15 Questions with... Ronan Mckenzie

This series aims to showcase the varying approaches creatives take to making art and how their relationships to the so-called art world differ, but also reveal what unifies those responsible for the art we love.‍

Ronan Mckenzie is a London-based multidisciplinary artist working across photography, design and curation. Her practice explores intimacy, often creating space for tenderness, connection and quiet observation. Moving between image-making, creative direction and cultural projects, her work is rooted in a sensitive and considered approach to people, place and storytelling.

Mckenzie studied briefly at Central Saint Martins before pursuing styling and photography on her own terms, going on to work with i-D, Wonderland, Vogue US and institutions including the Barbican and Tate Modern. In 2015, she curated A Black Body at Doomed Gallery, Dalston, and later launched the magazine Hard Ears and her 2018 exhibition I'm Home, one of the first to solely showcase Black British female photographers. She went on to found HOME, a Black-owned creative space in North London, in 2020.

In 2026, Mckenzie was appointed Senior Curator at CAART, a new platform which allows people to send editioned A5 art prints to loved ones. These stylish, affordable editions serve as both an entry point to art collecting for the recipient but also a novel way of recommending an artist and sharing their story with a friend, similar to how you might recommend a book or an album.

For its launch, Mckenzie has curated an exhibition of work by 28 contemporary artists which will be on view in an 18th-century Georgian townhouse in Spitalfields. The show opens today, 9 October, at 4 Princelet Street, and will remain on view through Sunday, 11 October.

‍1.⁠ ⁠What is your earliest memory of a work of art?

Seeing the ‘Mona Lisa’ at the Louvre, I was about 7 or 8 and had more fun running around exploring the building. The experience of art in space has always been equally, if not more valuable to me than the art itself.

‍2.⁠ ⁠Where do you turn to when you're in need of inspiration? 

I’m someone who’s appreciative of the smallest things in life, so I’m never short of inspiration. 

‍3.⁠ ⁠What do you like to do when you need to take a break from your practice?

Getting out of London and into nature or new places, spending time with loved ones, mainly being silly.

‍4.⁠ ⁠Who is your favourite artist?

Kerry James Marshall is up there!

‍5.⁠ ⁠What's the biggest crime an artist can commit?

Doing something because they feel they should, not because it’s what their soul or heart wants.

‍6.⁠ ⁠Which gallery or museum should everyone try to visit at least once in their life?

The Chichu museum in Naoshima.

‍7.⁠ ⁠What is the worst thing about the art world?

That it’s all about money.

‍8.⁠ ⁠Whose opinions on art do you actually care about?

Nobody’s.

‍9.⁠ ⁠What trend in art makes you roll your eyes?

Artists having to be galleries, marketeers, influencers and models all at once.

‍10.⁠ ⁠Who are the last three musical artists you listened to?

Strikes, Lala Lala, SAULT.

‍11.⁠ ⁠What's your favourite colour and why?

Brown, for its richness and dynamic-ness.

‍12.⁠ ⁠What three items would you grab if your house was burning down?

Photographs of my family & loved ones, my JOY BC ring, and my laptop.

‍13.⁠ ⁠What can you tell us about the exhibition you’ve curated with CAART at 4 Princelet Street?

The show comprises three collections I have curated for CAART’s launch, bringing together the work of 28 contemporary artists, including Carlos Jaramillo, Shaina McCoy, Patrick Hughes, Delali Ayivi, Ricardo Passaporte and many more. Each artist’s work is reproduced as a time-limited, numbered edition, with the artist’s printed signature and a QR code linking recipients back to their practice.

‍14.⁠ ⁠How did you get involved with CAART?

A mutual friend put CAART founder, Emilio Stavrou, and me in touch, and we originally spoke about me curating a collection. The conversation quickly developed into a broader role as there was so much synergy in our thought processes and aims within the art world, which ultimately led to me stepping into a permanent role as Senior Curator.

‍15. Which CAART will you buy first, and who for?

The first CAART I’ll buy will be Kenneth Lam’s ‘Flowers for Mother Lam’ for one of my closest friends, Ricky. He adores flowers, and this beautiful print will allow him to have ever-blossoming poppies in his space, a celebration of renewal and rebirth.