Appropriation, Richard Prince, and the art of stealing images — If you’d prefer to listen click the link below, or search for The Gallery Companion on your podcast player: In the early 1980s, whilst working in the cuttings department at Time-Life Inc., the artist Richard Prince began developing a series of photographs which came to be known as Untitled…

Pussy Riot and other artists on freedom of expression — If you’d prefer to listen click the link below, or search for The Gallery Companion on your podcast player: In February 2012, as Vladimir Putin was gearing up to steal the Russian presidential ‘election’ that year, the performance art group Pussy Riot staged an audacious and provocative work inside…

Reversing the anti-art mindset — If you’d prefer to listen rather than read click the link below, or search for The Gallery Companion on your podcast player: For the past thirty years I have had a recurring bad dream which comes to me every so often when I’m feeling really worried or I’ve got…

Alternative perspectives on small boats and the movement of people — I’ve got a new podcast! Now you can read or listen to my stories. Back in 2015, as the Syrian refugee crisis started to become a very visible issue in the EU, the Irish photographer Richard Mosse began filming the mass migration of people into Europe. In that one…

Takesada Matsutani on objectivity, originality and authenticity in art — This week I watched an interesting video featuring the Japanese artist Takesada Matsutani, who has been practising since the early 1960s. Matsutani is not a household name in the history of contemporary art even though he was pioneering back in his early career. …

Julie Mehretu, immigration, and our mediated reality — Complicated Abstract Times This week I’m sharing this 9 minute video featuring the American abstract artist Julie Mehretu. I’m a really big fan of her work, and I’ve featured her in a previous post about how art is always political. The way she talks about abstract art is really interesting. I think a…

Iranian-American artist Shirin Neshat’s advice to the young — In a previous post I mentioned an Iranian-American artist, Shirin Neshat, who has been outspoken in the media in her support of the young people protesting against the government in Iran at the moment. …

Glenn Ligon, the thingness of neon, and the shifting meanings of language — This week I watched the American artist Glenn Ligon talking about a new artwork that is part of his ongoing series of neons depicting the word America. Ligon is a leading contemporary artist who works across different media, including painting, neon, video, sculpture and photography. Ligon’s art explores issues of…

Some provocative art about looking the other way — A story appeared in the art press recently about an incident in which police in London were called to a gallery to assist a woman who was seen sitting at a table slumped over with her head down on the surface. …