ALL ABOUT ART

When people ask what I do I usually respond by saying I talk about art, even if no one is listening. I am grateful though that I do have an audience through a variety of different ways. I have written and presented television programmes for Sky Arts and Sky Arte Italia, presented and contributed to episodes for BBC2’s Culture Show as well as being a judge on the annual competition programmes, Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year and Landscape Artist of the Year. In 2020 I started to present a new series for Sky Arts that explores exhibitions across the U.K called Inside Arts.

I am really proud to be a part of television that thinks about presenting art in a new way. Art should be for everybody. I went to a state comprehensive school and come from a modest background – like the majority of the country. When I arrived in the artworld I realized it was still tied up with elitism and I hate that sometimes the structures around art make it feel daunting. We all made art as children and we all had opinions on it. Then somehow we grew up and risked becoming ‘outsiders’ to something we all have an innate ability to appreciate and love.

In October 2016 I was appointed Head of Collections for Soho House globally, a role that gives me the great privilege of connecting with artists all over the world to acquire and champion their work. I am also an arts mentor, working with young women in the arts to see them reach their potential. In 2019 I published my first book, The Art of Love which profiles 34 artist couple throughout art history. In 2021 I published Bright Stars which considers 30 great artists that died too young.