Lily Cole's Art Matters arrives on Sky Arts

19/02/2013

Fashion model and art history graduate Lily Cole delves inside the studios and minds of six leading artists in the new documentary series Lily Cole’s Art Matters which receives its television premiere on Tuesday 19th March at 8pm on Sky Arts 1 HD.

Lily Cole’s Art Matters will see Lily embark on a fascinating journey with the renowned artists Antony Gormley, Christo, Tacita Dean, Marc Quinn, Fiona Banner and Gabriel Orozco. In each episode, Lily spends two days with an artist and follows them into their studio to discover their artistic processes. She accompanies them to their places of inspiration as they discuss the genesis of their work and how their lives as artists really began.

Lily, who has modelled extensively from the age of 14 for some of the world’s leading fashion houses, graduated from Cambridge University in 2011 with a double first in History Of Art. While Lily has embarked on a successful acting career since leaving university, Lily Cole’s Art Matters is her first presenting role and her first foray into arts programming. Cole’s fresh and informative approach creates an accessible inroad into the drive, ideas and projects of some of the most intriguing and controversial pioneers of visual art today.

Lily Cole’s Art Matters: Antony Gormley Tuesday 19th March 8pm Lily Cole spends two days with Turner Prize winner Antony Gormley, OBE. His major public works include the Angel Of The North (Gateshead) and One & Other (Trafalgar Square). He offers an insight into the discipline and patience needed to make his trademark body casts, which require him to sit perfectly still and wrapped in plaster for hours on end. Lily and Antony also travel to Hamburg to experience the artist’s newest installation called the ‘Horizon Field’.

Lily Cole’s Art Matters: Christo Tuesday 26th March 8pm Christo is best known for his wrapped installations, fromthe Reichstag building to pavements, coastal stretches and entire islands. Lily Cole’s global adventures take her to the desert of Abu Dhabi where the determined artist plans to build what promises to be the largest art structure in the world, a project that he has spent more than 30 years and tens of millions of dollars trying to conceive.

Lily Cole’s Art Matters: Tacita Dean Tuesday 2nd April 8pm
Lily travels to Berlin to spend two days with contemporary artists Tacita Dean. Over her 20 year career Tacita has become renowned for working with 16mm film. Lily discovers how the artist uses celluloid as a canvas and, scouring a flea market together, Tacita encourages Lily to purchases a film splicing kit in order to teach her about the tactile processes of film editing.

Lily Cole’s Art Matters: Marc Quinn Tuesday 9th April 8pm Marc Quinn invites Lily into his studio in London to explore his painting techniques as he reveals his fascination with flowers, eyes and human identity. Travelling to Monaco, Lily tours his recent exhibition at the Monaco Institute of Oceanography and discovers how some of his works have been inspired by the birth of his children.

Lily Cole’s Art Matters: Fiona Banner Tuesday 16th April 8pm Fiona Banner’s work explores the problems and possibilities of written language. Fiona’s witty personality is revealed when she convinces Lily to pose nude for a portrait made out of text. Banner also opens the doors to the ‘boat’ perched on top of the South Bank’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, a one-bedroom hotel she designed in collaboration with David Kohn Architects.

Lily Cole’s Art Matters: Gabriel Orozco Tuesday 23rd April 8pm
In the final episode, Lily meets Mexican artist Gabriel Orozco who uses the urban landscape and everyday objects found within it to twist conventional notions of reality and engage viewer’s imaginations. Lily travels to Pennsylvania for a guided tour around Gabriel’s unconventional studio and discovers his anarchic side by exploring the notion of ‘play’ with some boomerang throwing.

“Lily Cole’s immense curiosity about contemporary art has helped grant her access to some of the most intriguing, controversial and ground breaking contemporary artists, for this, her first ever art series,” comments James Hunt, director of Sky Arts. “Her unique approach offers us compelling insight into their personalities and working practices, Sky Arts customers are going to love Lily’s enthusiasm and how she effortlessly enters into the world of Antony, Christo and the other esteemed artists.”

Lily Cole’s Art Matters marks a further development for Sky Arts which champions innovative and original art series, and which underlines Sky’s promise to deliver high-quality, exclusive content to customers, supported by a commitment to increase investment in home-grown programming to £600 million by 2014.

Lily Cole’s Art Matters starts Tuesday 19th March, 8pm on Sky Arts 1 HD and Sky Go

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