National Park. Photo: Felicity Crawshaw / Scottish Sculpture Workshop.

Into the Mountain: Simone Kenyon

Immersive art doesn’t usually involve a 5.30am start and a day hiking in the rain, but Into the Mountain opens us up to the potential of contemporary art practices to be truly adventurous and transformative.

Norman Gilbert, Ballad(e), 1970. Oil on board, 76 x 122 cm. © Norman Gilbert.

Norman Gilbert: Passion, Vision & Spirit II

This show, spanning 50 years of Gilbert’s career, is not only a record of the artist’s output, but a moving and intimate documentary of his own family life painted across half a century.

Giorgio Morandi, Still Life (Natura morta), 1936. Oil on canvas, 33 x 37 cm. Fondazione Magnani Rocca, Mamiano di Traversetolo (Parma), Italy. © Giorgio Morandi, VEGAP, Bilbao, 2019.

A Backward Glance: Giorgio Morandi and the Old Masters

The early 20th-century painter known for his devotion to still lifes is held up next to the artists who shaped his vision.

Vincent van Gogh, Path in the Garden of the Asylum, 1889. Oil paint on canvas, 61.4 x 50.4 cm. Collection Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo.

Van Gogh and Britain

In its first Van Gogh exhibition since 1947, the Tate considers how British culture informed the artist’s work, and gives a fascinating insight into the influence the social realists had on him and his influence on young British artists.

Edmund de Waal, the library of exile, 2019. Ateneo Veneto. Part of Psalm, an exhibition in two parts at the Jewish Museum and Ateneo Veneto, Venice. © Edmund de Waal. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Fulvio Orsenigo.

Edmund de Waal: Psalm

In a two-part exhibition, the artist has used his trademark porcelain vessels, two buildings of great significance and a library of books to trace a universal story of exile and translation.

William Kennedy, when it's cold i'd like to die, 2019. Video installation, three films, single channel, colour, sound, 9 min 16 sec. © the artist.

This Is What It Is to Be Happy

What is it to be happy in an age where mental health problems are so prevalent? How can communing with nature, externalising the internal – both metaphorically and literally – help with this? This slickly curated three-person show delves deep, lays bare, and offers a very plausible answer to an unanswerable question.

Keith Tyson. Ikebana - Waterfall Stage (Boss Level), 2018. Oil on aluminium, 247.7 x 171.5 cm (97 1/2 x 67 1/2 in) (framed). © Keith Tyson. Courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth.

Keith Tyson – interview: ‘I’m quite happy for the world to seep through me and for the work to just emerge’

The artist talks about the joys of scaling back, relearning the craft of painting, and why the flower paintings in his new show, Life Still, at Hauser & Wirth, London, are about so much more than flowers.

Home	About Studio
Archive	Yearbooks
Interviews	Contributors
Video	Cybernetic Serendipity
CyberArt	Contact us