Interviews

Jock McFadyen, photographed in 2021 by Anne Purkiss

In the studio with… Jock McFadyen

The painter of urban desolation explains why boredom is essential for painting and how motorbikes relieve the monotony

24 Jan 2022
Photo: Inam Malik

In the studio with… Salman Toor

The Lahore-born painter keeps his spacious New York studio scrupulously clean and tidy – but he’ll never sleep in it again, all the same

16 Dec 2021
David Shrigley in 2016. Photo: Jack Taylor/Getty Images

In the studio with… David Shrigley

Renowned for his quirky drawings, the artist extols the virtues of his paint-spattered sink and the benefits of a good nap

3 Dec 2021
Self Portrait in Copenhagen

Getting real with Richard Estes

The painter is generally regarded as a Photorealist but, as he tells Apollo, he prefers to see himself as part of the long tradition of view painting

28 Nov 2021
Shilpa Gupta photographed in her studio in Mumbai

In the studio with… Shilpa Gupta

The artist’s studio in Mumbai is animated by the rumbling of the railway – and home to a collection of cough-syrup bottles

25 Nov 2021
Journey to Mount Tamalpais (detail; 2008), Etel Adnan. Private collection

Etel Adnan (1925–2021)

In 2018, the Lebanese–American painter and poet talked to Apollo about her love of California and the difference between her painting and writing

15 Nov 2021
Tacita Dean, photographed in Frith Street Gallery’s Golden Square space in London, in October 2021. Behind her is one of the works in the Purgatory (2021) series.

‘I have to fight for the corner of film’ – an interview with Tacita Dean

The British artist has consistently used film as a means of making a statement about painting. But now her chosen medium is urgently in need of saving

12 Nov 2021

In the studio with… Lynn Hershman Leeson

The pioneering new media artist has seven computers in her studio – and their hum provides a constant soundtrack to her work

9 Nov 2021
Photo: Elmar Vestner (2020)

In the studio with… Elmgreen & Dragset

The artists sometimes still sleep in their studio in Berlin – but not with each other, any more

2 Nov 2021
Lucy McKenzie at Tate Liverpool, 2021.

In the studio with… Lucy McKenzie

The artist with a training in trompe l’oeil painting keeps ring binders with recipes for gilding and how to create a convincing sky

29 Oct 2021
Helen Cammock, working at the Istituto Centrale della Grafica, Rome.

In the studio with… Helen Cammock

The artist works between studios in Brighton and London – where her best visitor is her Bedlington-whippet puppy

18 Oct 2021
Tschabalala Self in her studio in New Haven, photographed in 2020.

In the studio with… Tschabalala Self

The artist has a strict curfew when it comes to working late in her studio in New Haven – her absolute cut-off is 7pm

13 Oct 2021
Sheila Hicks photographed in the courtyard outside her studio in Paris in August 2021.

Spinning yarns with Sheila Hicks

The acclaimed textile artist, a maestro of colour and master manipulator of thread, explains why it’s more interesting to make mistakes

2 Oct 2021
Michael Craig-Martin photographed by Caroline True

In the studio with… Michael Craig-Martin

The conceptual artist is careful about who he invites to the studio, but counts George Michael as one of his most interesting visitors

29 Sep 2021
Sam Nhlengethwa. Courtesy Goodman Gallery

‘Jazz to me is like oxygen’ – an interview with Sam Nhlengethwa

The South African painter and collage artist discusses his enduring passion for jazz music

22 Sep 2021
Elizabeth Neel: LIMB AFTER LIMB (still detail; 2021), Andrew Neel.

In the studio with… Elizabeth Neel

The painter can’t listen to music when she works because she can’t get the songs out of her head – so it’s baseball on the radio instead

22 Sep 2021

In the studio with… Sarah Staton

With prehistoric carvings and stills from ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ on the walls, the artist’s studio is a mix of the past and yesterday’s vision of the future

15 Sep 2021
Andrew Lloyd Webber photographed in the Pre-Raphaelite Room at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, London, in August 2021.

Supporting cast – Andrew Lloyd Webber does up Drury Lane with a few of his favourite things

The musical impresario has found a role for his collection of beloved Pre-Raphaelites at the newly restored Theatre Royal Drury Lane

12 Sep 2021
Gilbert & George, photographed at their home (and studio) in London, 2021.

In the studio with… Gilbert & George

The duo’s east London studio is, they say, the world’s cleanest, so that they can be as dirty as they want in their art

8 Sep 2021
Kaye Donachie in her London studio

In the studio with… Kaye Donachie

The painter prefers her studio to be tidy, but it doesn’t stay that way for long – and she’s completely oblivious to the smell of turpentine and oil paint

30 Aug 2021
Liza Lou in California. Photo: Joshua White

In the studio with… Liza Lou

These days the California-based artist works nomadically in the Mojave Desert – which means playing host to the odd mountain lion

24 Aug 2021

In the studio with… Alberta Whittle

The Glasgow-based artist misses bumping into her studio neighbours in the corridors – but has a bag of volcanic ash to keep her company these days

20 Aug 2021
Mamma Andersson photographed in her studio in Stockholm in 2014.

Surface tension – an interview with Mamma Andersson

They may look like tranquil scenes, but stick with Andersson’s paintings and their sense of encroaching menace is bound to creep up on you

15 Aug 2021

In the studio with… Arthur Timothy

The UK-based painter opens the door on his studio in Bath – where he sometimes dons a suit to work, he says, if not a tie

11 Aug 2021