Sabina Andron gives us an art world insight

 

In the second of the Art world Insights series, I Know What I Like founder and Secret Art Prize judge Sabina Andron has very kindly given us an insight into her art world, with a very refreshing approach. Read her manifesto to get Street back into art here.

Name: Sabina Andron

Job Title: PhD research student UCL/ Director IKWIL Art

Age: 26

Where do you live: Angel, London N1

Life ambition: 

To do great work in my field of interest and to produce a positive impact with that work. To be involved and meaningful. 

Tell us, what is I know what I like all about? 

IKWIL is a community of creatives and other professionals who get together regularly for gallery visits, street art tours, private viewings and other London arts happenings. We’ve visited hundreds of London’s best street-urban-contemporary arts events so far, and came out more confident, experienced and cheerful in the face of artistic innovation. 

 

What inspired you to start I know what I like, and what is the ethos behind it?

I have been running IKWIL for over two years and what continues to inspire me is the power of casual, well led conversations in understanding art. I believe I can get people to flex their critical muscles in an enjoyable way, and develop their self-confidence when it comes to expressing how they feel about art. 

That’s why the group is called “I Know What I Like” – it’s about getting people to say this confidently in front of even the wackiest contemporary art, and have a kick-ass argument for it. 

Ultimately, I hope to develop this into a concept for in-situ arts education, while maintaining the leisurely feel of our activities.

 

Describe a typical day in the life of Sabina Andron in no more than 10 words. Gym email work read write plan love series work sleep.

 

What is the best and worst thing about what you do?

Best thing = it’s open, flexible and I love doing it. Worst thing = I’m under a permanent impression of a necessity for more work, so I often don’t take evenings or weekends off.

 

Who, or what is your greatest influence on your life?

My people triad = mom, dad, partner, and then everything that has to do with my curiosities, interests, my routine and my emotions. I’m also influenced by people I respect and believe in. 

 

 

Who is your favourite artist or work of art at the moment?

I like messy street work, the kind that most people label as tagging or dirt, and which doesn’t have a single author, but is rather the result of an encounter between people’s graphic traces, the city and the passing of time. But I will name Maurizio Cattelan and José Parlá as two artists whose work I love, and for very different reasons.

 

Where do you see yourself in 10 years time?

Hopefully in a good place, given how things are going! I can’t make predictions because new opportunities arise all the time, so I can just hope to be able to take the opportunities and make the most of them. In short: arts-related projects, international, non-permanent.

 

Please recommend one piece of essential reading.

Miwon Kwon, One Place After Another. It’s a book about site specificity in art.

 

And just for us, if you could time travel to one era or event, when would you choose?

Late 70s-early 80s New York, for the boom of urban & graffiti youth culture, and Studio 54.

 

Tea or Coffee? 

I never drink coffee, so mostly green tea.

 

Who would be your dream dinner guest?

Keith Haring and Jean Michel Basquiat, and we’d talk about what the art world’s like today and the legacy of their work.

 

What super power would you have for a day?

I think I’d like to be able to fly.

 

What are you listening to at the moment? 

My Colombian neighbours arguing and my partner’s gaming music. I don’t listen much to music myself, I find it distracting.

 

Lastly, please give us one piece of advice.

Be more curious, and follow things through.

 

Thank you very much Sabina!