art21

TV Series

2001 min TMDB 2.0

EN 11 Seasons

Documentary

Contemporary artists describe their work and discuss why and how they do it. The programs are grouped according to themes of place, spirituality, identity and consumption. A PBS series, educational resource, archive, and history of contemporary art,...

Watch Now

TV Series

art21

2001 min TMDB 2.0

EN 11 Seasons

Documentary

Watch Now

2001-09-21

art21

Watch Episode

Episodes

Episode 1: Place

Sculptor Richard Serra, "street artists" Margaret Kilgallen and Barry McGee, photographer Sally Mann...

2001-09-21 60min

Episode 2: Spirituality

Ann Hamilton, who works with textiles; impish multimedia artist John Feodorov; miniaturist Shahzia S...

2001-09-21 60min

Episode 3: Identity

Bruce Nauman, Maya Lin, Louise Bourgeois and Kerry James Marshall, "four contemporary artists who de...

2001-09-28 60min

Episode 4: Consumption

Mel Chin, Matthew Barney, Michael Ray Charles and Andrea Zittel, artists "who raise questions about...

2001-09-28 60min

Episode 1: Stories

Stories (in one form or another) is the theme linking the four artists profiled in Part 1 of four: K...

2003-09-09 60min

Episode 2: Loss and Desire

Part 2 (of four) connects photographer Collier Schorr, and multimedia artists Gabriel Orozco and Jan...

2003-09-09 60min

Episode 3: Time

Part 3 (of four): Time is the theme grouping the four artists profiled here. Among them: Martin Pury...

2003-09-10 60min

Episode 4: Humor

Conclusion. Humor is the theme grouping the four artists profiled here. Among them: Eleanor Antin, w...

2003-09-10 60min

Episode 1: Power

Power and its victims is the theme of this episode, which profiles artists Cai Guo-Qiang, Laylah Ali...

2005-09-16 60min

Episode 2: Memory

Memory is the theme as artists Susan Rothenberg, Mike Kelley, Hiroshi Sugimoto and Josiah McElheny a...

2005-09-23 60min

Episode 3: Structure

“Structure” is the theme as artists Matthew Ritchie, Fred Wilson, Richard Tuttle and Roni Horn are p...

2005-09-30 60min

Episode 4: Play

“Play” is the theme as artists Jessica Stockholder, Ellen Gallagher, Arturo Herrera and Oliver Herri...

2005-10-07 60min

Episode 1: Romance

The fourth season begins with romance as the theme grouping the artists profiled here, including pho...

2007-10-28 60min

Episode 2: Protest

“Protest” is the theme. Profiled: painter Nancy Spero, photographer An-My Le, media artist Alfredo J...

2007-11-04 60min

Episode 3: Ecology

Ecology is the theme. Profiled: photographer Robert Adams, and sculptors Mark Dion, Ursula von Rydin...

2007-11-11 60min

Episode 4: Paradox

Paradox is the theme. Profiled: painter Robert Ryman, filmmakers Mark Bradford and Catherine Sulliva...

2007-11-18 60min

Episode 1: Compassion

The Season 5 premiere highlights artists who seek to reconcile past with present, expose injustice a...

2009-10-07 60min

Episode 2: Fantasy

Artists who mine the world of fantasy are featured, including Jeff Koons, who explores notions of ta...

2009-10-14 60min

Episode 3: Transformation

Artists who observe and satirize society are featured, including Yinka Shonibare, who's shown creati...

2009-10-21 60min

Episode 4: Systems

Artists who tackle projects that are complex and/or vast in scope are featured, including Ethiopian-...

2009-10-28 60min

Episode 1: Change

The Season 6 premiere focuses on Chinese contemporary artist Ai Weiwei, Ghanian sculptor El Anatsui...

2012-04-13 60min

Episode 2: Boundaries

Examining the works of sculptor David Altmejd, Japanese animation artist Tabaimo and avante-garde sc...

2012-04-20 60min

Episode 3: History

Glenn Ligon, Mary Reid Kelley and Marina Abramovic, whose works examine historic events and often ch...

2012-04-27 60min

Episode 4: Balance

The Season 6 finale focuses on oil painter Rackstraw Downes, minimalist painter Robert Mangold and s...

2012-05-04 60min

Episode 1: Investigation

The Season 7 premiere features Thomas Hirschhorn, who creates an installation with help from public-...

2014-10-24 60min

Episode 2: Secrets

Elliott Hundley, Arlene Shechet and Trevor Paglen are featured. Hundley creates collages that both r...

2014-10-31 60min

Episode 3: Legacy

A look at artists inspired by life experiences and family heritage. Included: Wolfgang Laib, who con...

2014-11-07 60min

Episode 4: Fiction

What makes a compelling story? How do artists disrupt everyday reality in the service of revealing s...

2014-11-14 60min

Season 8 provides unparalleled access to the most innovative artists of our time, revealing how artists engage the culture around them and how art allows viewers to see the world in new ways. For the first time in the show’s history, the sixteen featured artists are grouped into four one-hour episodes by their unique and revealing relationships to the places in which they live—Chicago, Los Angeles, Mexico City, and Vancouver.

Episode 1: Chicago

The Season 8 premiere spotlights artists in Chicago, including Nick Cave, who creates "Soundsuits";...

2016-09-16 60min

Episode 2: Mexico City

Mexico City artists exit their homes and studios to use the growing megalopolis as their canvas. The...

2016-09-16 60min

Episode 3: Los Angeles

While sprawling Los Angeles has world-class museums and art schools, artists working in the shadow o...

2016-09-23 60min

Episode 4: Vancouver

By recreating historical moments, staging photos of vernacular scenes, and crafting intricate sculpt...

2016-09-23 60min

Season 9 charts art-making in three urban centers across three continents: Berlin, Johannesburg, and the San Francisco Bay Area. From the post-Cold War cultural and economic rebirth in Berlin, to the dramatic fall of apartheid in South Africa and the technological boom in the Bay Area, the twelve artists and one non-profit art center highlighted in this season respond to the forces that have shaped the places where they live and work, while pursuing their personal visions for a better future.

Episode 1: Johannesburg

Since the dramatic fall of apartheid in 1994, Johannesburg has emerged as the artistic capital of su...

2018-09-21 60min

Episode 2: Berlin

Berlin has become a haven for artists from all over the world—a free zone where experimentation, ind...

2018-09-21 60min

Episode 3: San Francisco Bay Area

See why the San Francisco Bay Area is a magnet for artists who are drawn to its experimental atmosph...

2018-09-28 60min

In season 10, twelve artists and one collective are presented across three episodes, charting artmaking in London, Beijing, and regions around the United States-Mexico border.