Paul Carey-Kent on Terminal Cancer, 1,000 Shows a Year and the Art World's Warmth
In a conversation with artist Emma Cousin at his residence in the New Forest, Paul Carey-Kent, a writer and curator, reflects on his artistic path, which has developed outside traditional education. After being diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2022, he captured his hospital experiences through both writing and visuals, even organizing a kintsugi-themed exhibition from his hospital bed that same year. With a background in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics, he began contributing to Art World magazine, which published 14 issues until 2009. He attends approximately 1,000 exhibitions each year, has curated around 50 shows, and identifies as aphantasiac. Criticizing Art Monthly's fees and the Turner Prize's exclusions, he has a photo-poem book titled 'The Death Suite' on the way, and a collaborative exhibition with Cousin is set to launch in January 2027.
Key facts
- Paul Carey-Kent was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2022 and has had four main hospital stays over four years
- He visits approximately 1,000 exhibitions annually, the majority in London
- Art World magazine ran 14 bimonthly issues between 2007 and 2009, founded by Steve Bush
- He has curated roughly 50 exhibitions, starting with Maria Marshall's 2012 solo show in a food factory
- He is aphantasiac, one of about 5% of the population unable to form voluntary mental images
- Art Monthly pays £100 for an 800-word review without travel expenses
- FAD Magazine's Mark Westall is publishing his book of photo-poems, 'The Death Suite'
- A joint exhibition with Emma Cousin, 'Holes, Positive', is scheduled for GPS Gallery in Soho in January 2027
Entities
Artists
- Emma Cousin
- Paul Carey-Kent
- Colin Crumplin
- Rachel Whiteread
- Paul Klee
- Sandro Botticelli
- Salvador Dalí
- Boo Ritson
- Maria Marshall
- Christina Niederberger
- Martine Poppe
- Tamar Yoseloff
- Aideen Barry
- Liane Lang
- Levi van Veluw
- Marcin Dudek
- Jenni Brosinski
- Richard Schur
- Laura Santamaria
- Beat Zoderer
- Kate Groobey
- Ena Swansea
- Wanda Koop
- Stefana McClure
- Jill Baroff
- Adeline de Monseignat
- Bharti Kher
- Gordon Cheung
- Nasim Nasr
- Ana Mendieta
- Marcel Broodthaers
- Anri Sala
- Pierre Huyghe
- Mark Leckey
- Okwui Enwezor
- Nan Goldin
- Daido Moriyama
- Boris Mikhailov
- Phyllida Barlow
- Georges Seurat
- Titian
- Nadège Mériau
- Fiona Roberts
- Georg Baselitz
- Sadie Hennessy
- Paola Ciarska
- Susan Collis
- Nick Hornby
- John Smith
- Nika Neelova
- David Rickard
- Danny Rolph
- Appau Junior Boakye-Yiadom
- Liv Fontaine
- Gilbert & George
- Damien Hirst
- Antony Gormley
- Marc Quinn
- Anish Kapoor
- T.J. Clark
- John Berger
- Robert Hughes
- Mark Godfrey
- Laura Cumming
- Martin Herbert
- Sacha Craddock
- Adrian Searle
- David Trigg
- Roberta Smith
- James Cahill
- Peter Suchin
- Dave Beech
- Meeka Walsh
- Robert Enright
- Jonathan Jones
- Eddy Frankel
- Waldemar Januszczak
- Ben Luke
- Francis Alÿs
- Shirin Neshat
- Giuseppe Penone
- Michelangelo Pistoletto
- Prem Sahib
- Darren Almond
- Rose Wylie
- Rosie Gibbens
- Jyll Bradley
- Ryan Gander
- Troika
- Alice Anderson
- Andy Holden
- Quilla Constance
- Richard Smith
- Mark Westall
- Stephen Foster
- Andy Burnham
- Vici MacDonald
- Steve Bush
Institutions
- FAD Magazine
- Art Monthly
- Seisma Magazine
- Artlyst
- Art World Magazine
- John Hansard Gallery
- Tate Modern
- Museum of Modern Art
- Kunsthalle Düsseldorf
- Documenta
- The Photographers' Gallery
- Hauser & Wirth
- Tate Britain
- Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari
- White Conduit Projects
- Ron Mandos Gallery
- Niru Ratnam
- GPS Gallery
- New Art Exchange
- The Box Plymouth
- Castor Gallery
- Flowers Gallery
- Elephant Magazine
- Border Crossings
- Art Basel
- University of Southampton
- Department of Health
Locations
- New Forest
- London
- United Kingdom
- Australia
- Norway
- Oslo
- Amsterdam
- Netherlands
- Brussels
- Belgium
- Berlin
- Germany
- Munich
- Como
- Italy
- Zurich
- Switzerland
- France
- Arles
- Winnipeg
- Canada
- New York
- United States
- Mexico City
- Mexico
- New Delhi
- India
- Hong Kong
- Sydney
- Southampton
- Kassel
- Düsseldorf
- Venice
- Chicago
- Plymouth
- Nottingham
- Soho
- Kilkenny
- Ireland