Rufus Wainwright (QuarARTine special episode)

Russell and Robert return for Season 5! Recorded primarily during quarantine lockdown, we’ve reached out to international creative guests from art, design, music, sport, fashion, TV and film. Every Tuesday & Friday (yes, twice a week!) we will bring you voices that inspire us and that we hope will inspire you too. These are unprecedented, scary, challenging and deeply sad times. We strongly believe in art and in its power to unify, to resonate, to bring hope through adversity, to offer encouragement but most of all to shine light in the darkest of moments.

For episode 1 of Talk Art's QuarARTine series, Russell and Robert chat with legendary singer/songwriter Rufus Wainwright from his home in Los Angeles.

We discuss his iconic song ‘The Art Teacher’, his love of Whistler and John Singer Sargent’s paintings, his childhood passion for making zines and his baroque alter ego Bella von Herzgold. We hear about the time Rufus met legendary artist Erté in late 1980s New York, the influence of Aubrey Beardsley, Mucha's posters and Art Nouveau. We explore the realist paintings of Andrew Wyeth, his husband Jorn’s love of art and friendships with curator Klaus Biesenbach & artist Marina Abramović, visiting the Venice Biennale, and living with artworks by Timothy Cummings, Jonathan Meese, Clementine Hunter, Robert Wilson and even an iconic Andy Warhol polaroid of Grace Jones! We explore the psychology behind composing & developing characters for his recent opera’s 'Prima Donna' and 'Hadrian' and he reminisces about a travelling exhibition of art from the Russian Hermitage museum that made a big impact in his youth and New York afternoons hanging out with performance icons Penny Arcade, Jack Smith and Quentin Crisp. 

Follow @RufusWainwright and be sure to watch Rufus' daily 'Quarantunes/Robe Recitals' live performances streaming free via his Instagram. Pre-order Rufus' new album 'Unfollow The Rules' out from 10th July 2020. Lead single 'Damsel in Distress' is available now with a stunning animated video created from Rufus' own drawings!! www.RufusWainwright.com For images of all artworks discussed in this episode, visit us @TalkArt on IG or @TalkArtPodcast on Twitter. Thanks for listening!

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