BBC Four Goes Abstract in September

This autumn there's going to be a series of programmes about abstract art on BBC4.  The programmes are:

The Rules Of Abstraction with Matthew Collings, BBC Four 

(90 minutes) Mon 8 Sep 2014 22:00 BBC Four

The programme examines the development and rise of abstract art and how it became prominent in the art world. The primary argument put forward by Collings is that abstraction is the key artistic story of the 20th century.

Matthew Collings is a painter and critic. 

Documentary in which painter and critic Matthew Collings charts the rise of abstract art over the last 100 years, whilst trying to answer a set of basic questions that many people have about this often-baffling art form. How do we respond to abstract art when we see it? Is it supposed to be hard or easy? When abstract artists chuck paint about with abandon, what does it mean? Does abstract art stand for something or is it supposed to be understood as just itself?

Matthew Collings

The Russian Revolutionary: Zaha Hadid on Kazimir Malevich, BBC Four

Zaha Hadid - a leading architect of global renown - first became interested in the works of Russian abstract artist Kazimir Malevich in the 1970s and has subsequently identified him as an inspiration. The film looks at how his art has influenced her architecture.

Zaha Hadid RA on the influence of Malevich in her work, Plane sailing By Zaha Hadid Published 22 July 2014 (Royal Academy of Arts Magazine

Malevich is at the Tate Modern, London until 26 October 2014.

Abstract Artists In Their Own Words, BBC Four

The focus is on artists speaking about their art - complemented by contributions from both experts and admirers of abstract art. This is a film which includes archive footage of:

• a landmark 1961 BBC film profiling Barbara Hepworth
• an episode of Arena in which the painter John Hoyland works on an entire painting over the course of six days.
• a Nationwide film in which Anthony Caro discusses his work with a group of students who have been mistakenly using a sculpture as a bike rack.
• Plus new interviews with leading contemporary abstract painters - Howard Hodgkin, Gillian Ayres and Fiona Rae.