William Edward Gompertz [1] (born 1965) [2] is an English journalist, author and art critic. He was formerly the BBC's arts editor [3] before moving to a position as the Barbican Centre's Artistic Director from 1 June 2021. [4]
William Edward Gompertz [1] (born 1965) [2] is an English journalist, author and art critic. He was formerly the BBC's arts editor [3] before moving to a position as the Barbican Centre's Artistic Director from 1 June 2021. [4]
Gompertz is the son of general practitioner Hugh Gompertz OBE and a second cousin of Simon Gompertz, at one time personal finance correspondent for BBC News. [5] He is a relation of Benjamin, Isaac and Lewis Gompertz. [6] He was born in Tenterden, Kent, and attended Dulwich Preparatory School, in Cranbrook, Kent and then Bedford School. He was expelled from school aged 16 and left with no A-levels. [7]
Gompertz married teacher Kate Anderson, daughter of Sir Eric Anderson, in 1993 and they have three sons and one daughter. [8]
Gompertz was previously director of Tate Media, and appeared in a show at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2009 called Double Art History. [9] Gompertz has written extensively for The Guardian and The Times newspapers. He is the author of What Are You Looking At?: 150 Years of Modern Art in the Blink of an Eye [10] and Think Like an Artist. [11]
It was announced, on 4 August 2023, that he would take over as Director of London's Sir John Soane's Museum from January 2024. [12]
Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
The Turner Prize, named after the English painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist. Between 1991 and 2016, only artists under the age of 50 were eligible. The prize is awarded at Tate Britain every other year, with various venues outside of London being used in alternate years. Since its beginnings in 1984 it has become the UK's most publicised art award. The award represents all media.
Gilbert Prousch, sometimes referred to as Gilbert Proesch, and George Passmore are artists who work together as the collaborative art duo Gilbert & George. They are known for their formal appearance and manner in performance art, and for their brightly coloured graphic-style photo-based artworks. In 2017 the pair celebrated their 50th anniversary as collaborators. In April 2023 Gilbert & George opened the Gilbert & George Centre in Heneage Street, London E1, to showcase their work in regular exhibitions.
Marc Quinn is a British contemporary visual artist whose work includes sculpture, installation, and painting. Quinn explores "what it is to be human in the world today" through subjects including the body, genetics, identity, environment, and the media. His work has used materials that vary widely, from blood, bread and flowers, to marble and stainless steel. Quinn has been the subject of solo exhibitions at Sir John Soane's Museum, the Tate Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Fondation Beyeler, Fondazione Prada, and South London Gallery. The artist was a notable member of the Young British Artists movement.
Sir Peter Thomas Blake is an English pop artist. He co-created the sleeve design for the Beatles' 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. His other works include the covers for two of The Who's albums, the cover of the Band Aid single "Do They Know It's Christmas?", and the Live Aid concert poster. Blake also designed the 2012 Brit Award statuette.
Sir John Soane's Museum is a house museum, located next to Lincoln's Inn Fields in Holborn, London, which was formerly the home of neo-classical architect John Soane. It holds many drawings and architectural models of Soane's projects and a large collection of paintings, sculptures, drawings, and antiquities that he acquired over many years. The museum was established during Soane's own lifetime by a private Act of Parliament in 1833, which took effect on his death in 1837. Soane engaged in this lengthy parliamentary campaign in order to disinherit his son, whom he disliked intensely. The act stipulated that on Soane's death, his house and collections would pass into the care of a board of trustees acting on behalf of the nation, and that they would be preserved as nearly as possible exactly in the state they were at his death. The museum's trustees remained completely independent, relying only on Soane's original endowment, until 1947. Since then, the museum has received an annual Grant-in-Aid from the British Government via the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Sir Nicholas Andrew Serota is a British art historian and curator. He has been chairman of Arts Council England since February 2017.
Helen Saunders was an English painter associated with the Vorticist movement.
Patrick Heron was a British abstract and figurative artist, critic, writer, and polemicist, who lived in Zennor, Cornwall.
Ekow Eshun is a British writer, journalist, broadcaster, and curator.
Sarah Kent is a British art critic, formerly art editor of the weekly London "what's on" guide Time Out. She was an early supporter of the Young British Artists in general, and Tracey Emin in particular, helping Emin to get exposure. This has led to polarised reactions of praise and opposition for Kent. She adopts a feminist stance and has stated her position to be that of "a spokesperson, especially for women artists, in a country that is essentially hostile to contemporary art."
Ptolemy Hugo Dean is a British architect, television presenter and the 19th Surveyor of the Fabric of Westminster Abbey. He specialises in historic preservation, as well as designing new buildings that are in keeping with their historic or natural settings. He is best known for his appearances on two BBC television series, Restoration and The Perfect Village.
Sir John Akomfrah is a Ghanaian-born British artist, writer, film director, screenwriter, theorist and curator of Ghanaian descent, whose "commitment to a radicalism both of politics and of cinematic form finds expression in all his films".
James John Mayhew is an English illustrator and author of children's books, storyteller, artist and concert presenter/live art performer.
Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in England, with Tate Modern, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. Founded by Sir Henry Tate, it houses a substantial collection of the art of the United Kingdom since Tudor times, and in particular has large holdings of the works of J. M. W. Turner, who bequeathed all his own collection to the nation. It is one of the largest museums in the country. The museum had 525,144 visitors in 2021, an increase of 34 percent from 2020 but still well below pre- COVID-19 pandemic levels. In 2021 it ranked 50th on the list of most-visited art museums in the world.
Augustus Lavinus Casely-Hayford is a British curator, cultural historian, broadcaster and lecturer with ancestral Ghanaian roots in the Casely-Hayford family.
The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London, England, and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhibitions. It also houses a library, three restaurants, and a conservatory. The Barbican Centre is a member of the Global Cultural Districts Network.
Charlotte Verity, Lady Le Brun is a painter living and working in Somerset, UK. A monograph on her work, Charlotte Verity was published by Ridinghouse, in November 2016.
Ai-Da is described by its creator as "the world's first ultra-realistic humanoid robot" artist. Completed in 2019, Ai-Da is an artificial intelligence robot that makes drawings, painting, and sculptures. It is named after Ada Lovelace. The robot gained international attention when it was able to draw people from sight with a pencil using her bionic hand and cameras in her eyes.
Bruce Ambler Boucher FSA is an American art historian and curator. He is Deborah Loeb Brice Director of Sir John Soane's Museum, London and emeritus professor of the History of Art at University College London (UCL).
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