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Talk Art

Vik Muniz (Live in London)

Season 3, Ep. 5

Talk Art Live in London, with Ruinart! Russell & Robert meet Vik Muniz, the superstar Brazilian artist best-known for his complex photography made with a diverse range of materials including sugar, toys, diamonds and even trash to recreate and interpret famous images, such as the 'Mona Lisa' (which he executed in peanut butter and jelly), or a Picasso (created entirely with raw paint pigment). Muniz taps into our collective memory of known and recognisable images and artworks. With a wry and canny combination of high and low, Muniz uses the photograph not in the traditional sense, as a recording of reality, but instead as a document of his illusion. Recorded live in front of an audience at Soho House Greek Street on 1st October 2019, we discuss his new Ruinart collaboration 'Shared Roots' on display this week at Frieze Art Fair in London. As well as looking back to his childhood dyslexia, drawing cartoon clouds in the Manhattan sky (using a modified crop-dusting plane) and his legendary 'Verso' series in which Muniz recreates the back panels of world famous paintings like Van Gogh’s 'Starry Night' or Vermeer’s 'The Girl with a Pearl Earring'. We discover why he decided to work with photography following a life-changing shooting which led to him moving to New York to become an artist. For more details please visit @ruinart #SharedRoots @vikmuniz @talkart at Instagram! www.ruinart.com

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  • 1. Introducing Talk Art

    39:25||Season 1, Ep. 1
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  • 2. Sir Michael Craig-Martin CBE

    01:05:51||Season 1, Ep. 2
    Russell & Robert talk with leading artist Sir Michael Craig-Martin CBE exploring 50 years of art-making. From his early 1960s work as a conceptual artist culminating in the seminal ‘An Oak Tree’ (1973) through to more recent decades as an internationally-renowned painter, sculptor and printmaker as well as his influential role as a teacher to two generations of Young British Artists at Goldsmiths.
  • 3. Pedro Pascal

    01:00:02||Season 1, Ep. 3
    Russell & Robert talk with leading actor Pedro Pascal, star of Narcos, Game of Thrones and forthcoming Star Wars 'The Mandalorian'. They discuss his favourite artist, a classic painting on display at Museum of Modern Art that offered Pedro comfort when he moved to New York in the mid 1990s, as well as his more recent art experiences at Tate Modern and Frieze Art Fair whilst filming in London for his latest movie Wonder Woman 1984.
  • 4. Sarah Hadland and Laura Aikman

    53:37||Season 1, Ep. 4
    We celebrate the holidays with two dear friends, the actresses Sarah Hadland and Laura Aikman (both stars of The Job Lot comedy sitcom with Russell). Topics include Olafur Eliasson’s melting ice installation highlighting climate change, Yayoi Kusama’s infinity mirrored room, the paintings of LS Lowry, Beryl Cook, Picasso and Ed Ruscha. Plus we discover which guest once pole danced for Madonna! Happy Christmas everyone. We will return in Spring 2019 with a weekly season. Love Russell and Robert X
  • 5. Louisa Buck

    50:02||Season 1, Ep. 5
    Robert & Russell chat with leading British art critic and author Louisa Buck, columnist for the Art Newspaper and a judge of the Turner Prize in 2005. They explore how the art world has evolved since the 1980s and 90s, discover which artwork Grayson Perry made as a commission to commemorate the birth of Louisa's daughter as well as revealing the best, and very worst, interviews she's conducted. Happy International Women's Day!
  • 6. Martin Creed

    01:00:57||Season 1, Ep. 6
    Robert & Russell meet legendary artist and ‘poet of the everyday’ Martin Creed (and his dog Jimmy). Find out why this Turner Prize winner doesn’t read reviews of his own work, who his favourite comedians are and how music has informed his art. We delve deep into Creed’s creative output spanning more than 30 years. From a giant kinetic sculpture with the word MOTHERS lit up in neon, a live performance where athletes run through the Tate as fast as they can, to a more recent handmade textile work: a multicoloured neck-warmer (worn by the artist during this very interview).
  • 7. Sadie Coles

    46:12||Season 1, Ep. 7
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    01:07:57||Season 1, Ep. 8
    Robert & Russell meet Tracey Emin CBE, one of the world’s most respected, successful and controversial artists. During an hour-long private tour of her current solo exhibition ‘A Fortnight of Tears’, we explore her mother’s recent death, grief, everlasting love, the supernatural, insomnia and abortion. Tracey reveals that nature is one of her biggest influences and how working in a small South of France studio enabled the artist to wholeheartedly and triumphantly return to painting. Learn more about her longterm connection to the work of Edvard Munch, her return to her childhood hometown of Margate and why, surprisingly, she doesn’t keep a diary. For images of all works discussed in this episode, visit our Instagram @TalkArt Please leave us a review and rating if you’ve enjoyed this episode!
  • 9. Ryan Gander OBE

    56:50||Season 1, Ep. 9
    Russell & Robert chat to leading conceptual artist Ryan Gander OBE. We explore artist persona, designing a kitchen sink, family ties, the soul of objects and why his art has been so commercially successful in Japan. Ryan reveals how a limited edition Rolex watch transformed into an artwork, why he worked with glow-in-the-dark concrete, the importance of empathy and why we should all ‘let the world take a turn'. For images of works discussed in this episode, visit our Instagram @TalkArt. Ryan’s new BBC Four documentary ‘Me, My Selfie and I’ is available to view on iPlayer until mid April 2019. Please leave us a review and rating if you’ve enjoyed this episode!