art
March 23, 2026
Cecily Brown: ‘I was too shy to talk to all these super cool kids like Sarah Lucas and Damien Hirst’
She left London because her paintings felt hopelessly unfashionable compared with the work of the YBAs. Now she’s back with a blockbuster show – and the world has come round to her point of view
TL;DR
- Cecily Brown left London in the early 1990s, feeling her painting style was out of sync with the YBA movement.
- She found more acceptance as a painter in New York, where she moved in 1994.
- Brown has achieved significant success, with her paintings selling for millions and exhibitions at major institutions like the Met.
- Her first major museum show back in London is at the Serpentine Gallery, titled 'Picture Making'.
- The artist expresses nerves about the show's reception and the potential for critics to deem it 'overhyped'.
- Her new works are inspired by the English landscape of her youth, incorporating elements of nature, color, and light.
- Brown acknowledges her father, art critic David Sylvester, and her upbringing, but emphasizes her desire not to be seen as a 'nepo baby'.
- She reflects on the commercialization of the art world, suggesting greed has overtaken creativity.
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