Ian McKay (writer)

Ian McKay (born 1962) is an English writer, critic, publisher, and academic.

Life and career

The son of former national hunt jockey and racehorse trainer Geoff Laidlaw, McKay was born in Epsom, Surrey, and studied Sculpture at Chelsea School of Art in the early-1980s. His first known publication was with a series of punk fanzines in the late-1970s, the most notable of which was Peroxide (from which he was said to have been ousted by Norman Cook for serial incompetence [Cook, N. "Editorial", Peroxide, Spring, 1979.] ). In the early-1980s McKay went on to publish The Irony of Romanticism, a short-lived alternative arts publication and, since 1985, he has worked as a critic and writer for a wide range of art journals and culture-zines internationally. Initially encouraged by the founder Editor of Modern Painters, Peter Fuller, he was among the second wave of British art critics to travel widely throughout the former Eastern Bloc (the first wave having been led by Roger Scruton, Peter Fuller and Andrew Brighton in the early 1980s). Throughout the late-1980s and early-90s, McKay continued to report on art and culture in the post-Communist states for Artscribe, [McKay, I. "View from Route 65 – Prague to Bratislava", Artscribe International, May 1989] Artline International, [McKay, I. "On the Death of Czech Culture", Artline International, Summer 1991.] Art Monthly, and The Antique Collector. [McKay, I. "In Search of a Heritage", The Antique Collector, February, 1992, & "Art For A King", The Antique Collector, July/August 1992] . In recent years, he has published widely on subjects relating to visual art, cinema, music, and culture. He has also curated several visual art exhibitions and worked as an academic in several UK universities.

Critical writing

From 1985, McKay contributed articles on diverse topics relating to the arts and culture industries. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s he was published widely in:

:"Alba; The Antique Collector; Apollo; Art Book News; Art Issues; The Artist; Art Monthly; Artist's and Illustrator's Magazine; Artline International; Arts Review; Artscribe; Association of Illustrator’s Journal; The Big Issue; British Bike Magazine; Computer Weekly; Contemporary Art Magazine; Creative Camera; The Face; Galleries; Geographical Magazine; The Independent on Sunday; International Publishing Review; Modern Painters; National Trust Travel Review; Private Eye; RA Magazine; Travel Review; The Whistler."

He has also contributed several exhibition catalogue essays for numerous visual art exhibitions in Britain and South Africa, some of which he also curated.

After a long illness, in 2006 McKay returned to writing on the arts and culture industries. He also now publishes several online publications related to the arts. In a controversial series of articles for numerous print and online-based publications during 2007, McKay sought to expose low-level corruption and spin within the UK's independent artist-curator networks. For his research into the economies of art world gossip, he was invited to participate in the Agendas V symposium, in Venice, at the time of the 52nd Venice Biennale. [See: Agendas V: [http://venice.wimbledon.ac.uk/?q=node/3 http://venice.wimbledon.ac.uk/] ]

His most recent book publications include [http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1902945913/ Boyd & Evans: Looking Differently] (2007), [McKay, I. "Boyd & Evans - Looking Differently", Flowers East, London, 2007 (ISBN 1902945913)] and [http://www.amazon.co.uk/Defining-Moments-Art-Greatest-Exhibitions/dp/1844035875/ Defining Moments in Art] (2008), edited by Mike Evans. [Evans, M. (Ed.) "Defining Moments in Art: Over a Century of the Greatest Artists, Artworks, People, Exhibitions and Events That Rocked the Art World", Cassell Illustrated, London, 2008 (ISBN 1844035875)] He is also an occasional contributor of film reviews to Sight & Sound.

Academia

McKay is also a Senior Lecturer in Media & Visual Arts who has lectured and taught at several higher education colleges and universities, including Chelsea School of Art (1985), Surrey Institute of Art & Design (1991), Kingston University (1992-1994), and Southampton Solent University (formerly the Southampton Institute, 1994-current).

Notes and references

External links

* [http://society.guardian.co.uk/urbandesign/story/0,,647308,00.html Guardian Interview] (2002)
* [http://venice.wimbledon.ac.uk/?q=node/3 Agendas Conference, Venice] (2007)