Frieze Masters Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

'My discovery of early Renaissance art was completely by accident in the National Gallery, by just walking down a few more stairs...I'd stay there for about an hour, and then I would come out, I'd close my eyes, and as I pushed the doors, I would imagine my paintings'. –Tracey Emin 

In the first episode of the 2025 Frieze Masters Podcast, artist Tracey Emin, Nicholas Cullinan (director, British Museum), and their host Arturo Galansino (Director General, Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi) discuss their early experiences and evolving relationships within the arts, delving into topics such as intimacy and feelings of safety in the context of an institution, overcoming class struggle and illness, and speaking the truth.  

The Frieze Masters Talks programme and the Frieze Masters Podcast are brought to you by Frieze in collaboration with dunhill. 

Full transcript available at frieze.com

Dame Tracey Emin OBE is one of the most important contemporary artists of her generation, known for her autobiographical and confessional work. Nicholas Cullinan OBE, art historian and curator has been the Director of the British Museum since 2024, and prior to that was appointed the 12th Director of the National Portrait Gallery from 2015. They are joined by their host Arturo Galansino - art historian, curator, and Director General of the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi in Florence, and the curator of this year's Frieze Masters Talks programme. 

About the Frieze Masters Podcast

The Frieze Masters Podcast is back for 2025, bringing you seven conversations across art history curated by Arturo Galansino (Director General of the Palazzo Strozzi Foundation in Florence).  

Entitled 'Woven Histories' and recorded live at Frieze Masters 2025, this year's series features artists, curators and thinkers, whose conversations weave together geographies and chronologies, and challenge us to look at history in new and unexpected ways.

Topics range from the evolving relationship between fashion and art to the role of the archive in Black history, the last Mughals and their cultural influence in India and the enduring inspiration of the old masters and renaissance art on contemporary making. Speakers include artists Tracey Emin, Glenn Brown and Antony Gormley, museum directors and curators Nicholas Cullinan, Émilie Hammen, Elizabeth Way and Carl Strehlke, and writers Edward George, Matthew Harle, Christopher Rothko and William Dalrymple. 

The Frieze Masters Talks programme and the Frieze Masters Podcast are brought to you by Frieze in collaboration with dunhill. 

'When you make a painting, you want to make a good painting. You are more interested in the composition of the things, than in the precise description of the things.' – Nathalie Du Pasquier 

In the seventh and final episode of Series 3 of the Frieze Masters Podcast, artist Nathalie Du Pasquier, architect Annabelle Selldorf and Curator Abraham Thomas discuss the plasticity of the creative environment, and the collisions and contrasts between the visions of artists, architects and curators. 

Nathalie du Pasquier is an artist and co-founder of the Memphis design group in the 1980s; Annabelle Selldorf of Selldorf Architects has a global practice with expertise in complex cultural projects, including museums and temporary structures such as Frieze Masters; and Abraham Thomas is the Daniel Brodsky Curator of Modern Architecture, Design and Decorative Arts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. 

Full transcript available at frieze.com 

About Frieze Masters Podcast 

The Frieze Masters Podcast in collaboration with dunhill is back for 2024, bringing you the annual Frieze Masters Talks programme recorded during this year's fair. The series of seven discussions was curated by Sheena Wagstaff and Shanay Jhaveri, with the title 'The Creative Mind', and features 21 intergenerational and international speakers exploring how the art of the past can help make sense of the present. 

The series includes topics 'The State We're In', 'The Faces of Community' and 'The Power of Painting', with speakers ranging from artists – NairyBaghramian, Jeremy Deller, Nathalie Du Pasquier, Shirazeh Houshiary, Mark Leckey, Glenn Ligon, Ming Smith – to curators such as Gabriele Finaldi, Glenn Lowry and Victoria Siddall, plus writers, thinkers, architects and politicians. 

