Nancy Cadogan

Nancy Cadogan (born in 1979) is a British figurative painter living in the UK. She attended City and Guilds of London Art School and Canterbury Christ Church University from which she graduated with a Degree in Fine Art Painting in 2002. Nancy moved to New York shortly thereafter, sharing a studio in the Starrett-Lehigh Building with artist Franco Ciarlo. After solo shows at Frost & Reed, New York in 2005 and 2006, she returned to the UK for a solo show at Sladmore Contemporary, London in 2008. Most recently she has featured in group shows in Miami and Southampton, USA and in The Blue Edition show in Knightsbridge, London. In 2008, Nancy was named as one of the ‘Top 20 New British Art Talents’ by Tatler magazine, describing her as ‘the new Paula Rego’. In 2017 she was one of 93 women artists chosen to exhibit their work in The Ned, London, for its permanent Vault 100 exhibition highlighting the disparity between male and female CEOs. In 2019, Mind Zero marked Nancy's first solo show for the Saatchi Gallery and featured eleven large scale paintings. This hugely successful show was followed by Footnotes as part of The British Art Fair.

Website: http://www.nancycadogan.com

Instagram: @nancycadoganart

What is your idea of perfect happiness?: Being with my husband and three children. Ideally at sunset on Lake Como.

Which living person do you most admire?: In this complicated and turbulent world, I admire anyone who advocates peace and calm and reason. I was taken to see Michelle Obama, and I cried the whole way through. She is an extraordinary woman.

What is your greatest extravagance?: Eating out and table linen! I love a beautiful table and setting a table to share a meal with my friends and family!

What is your current state of mind?: Slowly coming down from an incredible high after two shows at the Saatchi Gallery – the first one being a solo show called ‘Mind Zero’ and the second called ‘Footnotes’ as part of The British Art Fair. I am trying to find Mind Zero!

What do you consider your greatest achievement?: Ultimately my three children of course! But I am also very pleased to have had this recent show at Saatchi.

If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?: I think I would like to be an elephant or a bee. It’s a scale thing. It would be good to put the humans in proportion.

Where would you most like to live?: In a Welsh hill farm; to be far away surrounded by muddy nature. Heaven.

What is your most treasured possession?: My paintings. Not just those which I have made but those which I have been fortunate enough to collect.

What is your favorite occupation?: Painting and hot baths!! Endless hot baths.

What is your most marked characteristic?: I am not sure. Maybe a big loud laugh? Clutching a glass of white wine? I think that sounds about right!

What do you most value in your friends?: Charity. I love being with people who see the bigger picture and do not sweat the small stuff. I love my friends so much.

Who are your favorite writers?: Now that list is just too long! I am an obsessive reader and did a whole exhibition on books and writers and our relationship with them. So this is pretty difficult. I have just read the fantastic two novels by Amore Towles, which I loved; partly because he is clearly a huge reader. ? so the circle continues. I love WH Auden as he really gets the murky waters of the human condition I think. And at the moment I am thinking a lot about the romantic poets.

Who is your hero of fiction?: Captain Wentworth in Persuasion is the most romantic; he has patience and generosity and kindness, and fabulous lines courtesy of Miss Austen.

Which historical figure do you most identify with?: Crikey! Who knows… Joan of Arc who strapped her breasts to make herself tough in a mans world?

Who are your heroes in real life?: My greatest friends; who show tenacity and love. My husband for his patience with me. My children for not giving up on my as I try to balance painting and mothering.

What is your motto?: I try to talk with the children about manners a lot, and try to talk about how it is a way of being really considerate to others. So we say a lot at home, ‘manners maketh man’.