“First thing on Saturday morning, at about 10am, I go to an exercise class at the Islington Tennis Centre, which is near my home. We do everything: aerobics, Pilates, weights, all combined into a one-hour class with fantastic music – it’s almost like going to a club. It gets my endorphins going and sets me up for the weekend. Then I’ll go home and have breakfast with my daughter, Bella, who’s nine, and my husband, Richard, and we listen to my favourite programme, From Our Own Correspondent on Radio 4.
In the afternoon, I head off to visit the galleries. I chop up London into districts; very distinct gallery communities. It never feels like work. You finish the week with unresolved issues, but as soon as you enter a gallery you are transformed. For me, that’s the thing about art – it takes you out of yourself; beside yourself in a way.
If I go to the West End, I’ll start at the ICA, which tends to be more experimental as it’s a public gallery, and then go north to the commercial galleries. First is Simon Lee Gallery (pictured). It has the freedom of a mini Kunsthalle [collective] with an ambitious, exciting programme. I also like Sprüth Magers just off Bond Street, which is strong on women artists – Andrea Zittel’s show, in which the space became a workshop for making smocks, was great. Also in this area is White Cube at Mason’s Yard. The last thing I saw there was a show by Zhang Huan who turned the gallery into a pigsty with real pigs – it was quite magical.
North of Oxford Street, I’ll go to the Lisson Gallery, which is probably the oldest in this group, via Stephen Friedman Gallery. I might also try to catch an Artangel project in Chiltern Street, which is a bizarre street in the middle of the West End. It only has wedding-dress shops and is dead silent. I saw an extraordinary installation in a fire station there by a guy called Charles LeDray, who had created three miniature menswear shops with tiny, hand-sewn garments. It made me feel enormous.
I often go on this tour with a friend and afterwards, we need a drink. Sometimes I’ll meet friends at Sketch, which has great art projects, then go to The Wolseley for dinner.
An alternative scenario is that I head to the East End. We start at Victoria Miro gallery, just off the Old Street roundabout, then head to the White Cube in Hoxton Square. There’s a collection of new, exciting galleries on Redchurch Street, and then we’ll go to Vyner Street, an industrial-looking street where warehouses have been converted into galleries. My favourite is the Wilkinson, which is fantastic; it’s like a museum. You don’t need to check what’s on as it’s always interesting.
For mid-afternoon refreshment we go to the Approach Tavern, and see a show in the gallery above the pub. And then maybe a few more, such as the Chisenhale Gallery, which is a kind of artist’s laboratory space. For further refreshment, we go to St John in Spitalfields, or maybe Bistrotheque.
I buy art, too – mostly editions and works on paper. Editions are very democratic: they were pioneered by artists who wanted to make art available to mere mortals. The last one I bought was by Sophie Calle; a beautiful piece in glass for the Whitechapel that says “Souci”, which means care or worry.
Sunday is very different. One of the great wonders of the world is Hampstead Heath, and it’s a treat to go for a walk there. We take our dog, Roxy Music, and Bella and some of her mates. We’re constantly finding new bits of the park, even though we’ve been going for years. Kenwood House is there and we’ll meet friends in the tearoom for carrot cake.
Later, we often have friends round for dinner, as my husband loves to cook. He’s a carnivore, and he’s Canadian, so he has to barbecue. At home, entertaining and cooking – a bit of an ordinary ending, but that’s Sunday evening.”
Fact Box:
Approach Tavern, 47 Approach Road, London E2 (020-8983 3878). Artangel, 020-7713 1400; www.artangel.org.uk. Bistrotheque, 23-27 Wadeson St, London E2 (020-8983 7900). Chisenhale Gallery, 64 Chisenhale Rd, London E3 (020-8981 4518). ICA, The Mall, London SW1 (020-7930 3647). Islington Tennis Centre, Market Road, London N7 (020-7697 1205). Kenwood House, Hampstead Lane, London NW3 (www.english-heritage.org.uk). Lisson Gallery, 52-54 Bell Street, London NW1 (020-7724 2739). Simon Lee Gallery, 12 Berkeley Street, London W1 (020-7491 0100). Sketch, 9 Conduit St, London W1 (020-7659 4500). Sprüth Magers, 7a Grafton St, London W1 (020-7408 1613). Stephen Friedman Gallery, 25-28 Old Burlington Street, London W1 (020-7494 1434). St John Bread & Wine Spitalfields,
94-96 Commercial St, London E1 (020-7247 8924). Victoria Miro, 16 Wharf Road, London N1 (020-7336 8109). Whitechapel Gallery, 77-82 Whitechapel High St, London E1 (020-7522 7888). White Cube, 25-26 Mason’s Yard, London SW1 and 48 Hoxton Square, London N1 (020-7930 5373). Wilkinson, 50-58 Vyner St, London E2 (020-8980 2662). The Wolseley, 160 Piccadilly, London W1 (020-7499 6996).