About Frieze 

Frieze is the world's leading platform for modern and contemporary art, dedicated to artists, galleries, collectors and art lovers alike. Frieze comprises three magazines – 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘻𝘦, Frieze Masters Magazine and Frieze Week; five international art fairs – Frieze London, Frieze Masters, Frieze New York, Frieze Los Angeles and Frieze Seoul; and No.9 Cork Street, a permanent gallery space in the heart of London. 

www.frieze.com 

@friezeofficial 

The year 1993 marked a watershed for the famous Turner Prize, when it was awarded for the first time to a woman. That artist was Rachel Whiteread and the work was House in East London. In On Space, Whiteread is in conversation with the art historian Briony Fer. Together, they discuss the urges and concerns that underpin Whiteread's work, from seminal works of the 1990s to her more recent projects, such as the site-specific commission unveiled in the summer of 2023 at Palazzo della Ragione in Bergamo, Italy, which responds to the experience and legacy of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

[Drawing] is something I've always done in the studio and it's a way of slowing things down, it's a way of being on my own, it's a way of meditating, a way of bringing some colour into my life. – Rachel Whiteread 

Rachel Whiteread is a contemporary British artist working across sculpture and drawing, using casting to free her subject matter. Briony Fer is Professor of History of Art at University College and has published extensively on 20th century and contemporary art.

Find images of the artwork discussed here.

About Frieze Masters Podcast

Series two of the Frieze Masters Podcast is now available, bringing you our annual programme of live talks – the Frieze Masters Talks programme – curated by the Director of the National Portrait Gallery, Dr Nicholas Cullinan. These eight conversations between leading artists, writers, museum directors and curators all reflect the ethos of the Frieze Masters fair: looking at the past with a contemporary gaze.

The Frieze Masters Talks programme and the Frieze Masters Podcast are brought to you by Frieze in collaboration with dunhill, the foremost British luxury menswear house.

This podcast is a Reduced Listening production. The producer was Silvia Malnati and sound engineer was Andy Fell.

About Frieze

Frieze is the world's leading platform for modern and contemporary art, dedicated to artists, galleries, collectors and art lovers alike. Frieze comprises three magazines – 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘻𝘦, Frieze Masters Magazine and Frieze Week; five international art fairs – Frieze London, Frieze Masters, Frieze New York, Frieze Los Angeles and Frieze Seoul; and No.9 Cork Street, a permanent gallery space in the heart of London. 

www.frieze.com

@friezeofficial

In On Power, London-based multidisciplinary artist Thomas J Price is in conversation with Dr Gus Casely-Hayford, the inaugural Director of V&A East. Together, they reflect on how monuments created for the public realm are not just aesthetic objects but artefacts often bound up in values, ideologies and power systems. Price, in his words, wants to convey 'the sense of another person' and has spent the past two decades creating large-scale figurative sculptures of everyday, unidentified Black individuals, often located in public spaces: such as the commission honouring the Windrush Generation in London's Hackney.

'Visibility is one thing, but understanding is another. I think that desire to be understood is so primal and so urgent and so necessary within all of us and I think for a long time, people of colour had to do without that reality.' – Thomas J Price 

Thomas J Price is a British artist celebrated for his large-scale figurative sculptures. 'Thomas J Price at the V&A' presents the artist's work in dialogue with the V&A's historic collections, until May 2024. Dr Gus Casely-Hayford is the inaugural Director of V&A East, appointed in March 2020, as well as a curator and cultural historian who writes, lectures and broadcasts widely on culture.

Find images of the artwork discussed here.

About Frieze Masters Podcast

Series two of the Frieze Masters Podcast is now available, bringing you our annual programme of live talks – the Frieze Masters Talks programme – curated by the Director of the National Portrait Gallery, Dr Nicholas Cullinan. These eight conversations between leading artists, writers, museum directors and curators all reflect the ethos of the Frieze Masters fair: looking at the past with a contemporary gaze.

The Frieze Masters Talks programme and the Frieze Masters Podcast are brought to you by Frieze in collaboration with dunhill, the foremost British luxury menswear house.

