Artists on Art
This special series of six lectures by leading artists and architects explores art-making, art education and creativity now.
Royal Academicians Grayson Perry, Farshid Moussavi, Antony Gormley, Lubaina Himid, Isaac Julien and Sonia Boyce will examine what it means to be an artist today, in a series of unmissable lectures to coincide with the 300th anniversary of the birth of Sir Joshua Reynolds PRA.
Since our foundation over 250 years ago the Royal Academy has been a place for artists, where art is taught, made and shaped. The Royal Academy's first president Sir Joshua Reynolds lectured on the role of artists and art education at the RA Schools in his groundbreaking Discourses on Art. Inspired by the questions Reynolds first posed, Artists on Art addresses what it means to be an artist in the 21st century.
Grayson Perry on humour in art
9 March 2023
In his lecture, artist Grayson Perry will be discussing the role of humour in art and examining what it means to be an artist today.
Winner of the 2003 Turner prize, Sir Grayson Perry CBE RA is one of Britain’s best-known contemporary artists. Working with a range of traditional media including ceramics, cast iron, bronze, printmaking and tapestry, he is a great chronicler of contemporary life. His work explores issues from class and politics, sex and religion, Brexit and divided Britain. He is also a multi-award-winning television presenter working on a series on class, identity and masculinity for Channel 4 and the popular series Art Club.
Farshid Moussavi on the role of architects
27 April 2023
Architect Farshid Moussavi will discuss the role of the architect in the design process and how architecture can be open to new possibilities and to chance.
Farshid Moussavi OBE RA is an internationally acclaimed architect and Professor in Practice of Architecture at Harvard University Graduate School of Design. Her approach is characterised by an openness to change and a commitment to the intellectual and cultural life of architecture. She lectures regularly at arts institutions and schools of architecture worldwide. Her recent book Architecture & Micropolitics demonstrates the interaction of architecture and society through four key designs by her award-winning architectural practice, Farshid Moussavi Architecture (FMA).
Antony Gormley on sculpture and society
1 June 2023
Antony Gormley will discuss how art and life interact and ask what sculpture can do for us now.
Sir Antony Gormley OBE RA is one of the UK’s most celebrated artists, acclaimed for his sculptures, installations and public artworks that investigate the relationship of the human body to space. Gormley continually tries to identify the space of art as a place of becoming in which new behaviours, thoughts and feelings can arise. Awarded the Turner Prize in 1994, his work has been widely exhibited throughout the UK and internationally, with public works including the Angel of the North in Gateshead and Another Place on Crosby Beach.
Lubaina Himid on art and storytelling
12 September 2023
In her lecture artist Lubaina Himid will explore how art can bring insight on hidden narratives and develop conversations with audiences.
Lubaina Himid CBE RA is a painter and curator who has dedicated her 40-year career to uncovering marginalised and silenced histories, figures, and cultural expressions. Working across painting, drawing, collage, print and installation, Himid encourages personal encounters with her artworks as well as reflecting on the connections to 18th and 19th-century British art, culture and society. She has exhibited widely across the UK and internationally, including a recent major monographic exhibition at Tate Modern, and was the winner of the Turner Prize in 2017.
Isaac Julien on the art of film
6 September 2023
Isaac Julien will discuss how uniting different artistic disciplines can create powerful narratives through film.
Sir Isaac Julien RA is a Turner-prize nominated artist and filmmaker and one of the most prominent figures at the intersection of media art and cinema today. Drawing from film, dance, photography, music, theatre, painting, and sculpture, he has pioneered multi-screen installations and his work has been celebrated in the art and film worlds. He has exhibited internationally and his work is held in museum and gallery collections worldwide. Julien was awarded a Knighthood as part of the Queen’s Honours List in 2022.
Sonia Boyce on art and education
4 October 2023
Sonia Boyce reflects on the place of art and art education today in her lecture, which will explore art as a social practice.
Sonia Boyce OBE RA is an interdisciplinary artist and academic working across film, photography, print, sound and installation. With an emphasis on collaborative work, she questions artistic authorship and cultural difference as well as exploring the intersection of personal and political subjectivities. In 2022 she presented Feeling Her Way for the British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, for which she was awarded the Golden Lion for Best National Participation. Boyce has taught Fine Art studio practice for over thirty years in several art colleges across the UK and is currently Professor of Black Art and Design at University of the Arts London.