The London-based artist Lawrence Lek uses the visual language of computer games to produce site-specific works that simulate real-world environments and create fantasy narratives. His film for Glasgow International sees the Clyde-built QE2 cruise liner sail from Dubai to Scotland to be turned into an extension for the Glasgow School of Art. Chris Sharratt finds out why.
Artist and former teacher Henry Ward is head of education at the Freelands Foundation, founded last year by Elisabeth Murdoch. a-n Writer Development Programme participant Lydia Ashman finds out more about the foundation and its forthcoming Art Is… symposium at Tate Modern.
Miranda Pennell’s new 60-minute film, The Host, delves deep into the BP archive to tell a gripping story that examines British colonial history in Iran and the birth of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. Chris Sharratt asks the questions.
The Europarc Project has seen North East Lincolnshire-based artist Marc Renshaw researching the strangely detached world of the region’s ‘flagship’ business park. a-n Writer Development Programme participant James Steventon talks to him as an exhibition of his work goes on show at The Collection, Lincoln.
The Italian artist and hardcore punk singer Nico Vascellari presents his large-scale, haunting audio-visual installation, Bus de la Lum, at Manchester’s Whitworth. Dany Louise asks him about the work’s meaning and his wider practice.
Irish artist Gerard Byrne is known for film installations that deal with the presentation, manipulation and perception of narratives. For his show at Warwick Arts Centre he’s premiering a new work filmed with one unbroken panning shot in Stockholm’s Biologiska Museet. He talks to Anneka French about location, light and methods of display.
London-based Brazilian artist Tonico Lemos Auad has his first solo exhibition for a UK public gallery at the De La Warr Pavilion in East Sussex, featuring existing works and a new commission. Dany Louise finds out more.
The UTOPIA 2016 festival is a year-long celebration at Somerset House, London marking 500 years since the publication of Thomas More’s influential text. Initiator and artistic advisor Ruth Potts explains how the festival came about, and explores the relationship between its programming and More’s groundbreaking ideas.
As part of the Saatchi Gallery’s 30th anniversary show, Champagne Life, Cambridge-based, Iranian-born Soheila Sokhanvari is one of 14 artists in the gallery’s first ever all-female show. Dany Louise discovers more about the artist and her work.
For her online artwork We Need Us – currently showing at group exhibitions in Manchester and London – Julie Freeman has powered an audio-visual animation with live data from the citizen science project The Zooniverse. She explains why data and how it’s used is so important in our increasingly digital lives.
As her new exhibition War Damaged Musical Instruments opens at Tate Britain, Turner Prize-winner Susan Philipsz speaks to Jack Hutchinson about marking the centenary of the first world war, conflict-damaged brass instruments and the lure of Berlin.
As the Creative Time Summit NYC takes place this weekend at the Boys and Girls High School in Brooklyn, Nato Thompson speaks to Pippa Koszerek about the summit, his new book Seeing Power and how art can impact social change.
Alice Cunningham’s solo exhibition at the Royal British Society of Sculptors, London, includes new works in marble developed while she was recipient of the 2014 Brian Mercer Stone Carving Residency in Pietrasanta, Italy. She speaks to Pippa Koszerek about how she worked with a specialist stone carving studio to create the four works included in the show.
Best known for his ‘scratch video’ work in the 1980s, in his recent films the video artist George Barber uses dark humour to tackle topical issues such as military drones and the global refugee crisis. With shows currently taking place in London and Cardiff, Chris Sharratt talks to him about absurdity, politics and life on board a nuclear submarine.
Mexican artist Abraham Cruzvillegas has produced the inaugural Hyundai Commission for Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall, unveiled this week. Here, Richard Taylor finds out more about his ‘Autoconstrucción’ approach to art, following up on themes discussed by Cruzvillegas at a recent ‘in conversation’ event in Glasgow.
Deutsche Börse Prize nominee Zanele Muholi has been documenting the LGBT community in her home country of South Africa for nearly ten years, creating a body of work that has been shown around the world. As a show of her photography opens in Liverpool, Laura Robertson talks to her.
The South African artist William Kentridge is a staple of international art biennials, a critically acclaimed art superstar known for his theatrical, thoughtful work. With an exhibition featuring two new films currently showing at London’s Marian Goodman Gallery, Dany Louise discovers more about the politics and processes behind his art.
For the Coastal Currents festival, Tod Hanson has created a site-specific work that covers the entire floor of the historic Durbar Hall in the Hastings Museum and Art Gallery. Dany Louise finds out about his process, inspiration and influences.
In her latest short film, Marianna Simnett – one of two filmmakers selected for the 2014-15 Jerwood/FVU Awards – focuses on a surgical procedure and ‘biobot’ cockroaches. Chris Sharratt overcomes his squeamishness to ask some questions about her work.
Iraqi-born, Cardiff-based artist Rabab Ghazoul is one of five artists featured in the Iraq Pavilion at this year’s Venice Biennale, with a three-channel video piece that focuses on Tony Blair’s testimony to the Chilcot Inquiry. Chris Sharratt finds out more.
Berlin-based artist Phil Collins’ latest film installation at Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow has developed from an 82-minute long film he made over the course of a year in collaboration with the city’s people and its institutions. Chris Sharratt speaks to the artist about the development of the project, his interest in Glasgow and its inhabitants, and the transformative power of a pop song.
Manchester-based Liz West has opened her highest value commission to date at Bradford’s National Media Museum – the immersive light-based installation, An Additive Mix. She speaks to Pippa Koszerek about the making process, starting out and making the jump to full-time artist.
The London and Mull-based artist Charles Avery discusses his ongoing project, The Islanders, and its evolution for a new site-specific commission as part of this year’s Edinburgh Art Festival.
The performance, video and installation artist discusses Hercules Rough Cut, his new commission for Bloomberg SPACE which explores empire, civilisation, London and language.
Tate Britain’s new series of regular exhibitions, Contemporary Projects, focuses on recent works by emerging artists who are not yet part of the gallery’s collection. Lizzie Carey-Thomas, curator of the inaugural exhibition The Weight of Data, speaks to Pippa Koszerek about the context, process and ideas behind the show.