This podcast is a Reduced Listening production. The producer was Silvia Malnati and sound engineer was Andy Fell.

About Frieze

Frieze is the world's leading platform for modern and contemporary art, dedicated to artists, galleries, collectors and art lovers alike. Frieze comprises three magazines – 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘻𝘦, Frieze Masters Magazine and Frieze Week; five international art fairs – Frieze London, Frieze Masters, Frieze New York, Frieze Los Angeles and Frieze Seoul; and No.9 Cork Street, a permanent gallery space in the heart of London. 

www.frieze.com

@friezeofficial

In 2023, Frieze Masters fair sought to break the artist's studio open to a new audience with a new section, Studio, curated by Sheena Wagstaff – the former Chairman of the Department of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Met and now Met's Chair Emerita. In On Studios, Wagstaff talks with one of the Studio artists, Arlene Shechet, exploring how central the place and space of making is to her work, as well as its significance in the realm of creativity.

'It's not a genius move, it's just hard work. It just means that you know that you want something more, you know that you want something different. You follow the work always in terms of form, you follow the work in terms of idea, and you definitely follow the work in terms of solving any technical problems.' – Arlene Shechet

Arlene Shechet is a sculptor working in New York City and the Hudson Valley. In 2023, Shechet was elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 2024, the Storm King Art Center will stage a major exhibition of Shechet's work. Sheena Wagstaff was Chair of Modern and Contemporary Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York from 2012-22, and is now vested as Met's Chair Emerita. Wagstaff was appointed Creative Advisor for Frieze Masters in November 2023.

Find images of the artwork discussed here.

About Frieze Masters Podcast

Series two of the Frieze Masters Podcast is now available, bringing you our annual programme of live talks – the Frieze Masters Talks programme – curated by the Director of the National Portrait Gallery, Dr Nicholas Cullinan. These eight conversations between leading artists, writers, museum directors and curators all reflect the ethos of the Frieze Masters fair: looking at the past with a contemporary gaze.

The Frieze Masters Talks programme and the Frieze Masters Podcast are brought to you by Frieze in collaboration with dunhill, the foremost British luxury menswear house.

This podcast is a Reduced Listening production. The producer was Silvia Malnati and sound engineer was Andy Fell.

About Frieze

Frieze is the world's leading platform for modern and contemporary art, dedicated to artists, galleries, collectors and art lovers alike. Frieze comprises three magazines – 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘻𝘦, Frieze Masters Magazine and Frieze Week; five international art fairs – Frieze London, Frieze Masters, Frieze New York, Frieze Los Angeles and Frieze Seoul; and No.9 Cork Street, a permanent gallery space in the heart of London. 

www.frieze.com

@friezeofficial

On Photography asks what it means today for an artist to work with a living, breathing icon, like the actress Tilda Swinton. Tim Walker, the noted artist and photographer, is joined by his long-time collaborator, stylist Jerry Stafford, to talk about their work together with Tilda Swinton. Dr Nicholas Cullinan, Director of the National Portrait Gallery, London, moderates the conversation.

'When I'm scared of something or someone, that scare turns into being photogenic. […] The situation becomes very heightened and I become very alert and I then I think I make better work.' – Tim Walker

Tim Walker is a photographer for Vogue's British, Italian and American editions, as well as W Magazine and LOVE Magazine. Jerry Stafford is a writer and curator. He is creative director at Paris-based film production company Premiere Heure and personal stylist to performers Tilda Swinton and Gwendoline Christie. Dr Nicholas Cullinan is Director of the National Portrait Gallery, London. 

Find images of the artwork discussed here.

This episode is presented in collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery.

About Frieze Masters Podcast

Series two of the Frieze Masters Podcast is now available, bringing you our annual programme of live talks – the Frieze Masters Talks programme – curated by the Director of the National Portrait Gallery, Dr Nicholas Cullinan. These eight conversations between leading artists, writers, museum directors and curators all reflect the ethos of the Frieze Masters fair: looking at the past with a contemporary gaze.

