Carl Andre: Art shouldn't be democratic

Carl Andre caused controversy in 1976 when the Tate Gallery displayed his sculpture, Equivalent VIII.

The piece saw 120 firebricks arranged in a rectangle. Now "the Master of Matter", as he has described himself, has a new show of his minimalist art at the Turner Contemporary gallery in Margate.

He spoke to the BBC's Arts editor Will Gompertz from New York, and told him why his work really is art, but much of what he sees in galleries nowadays is not.

Defending Equivalent VIII, Andre said: "It's art to me, and it's art to a few other people who recognise that sculpture, and art isn't democratic, I hope. It isn't the number of people who like your work, it's whether the work is any good or not."

"I find that I have a very good audience with small children, because they don't ask what it means. My work doesn't mean anything, it's just the presentation of materials in the clearest form I can make it."

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4's Today Programme on Friday 1 February 2013.