The Apollo Podcast

Presented by Masterpiece London in partnership with Apollo, this three-part series of podcasts provides an insight into the works on show at this year’s Masterpiece fair. In this final episode, Sophie Barling speaks to Charis Tyndall of Charles Ede about a striking image of female companionship on an Ancient Greek funeral stele. Nick Stagliano of Michele Beiny gallery tells the story behind a porcelain breast bowl made for Marie Antoinette, while Adam Lowe talks about the display he has curated with architect Charlotte Skene Catling for the fair’s new Masterpiece [Re]Discovery section, 'Avoiding Oblivion: The Preservation of Pharaonic Knowledge’, which builds on the work of Lowe’s workshop Factum Arte in the Valley of the Kings over the last two decades. Masterpiece London is at the Royal Hospital Chelsea from 30 June–6 July.

Presented by Masterpiece London in partnership with Apollo, this three-part series of podcasts provides an insight into the works on show at this year’s Masterpiece fair. In the second episode, Sophie Barling talks to Melanie Vandenbrouck, sculpture curator at the V&A, about her selections for the fair’s ‘Sculpture Series’ – among them works by Zak Ové, Cathy Pilkington and Marie Watt. Pom Harrington discusses a rediscovered authorial presentation copy of Jane Austen’s Emma, at the booth of Peter Harrington this year, while Alessandra di Castro explores the history of a group of watercolours depicting Etruscan jewellery by the Roman jeweller and antiquities dealer Alfredo Castellani. Masterpiece London is at the Royal Hospital Chelsea from 30 June–6 July.

Presented by Masterpiece London in partnership with Apollo, this three-part series of podcasts provides an insight into the works on show at this year’s Masterpiece fair. In the first episode, Sophie Barling talks to Pakistani-American artist Anila Quayyum Agha about her attention-grabbing installation for Masterpiece Presents, at the entrance to this year’s Masterpiece London fair; to Errol Manners of ceramics specialists E & H Manners; and to James Brett, director of the Gallery of Everything, about two intriguing pieces on his stand at the fair this year. Masterpiece London is at the Royal Hospital Chelsea from 30 June–6 July.

In this episode of the Apollo Awards podcast Gabrielle Schwarz speaks to Sofia Garcia about the market for NFTs. Garcia is the founder of ARTXCODE, a digital gallery supporting algorithmic artists through exhibitions, special projects and private sales. She is also on the curatorial board of Art Blocks, a platform where artists can create generative art that lives on the Ethereum blockchain. She discusses different types of NFT art, the minting process and the role of the curator within the NFT space.  Presented in partnership with Close Brothers Asset Management, this three-part series takes a focused look at NFTs, featuring interviews with experts about different aspects of the technology from making to selling to collecting on the blockchain.

In this episode of the Apollo Awards podcast Gabrielle Schwarz speaks to art historian Sam Spike about how non-fungible tokens have transformed collecting. Spike is the co-founder of JPG, an NFT curation platform, as well as the Creative Director of Fingerprints DAO, a collection of work that uses the blockchain as an artistic medium. He discusses issues of ownership and security, and why not everything needs to become an NFT.  Presented in partnership with Close Brothers Asset Management, this three-part series takes a focused look at NFTs, featuring interviews with experts about different aspects of the technology –from making to selling to collection on the blockchain.

In this episode of the Apollo Awards podcast Gabrielle Schwarz speaks to the New York-based artist Rafaël Rozendaal, who has been using the internet as his canvas for almost two decades. His websites along with other media have been exhibited and can be found in collections around the world from the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam to The Whitney Museum of American art in New York. The artist reflects on his artistic processes, the freedom of creating art on the web and the accessibility of NFTs. Presented in partnership with the Close Brothers Asset Management, this three-part series takes a focused look at NFTs, featuring interviews with experts about different aspects of the technology – from making to selling to collecting on the blockchain.  

In this episode of the Apollo 40 under 40 podcast (recorded at the Apollo offices in London in February 2020) Gabrielle Schwarz speaks to the artist Mohamad Hafez, who is also a trained and practising architect. The Syrian-born, US-based artist discusses his diorama-like sculptures and installations that bring together his memories of his homeland and its rich cultural heritage with the tragedy of its recent devastation. He reflects on the personally therapeutic nature of his work – and his wider mission to humanise the stories of people who have been displaced around the world. The second series of the Apollo 40 under 40 podcast features short interviews with the talented individuals celebrated in this year’s Apollo 40 under 40 Middle East

With the artist Mahmoud Khaled. Khaled discusses his work on the themes of gender, queer desire, politics and power – and also talks about how his own experiences, including growing up in Egypt, have shaped his approach. The Apollo 40 under 40 podcast is presented by Gabrielle Schwarz

With the writer and researcher Mohamed Elshahed. Elshahed discusses his new book, Cairo since 1900: An Architectural Guide, and his wider mission to map the modernist geographies of Egypt and the Middle East. The Apollo 40 under 40 podcast is presented by Gabrielle Schwarz

