A brush with... Philippe Parreno

A brush with... Philippe Parreno

Author: The Art Newspaper September 15, 2021 Duration: 49:24

Philippe Parreno talks to Ben Luke in depth about his cultural experiences and influences. A master of exhibition-making, Parreno was born in 1964 in Oran, Algeria, but grew up Grenoble in France. Ever since he emerged in the 1990s, he has used the spaces he shows in and the immediate environment around them as an active presence in his work. Architectural elements in the gallery might be animated at certain moments, lighting might flicker according to scores we don’t see, screens might descend to show examples of Philippe’s diverse video works, at unexpected times. Often these actions are triggered by hidden environmental forces that Philippe harnesses as data to orchestrate his shows. He talks about his close network of collaborators, the group shows they put on early in their careers, his interest in science fiction, his new work about Francisco de Goya's Black Paintings, his aim to make a film about Mary Shelley's Frankenstein from the monster's point of view, and the unlikely experience of getting Angus Young from AC/DC to contribute to one of his works. Plus, he responds to the ultimate questions we ask on each podcast: if he could live with just one work of art, what would it be? And, what is art for? This episode is sponsored by Bloomberg Connects.


Links for this episode:


Philippe Parreno at Pilar Corrias


Danny/No More Reality at LUMA Arles


Jaron Lanier, computer scientist, composer, artist and author 


Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, artist, at Esther Schipper


Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in the Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy


Pier Paolo Pasolini biography on BFI website


Daniel Buren, artist


Peter Plagens on Michael Asher in Artforum in 1972 


Goya's Black Paintings in the Museo del Prado


Schatten/Le Montreur d'Ombres/Warning Shadows at IMDb


Fiona Sampson on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein at 200


The Year Without a Summer on the In Our Time podcast


Adam Thirlwell at Granta, and his book Conversation: A Script with Philippe Parreno


Pierre Huygh, artist, at Marian Goodman Gallery


Danny the Street at DC Comics


Nathalie Heinich on Les Immatériaux, exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in 1985 in Tate Papers


Author Kenric MacDowell’s Pharmako-AI


Philippe Parreno’s Federico, initially made for the Lorca’s family home, the Huerta de San Vicente in Granada


Neal Stephenson, author


Marko Nikodijević, composer, at sikorski.de


Angus Young on Spotify


Dmitri Shostakovich, Fugue no24 in D Minor


Robert Filliou, artist, at Peter Freeman, Inc




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Ever wondered what really makes an artist tick? A brush with... from The Art Newspaper goes beyond the finished work to explore the daily rhythms and deep inspirations that fuel the creative process. Each episode is a quiet, focused conversation between host Ben Luke and a leading international artist, structured around a set of deceptively simple questions. You’ll hear them discuss the historical and contemporary figures they look to, the museums they find themselves drawn back to repeatedly, and the books, music, and films that shape their thinking. Crucially, Luke invites them to describe the mundane magic of the studio-what actually happens there day to day. This approach reveals the person behind the practice in a way that feels intimate and genuine. Sponsored by Bloomberg Connects, the podcast builds a rich portrait of artistic life, one thoughtful dialogue at a time. It’s for anyone curious about the web of influences and habits that culminate in a piece of art, offering a rare glimpse into the minds that shape our visual culture. Tune in for conversations that are less about interrogation and more about discovery, where the answers often surprise even the artists themselves.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 135

A brush with...
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