The Apollo Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

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.

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 measure.

Hosted by Thomas Marks

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 Business Development. In the podcast, he sets out why this is such an exciting time for the visual arts in LA – and explains how the distinctive character of the LA art world is driving such dramatic change.

Hosted by Thomas Marks

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 an asset in its own right.

Be sure to share this podcast with your followers!

Hosted by Thomas Marks