With the Beirut-based artist Rayyane Tabet. Tabet talks about his current and future shows in London, New York and beyond – topics include language, Lebanese history and his fascination for the lives of objects. The Apollo 40 under 40 podcast is presented by Gabrielle Schwarz

With artist Simon Denny. Denny discusses his latest project exploring resource and data mining, and shares his advice for aspiring artists today.   The Apollo 40 under 40 podcast is presented by Gabrielle Schwarz  

With Shoair Mavlian, director of Photoworks in Brighton. Mavlian talks all things photography – from Instagram to her experience working with Elton John’s collection of modernist prints.  The Apollo 40 under 40 podcast is presented by Gabrielle Schwarz

In a world suffused with digital images, have we started to forget how to appreciate objects? Exceptional objets d’art may attract crowds or fetch eye-watering prices, but how many of us now have the skills to fully evaluate the artistry, rarity and material value of historical furniture, silver, ceramics or glass – let alone pronounce on their authenticity? In this Apollo podcast, sponsored by Sotheby’s Institute of Art, Ann-Marie Richard discusses how one might set about gaining such knowledge, drawing on her experience as Program Director of the MA Fine and Decorative Art and Design at Sotheby’s Institute, New York. Richard makes the case for the durability of important decorative art objects, in contrast to the ephemerality of so much contemporary design. She describes what it means to teach ‘how much an object weighs, what it smells like’ and explains why ‘you need to use all of your senses’ to appreciate and judge materials – as well as why anyone serious about objects should always carry a tape measur

With Ben Vickers – curator, writer, publisher and Chief Technology Officer at the Serpentine Galleries. Bickers talks about Bitcoin, Benedictine monks, and the challenge of balancing your priorities in life and work. The Apollo 40 under 40 podcast is presented by Gabrielle Schwarz

With the actor Russell Tovey – also a devoted collector and supporter of contemporary art. Tovey explains how kids’ cartoons got him into collecting, and discusses his own efforts as a photographer, his friendship with Tracey Emin and his ‘addiction’ to acquiring art. The Apollo 40 under 40 podcast is presented by Gabrielle Schwarz

In recent years, the LA art world has been expanding more rapidly than that of any city on the planet. Scores of galleries have opened – or opened outposts – there, and this year, with the inaugural edition of Frieze LA, one of the world’s leading art fair brands has decided to stake its claim on the city. Meanwhile, new private museums such as the Broad have started to attract large numbers of visitors and LA’s flagship institution, LACMA, has been fundraising for a vast, futuristic building designed by Peter Zumthor that will act as its new headquarters. How sustainable is all this growth? Does it augur well for the many artists based in the city? What effect has it had on the urban fabric of LA? And what skills are needed to manage and maintain this expanding arts infrastructure in the future? These are among the topics addressed by Jonathan T.D. Neil in a new Apollo podcast sponsored by Sotheby’s Institute of Art. Neil is Director of Sotheby’s Institute of Art-Los Angeles, as well as Head of Global Busine

With the scholar and critic Erika Balsom at King’s College London, where Balsom is senior lecturer in Film Studies. Balsom talks about her experience of working between the worlds of art and cinema, and academia and criticism, as well as the inspiration behind her latest project – the exhibition and essay ‘An Oceanic Feeling: Cinema and the Sea’. The Apollo 40 under 40 podcast is presented by Gabrielle Schwarz

Like them or loathe them, social media platforms now play a prominent role in the art world – whether as marketing tools for businesses, museums and artists, playgrounds for self-promotion, or forums for the dissemination of images and debate. But how far do social media, and particularly Instagram, inform how the art market operates? Have they disrupted traditional sales methods or diversified business opportunities in this sector? And what effect have they had on the behaviour of art world professionals, in terms of decision-making or interpersonal relations? These are among the topics addressed by Paul Melton in a new Apollo sponsored by Sotheby’s Institute of Art. Melton is a member of the faculty at Sotheby’s Institute of Art New York, and an expert in strategy and communications in the culture sector. In the podcast, he argues that the art market’s infatuation with Instagram brings it closer to financial markets, in terms of how value is assigned in an economy in which attention has increasingly become

With the curator Zoe Whitley at Tate Modern in London. Whitley discusses the women who have inspired her, the importance of diversity in exhibition-making, and why she loves working with artists – including Lubaina Himid, who supervised her PhD, and Cathy Wilkes, whose work she is curating for the British Pavilion at the 58th Venice Biennale.  The Apollo 40 under 40 podcast is presented by Gabrielle Schwarz

With the artist Jasmina Cibic, who discusses the role of politics in culture, the advice she would give to emerging artists, and her past and future projects – including the exhibition ‘Everything That You Desire and Nothing That You Fear’ at DHC/ART Foundation for Contemporary Art in Montreal. The Apollo 40 under 40 podcast is presented by Gabrielle Schwarz