The Frieze Masters Talks programme and the Frieze Masters Podcast are brought to you by Frieze in collaboration with dunhill, the foremost British luxury menswear house.

This podcast is a Reduced Listening production. The producer was Silvia Malnati and sound engineer was Andy Fell.

About Frieze

Frieze is the world's leading platform for modern and contemporary art, dedicated to artists, galleries, collectors and art lovers alike. Frieze comprises three magazines – 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘻𝘦, Frieze Masters Magazine and Frieze Week; five international art fairs – Frieze London, Frieze Masters, Frieze New York, Frieze Los Angeles and Frieze Seoul; and No.9 Cork Street, a permanent gallery space in the heart of London. 

www.frieze.com

@friezeofficial

In On Display, artist Shirin Neshat is in conversation with Jamie Fobert, the architect of London's newly reopened National Portrait Gallery, and its Director, Dr Nicholas Cullinan, moderated by Tim Marlow, Director of the Design Museum. Neshat reflects on her 2018 portrait of Nobel Peace Prize awardee Malala Yousafzai that was commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery. The conversation explores the history of this much-loved institution and how its contemporary meaning is shaped through its program, its work with artists like Neshat, and in the very fabric of its building.

'I think what we ended up capturing is the true Malala, which is exactly that kind of paradoxical quality that I see in every human being: the sense of confidence, defiance, strength, pride, yet absolute vulnerability, fragility, insecurity.' –  Shirin Neshat

Shirin Neshat is an Iranian-born artist and filmmaker living in New York. Jamie Fobert is a London-based architect and designer whose projects include the recently completed National Portrait Gallery, London. Dr Nicholas Cullinan is Director of the National Portrait Gallery, London. 

Find images of the artwork discussed here.

This episode is presented in collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery.

About Frieze Masters Podcast

Series two of the Frieze Masters Podcast is now available, bringing you our annual programme of live talks – the Frieze Masters Talks programme – curated by the Director of the National Portrait Gallery, Dr Nicholas Cullinan. These eight conversations between leading artists, writers, museum directors and curators all reflect the ethos of the Frieze Masters fair: looking at the past with a contemporary gaze.

The Frieze Masters Talks programme and the Frieze Masters Podcast are brought to you by Frieze in collaboration with dunhill, the foremost British luxury menswear house.

This podcast is a Reduced Listening production. The producer was Silvia Malnati and sound engineer was Andy Fell.

About Frieze

Frieze is the world's leading platform for modern and contemporary art, dedicated to artists, galleries, collectors and art lovers alike. Frieze comprises three magazines – 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘻𝘦, Frieze Masters Magazine and Frieze Week; five international art fairs – Frieze London, Frieze Masters, Frieze New York, Frieze Los Angeles and Frieze Seoul; and No.9 Cork Street, a permanent gallery space in the heart of London. 

www.frieze.com

@friezeofficial

In 2005, British artists Maggi Hambling and Sarah Lucas met at the historic Colony Room Club in London's Soho. There, they discovered that they shared the same irreverent and unapologetic attitude – and even the same birthday. In On Rebellion, chaired by Louisa Buck, these two British artists discuss their influences, their reactions to rules and expectations, facing up to mortality and being each other's muse.  

'I think great art creates somewhere where life and death cohabit, where life and death come together' – Maggi Hambling

Maggi Hambling is a British painter and sculptor. Hambling's latest series of paintings, Maelstrom, is on show at Frankie Rossi Art Projects, London, 5 October – 24 November 2023. Sarah Lucas is a British artist whose practice spans sculpture, photography and installation. Tate Britain, London, hosts the major exhibition Sarah Lucas: Happy Gas, 28 September 2023 – 14 January 2024. Louisa Buck is a writer and broadcaster on contemporary art.  

