“What is the difference between art as a hobby & ‘living an artful life’?” was a question I posed recently to a class of students in one of the high school art classes I teach on the Upper West Side ...

William Kentridge was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1955. He attended the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (1973–76), Johannesburg Art Foundation (1976–78), and studied mime and ...

In his London studio, artist Yinka Shonibare CBE RA reflects on what it means for him to be an artist, how he views his occupation as a utopian pursuit, and how the lines between the personal and ...

Artist Laylah Ali discusses her work’s relationship to portraiture and the role of performance, symmetry, and violence in her paintings. Art21: Do you think that the term portrait accurately describes ...

James Turrell discusses his 2001 design for a Quaker meetinghouse in Houston. ART21: How did you come to design the Quaker meetinghouse in Houston? Was that your idea, or did the Friends there contact ...

Robert Adams discusses his personal motivations for art-making, as well as his own understanding of beauty and the purpose of art. Art21What would you say making art is about, for you? Adams: Recently ...

Art21 is the world’s leading source to learn directly from the artists of our time. The mission of Art21 is to educate and expand access to contemporary art through the production of documentary films ...

Educator Guides are designed to be used as a resource in the classroom before, during, and after viewing Art21 films. These guides provide information about selected artists and themes, questions for ...

In 2008, twenty of Cindy Sherman’s History Portraits (1989–1990) were exhibited at Skarstedt Gallery in New York City. In the following interview, Sherman walks Art21 through the exhibition and ...

In this interview, Collier Schorr talks about what it was like photographing wrestlers during matches, and how the resulting photographs are installed and received by viewers. ART21: You’ve been ...

Look for the plus icon next to videos throughout the site to add them here. Save videos to watch later, or make a selection to play back-to-back using the autoplay feature. Kerry James Marshall ...

Attentive to the accidental encounters that can inspire an image, Jeff Wall recreates flashes of inspiration obtained from sources as varied as personal recollections to something noticed on the ...