Interview: Art historian and author, Katy Hessel
THE WICK: Talk us through a typical Monday.
Katy Hessel: I’ll wake up around 7. Typically, me and my flatmate, Joel, will have coffee together, listen to 2000s Lily Allen, and debrief the weekend. Then I’ll head down to the London Library – walking through Regent’s Park – and get my head down for a few hours of writing. I’m often on a deadline! In the afternoon, I might interview an artist for my podcast, or catch an exhibition: Kerry James Marshall at the RA and Lee Miller at Tate are both brilliant. I also often like to pop my head into Hatchards to see what books have hit the shelves, and say hello to Richard on floor 3. I’m loving the Fat Badger comedy nights every other Monday, so I’ll either head there for the evening, go to a talk or have dinner with a friend.
TW: You have recently launched your book How To Live An Artful Life. What inspired this book – which follows The Story of Art Without Men.
KH: The book features 366 quotes by artists or writers for every day of the year. I’ve been interviewing artists for 10 years, and I thought this would be an amazing way to compile so many of them together – in a bitesize format. 40% of the quotes come from my interviews. I love artist quotes. They inspire me not just in my creative work, but in my everyday life, too. They remind me of the joys, urgency and necessity of creativity. This book is really a way to pass that on to anyone – artist, art lover, or those new to art!
TW: Your book gathers inspiration from artists such as Marina Abramovic, Nan Goldin, and Lubaina Himid alongside late creatives such as Zaha Hadid and Vanessa Bell. What piece of advice would you choose to pass on which has most helped your personal journey?
KH:
Each month takes a different ‘theme’ and September’s is ‘time’. The architect Lina Bo Bardi once said: “Linear time is a Western invention, time is not linear, it is a marvellous tangle…” I love this because it reminds me that, if you are ever worried about something happening at the wrong time in your life, or that things aren’t happening fast enough, remember that if everything happened to everyone at the same time, the world wouldn’t be the amazing place it is!
There’s also a quote from Faith Ringgold on the 30 December, which says: “Anyone can fly, all you gotta do is try”. She’s right.
TW: You moved from working within the gallery scene, at Victoria Miro, to building your own art world brand – what has been the challenge you have faced on this journey?
KH: I think venturing out on your own is really tough, and working without an infrastructure, but then forming it from the ground up. I worked at Victoria Miro from ages 18 to 28, and loved every minute. The people there are fantastic, and the artists are incredible. It was the best education I think I could’ve had. I didn’t want to leave – by the end, I was working 1 day a week!
“Institutions can flip the script by thinking long-term, not short-term. Museums teach us about deep time, and that’s the approach we need to take if we want to make a real difference for the next generation.”
