This lecture is part of our ongoing Creative Conversations series; dialogues between artists, curators and writers. Curated by Dr Claudia Tobin, lectures are held Wednesday evenings either at the Royal Drawing School or online.
Julian Bell is in conversation with the painter Matthew Krishanu to celebrate the launch of 'Storytelling Pictures: The Paintings of Julian Bell'. Copies of the book, the first to survey Bell’s paintings, will be available to purchase. The lecture is chaired by broadcaster, presenter and journalist, Bidisha.
Please arrive at 6.30pm to be seated in the studio, for a 7pm start. Please note this event is taking place in person at the Royal Drawing School and tickets are limited.
Julian Bell
Julian Bell (b 1952) is a painter and art writer who has taught at the Royal Drawing School since 2012. He has exhibited since the 1970s in London, New York and also in his home town of Lewes in East Sussex, where he is represented by Natasha O’Kane Sussex Contemporary Art. Bell is the author of 'What is Painting?' (2017) and 'Natural Light: The Art of Adam Elsheimer and the Dawn of Modern Science' (2023), both published by Thames & Hudson, and regularly contributes to the London Review of Books and the New York Review of Books. The new monograph about his work by the American art writer David Carrier, 'Storytelling Pictures: The Art of Julian Bell', has been brought out by the international art publishers DISTANZ.
Matthew Krishanu
Matthew Krishanu (b. 1980) is a London-based painter. His paintings are currently in the British Art Show 10: 'A Chorus of Strangers', UK tour (2026-2028). Recent solo exhibitions include 'Falling into Place', Salon 94, New York (2026); 'The Bough Breaks', Camden Art Centre, London (2024). His work is in the collections of Tate, London; Arts Council Collection; Government Art Collection, UK; and Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi.
Bidisha
Bidisha is a broadcaster, presenter and journalist for the BBC, CNN, Sky News, ABC and Channel 5. She has served as Trustee for the Forward Prizes for Poetry and the Booker Prize Foundation. She is a writer and works across film, photography and art direction. Her most recent publication is the essay 'The Future of Serious Art' and she was shortlisted for the Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize in 2025 and 2026. Her next publication will be 'Warning Signs', out in spring 2027.
Image: Book cover – 'Storytelling Pictures: The Paintings' of Julian Bell courtesy of DISTANZ
Photo credit: Matthew Krishanu – Photo by David Levene, courtesy of Matthew Krishanu Studio
.jpg?width=427&height=427&name=Matthew%20Krishanu%20Studio%20(Photo%20David%20Levene).jpg)
