Isabel Vasconcellos

Isabel de Vasconcellos is a writer, curator and cultural producer, with over 20 years experience working with some of the world’s top artists, galleries and museums.

Born in Lisbon, she grew up in London and Brussels, returning to the UK to read Modern History and French at Oxford University. The grand-daughter of Portuguese painter Gustavo de Vasconcellos, she pursued the family passion, taking an M.A. in Post-War and Contemporary Art at Sotheby’s Institute in London before joining White Cube as Artist and Museums Liaison at the height of the Young British Artist boom.

She spent nine years working closely with Sir Antony Gormley, following which she set up her own consultancy as independent curator, cultural producer and adviser.

de Vasconcellos has written on sculpture, painting, conceptual art, photography and design. In 2017, her expertise in public art led the Mayor of London to commission her to write Fourth Plinth: How London Created the Smallest Sculpture Park in the World. The book tells the story of sculptures in Trafalgar Square by artists such as Rachel Whiteread, Marc Quinn, Elmgreen & Dragset and Katharina Fritsch as part of the most innovative and controversial public art programme of our time.

Isabel is Director of Sculpture for Messums Wiltshire and of artist Saad Qureshi’s studio. She is on the arts advisory committee for AIDS Memory UK, the campaign for a London and National UK AIDS Memorial, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, London.

She chairs Behind the Studio Doors, a popular programme of talks with international members of the Royal Society of Sculptors.

Recent exhibitions include The Royal Society of Sculptors Summer Show 2022 at Cromwell Place, London; the Aldeburgh Festival Exhibition, Remains To Be Seen: Paul Benney, Laurence Edwards and Kiki Smith; and Tideline at Messums Wiltshire, a group show featuring artists working with climate change and the marine environment.

Instagram @i_de_v