Find images of the artwork discussed here.

About Frieze Masters Podcast

Series two of the Frieze Masters Podcast is now available, bringing you our annual programme of live talks – the Frieze Masters Talks programme – curated by the Director of the National Portrait Gallery, Dr Nicholas Cullinan. These eight conversations between leading artists, writers, museum directors and curators all reflect the ethos of the Frieze Masters fair: looking at the past with a contemporary gaze.

The Frieze Masters Talks programme and the Frieze Masters Podcast are brought to you by Frieze in collaboration with dunhill, the foremost British luxury menswear house.

About Frieze

Frieze is the world's leading platform for modern and contemporary art, dedicated to artists, galleries, collectors and art lovers alike. Frieze comprises three magazines – 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘻𝘦, Frieze Masters Magazine and Frieze Week; five international art fairs – Frieze London, Frieze Masters, Frieze New York, Frieze Los Angeles and Frieze Seoul; and No.9 Cork Street, a permanent gallery space in the heart of London. 

www.frieze.com

@friezeofficial

Frieze Masters presents this conversation with Anthea Hamilton & Nicholas Cullinan in partnership with Studio Voltaire @studiovoltairelondon. Their conversation explores the trajectory of Hamilton's work, the geopolitical basis of her identity as a 'Londoner' and how elements from the 'fourth dimension' shape her work. 

"We're actually functioning in a four-dimensional space, and I tried to think about what might be in the fourth dimension, if it's not just depth. And for me, those fourth dimensional things are emotions, power, wealth, and those are the kinds of things I think, which are shaping the practice as it kind of goes forward." – Anthea Hamilton 

Anthea Hamilton @hamiltonanthea was born in London in 1978, where she lives and works. Her approach has often focused on extended study into archives, scientific research and popular culture combining these with resonant images and objects in unusual and surreal ways. Nicholas Cullinan @nicholascullinan is an art historian, curator and Director of the National Portrait Gallery in London. 

About the Frieze Masters Podcast 

Exploring themes of identity, originality, geopolitics and Blackness through a historical lens, the new Frieze Masters Podcast is now available. Bringing together some of today's most celebrated artists, art historians and curators, the podcast launches with the Talks programme from the 2022 edition of Frieze Masters – one of the world's leading art fairs – and offers compelling insight into the influence of historical art on contemporary perspectives and creativity.    

www.frieze.com 

@friezeofficial

Frieze Masters presents Love Lucian: The Letters and Early Life of Lucian Freud in partnership with the Freud Museum (@freudmuseum) . This episode features Hannah Rothschild in conversation with Martin Gayford and David Dawson, speaking on their new publication and the first exhibition of Lucian Freud's works at the Freud Museum London. 

Exploring the overlapping themes present in both Love Lucian and the exhibition, the discussion draws out some interesting and lesser-known facets of Lucian's early life. Having uncovered illustrated letters to friends, love letters, and even telegrams, Dawson and Gayford's latest research will offer an intimate glimpse of the artist's personality and creative practice in the early part of his career. 

"[We] wanted to show the humour in him, the quick-wittedness in him, and how that sort of shapes his painting...just so that you get a real feel of what Lucian was like, as a young boy, young man, and what comes after." – David Dawson 

David Dawson is Director of the Lucian Freud Archive and was Freud's longstanding assistant, Martin Gayford is an author and the exhibition's curator, and Hannah Rothschild CBE is a British writer, documentary filmmaker, businesswoman and philanthropist. 
 
About the Frieze Masters Podcast

Exploring themes of identity, originality, geopolitics and Blackness through a historical lens, the new Frieze Masters Podcast is now available. Bringing together some of today's most celebrated artists, art historians and curators, the podcast launches with the Talks programme from the 2022 edition of Frieze Masters – one of the world's leading art fairs – and offers compelling insight into the influence of historical art on contemporary perspectives and creativity.    

www.frieze.com 

@friezeofficial