Hettie Judah's New Book Offers Practical Guide for Returning to the Art World

Key facts

• Hettie Judah's new book 'How to Enter the Art World...' was published in 2026 by Hoxton Mini Press.
• The book is a practical guide for artists returning to the art world after a break.
• Judah previously wrote the 2022 manifesto 'How Not to Exclude Artist Parents,' translated into 15 languages.
• Her exhibition 'Acts of Creation: On Art and Motherhood' toured England 2024–2026, featuring Bobby Baker, Paula Rego, Marlene Dumas, Tala Madani, and Chantal Joffe.
• A book with the same title as the exhibition was released in 2025.
• Bobby Baker took an eight-year break after her first child's birth in 1980 and created 'Timed Drawings' (six sketchbooks).
• Baker's 'Box Story' (2003) emerged from her hospitalization and led to a collaboration with the Mental Health Foundation.
• Griselda Pollock's 'Vision and Difference' (1988) argues that non-linear careers are often seen as fragile rather than complex.
• Ireland's basic income for artists generated €1.80 per euro invested.
• In April 2026, nearly 500 Dutch cultural workers signed a petition for a mid-career artist stipend, initiated by Roosje Klap of Noorderlicht.
• Judah's book ends with the phrase 'try not to be a total wanker.'
• Judah states there is no single correct way to make art or be an artist.