WHAT WILL BE ON SHOW
IN EACH GALLERY?
There will be a space for our
temporary exhibition programme, and
a contemporary gallery with a focus
on emerging and forgotten work. An
exhibition of Quentin Blake’s archives
and most recent imaginings will be in
the third space.HOW WILL YOU CHAMPION
ILLUSTRATION?
I’m excited to encourage more
people to deepen their experience
of illustration by drawing on the
way it connects with literature,
socio-political themes and hobbies,
and empowering people, especially
young people and those whose voices
aren’t often heard, by giving them
skills to communicate their stories
in a visual way.HAVE YOU MET HOUSE OF
ILLUSTRATION FOUNDER
QUENTIN BLAKE?
In 2012, I went to a Big Draw event
and my eight-year-old and I found
ourselves sat drawing next to him.
I’ve always loved his work.
He’s had a profound infl uence on
British illustration, as a teacher and
an inspiration. It’s absolutely right that
we’re creating this new centre in
his name.DO YOU HAVE
ANY OTHER
FAVOURITE
ILLUSTRATORS?
Books I poured over
in childhood still
fascinate me, like
the Janet and Anne
Grahame Johnstone
illustrations for This
Land of Kings [above]. But what I fi nd
really exciting about the House of
Illustration is it takes us beyond that
nostalgia to discover new things.The new House of
Illustration director on
redevelopment plans
and meeting Quentin
Blake. Interview:
REBECCA BRADBURYWHAT ARE YOU MOST
LOOKING FORWARD TO
ABOUT YOUR NEW ROLE?
The opportunity to evolve the House
of Illustration into a national centre for
an art form that is in all of our
everyday lives, and working with the
illustration community, local people
and visitors to make it happen.HOW WILL THE HOUSE OF
ILLUSTRATION EVOLVE?
We’re moving to New River Head – it’s
a complex of 18th- and 19th-century
buildings in Clerkenwell [see above]
that has a unique place in London’s
industrial heritage as it was
connected to bringing clean drinking
water into the city.WHAT CHANGES ARE BEING
MADE TO THE SITE?
We’re working with architect Tim
Ronalds to create a cultural landmark
while keeping that evocative sense of
history still visible. There will be three
galleries, a learning space, a café,
a river terrace, new shops, offi ces
and gardens.WHAT OTHER
GALLERIES DO YOU
LIKE VISITING?
The Wellcome Collection.
I absolutely love the reading
room. You can engage with
medicine and health in the
broadest possible way. You’re
welcomed if you want to play
a game of Operation, sketch
portraits, or pick up a graphic novel
about mental health.HAVE YOU SEEN ANY GREAT
EXHIBITIONS RECENTLY?
Just before the fi rst lockdown I saw
the Bridget Riley retrospective at the
Hayward Gallery [below left]. It was a
very physical experience in the way
her work shimmers and moves. That’s
defi nitely an exhibition I’m glad I saw
in real life and not online.
The House of Illustration re-opens as the
Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration in
late 2021. http://www.houseofi llustration.org.ukGLEN
10 MINUTESWITHLindsey
© BRIDGET RILEY. PHOTO: STEPHEN WHITE & CO/© QUENTIN BLAKE/© JUSTIN PIPERGER