What is art for?
Contemporary artists on their influences, inspirations and disciplines
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Heni Publishing
Published:4th Sep '25
Should be back in stock very soon
Drawing on over 25 years’ experience talking to artists, Ben Luke conceived and launched the A brush with… podcast in 2020 to explore the influences, rituals and disciplines of artists working today through in-depth audio interviews. Titled after the final question he asks every guest, What is art for? comprises 25 of these conversations, edited and illustrated to offer a tangible and visually rich version.
The selected artists span 12 cities across 4 continents: Michael Armitage, Phyllida Barlow, Alvaro Barrington, Michael Craig-Martin, Tacita Dean, Jeremy Deller, Ellen Gallagher, Theaster Gates, Roni Horn, Pierre Huyghe, Arthur Jafa, Claudette Johnson, William Kentridge, Ragnar Kjartansson, Mark Leckey, Julie Mehretu, Cornelia Parker, Doris Salcedo, Dayanita Singh, Do Ho Suh, Sarah Sze, Charline von Heyl, Stanley Whitney, Alberta Whittle and Zadie Xa.
The book also features newly written texts by Luke that reveal what the series has taught him, drawing out the overlaps and parallels between interviews, and the shared passions and fascinations of different artists. Taken together, the volume – which is presented in an affordable reading book format – paints a compelling and, at times, unexpected story of artists’ inspirations and motivations.
"The approach Luke takes is simple, but effective, and while over the last five years podcasts have changed, become clickbaity, and pushed to become punchier and quicker to respond to a short-attention TikTok economy, A Brush With has wonderfully stayed the same: a deep, considered conversation that allows the space for artists to think through the function and process of art. The book acts as a marker of its first five years, with hopefully many more to come." – recessed.space
ISBN: 9781911736172
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
400 pages