Michaela Yearwood-Dan is one of the buzziest young painters working today. This summer, her emergence as a new market star culminated in a major solo show at Hauser & Wirth in London. On this episode of The Artsy Podcast, Yearwood-Dan joins Artsy’s Casey Lesser for a conversation about her remarkable trajectory, the challenges that young artists face today, and how her new exhibition models ways for galleries to be more welcoming.
Plus, Artsy editors Arun Kakar and Olivia Horn share their summer reading and viewing recommendations and discuss what they’ve learned about the art market this year. Listen now, and read an edited excerpt of the conversation with Michaela Yearwood-Dan below.
This episode was produced by Olivia Horn and edited by Grant Irving.
Casey Lesser: You’ve had a really exciting trajectory over a relatively short period of time, from finishing in university in 2016 to your first solo show in 2019. What has this upswing felt like for you, and is it what you had imagined?
Michaela Yearwood-Dan: Oh, it’s definitely not what I imagined. I think if you imagine this then, you know, I don’t wanna say arrogant—but delulu might be what I would say. I feel very fortunate that the equation of hard work and success has worked in my favor.
C.L.: Was there one moment that felt like a breakout, or like things changed drastically?
M.Y-D.: I don’t think that there’s one moment. I think there have been several small moments, and they’ve thankfully always been in moments where I’ve doubted myself, and then the following day or the following week, the universe gives me a sign that tells me, “how dare you doubt yourself.”
The thing I’ve just thought of off the top of my head was, there was a time when I had an awful, awful studio visit with a gallery. It lasted about 20 minutes, and I felt completely invisible to them, and like they didn’t care about the work, they cared about how much it would make them. And it was my first experience of that, and I was just so hurt by it.
And then they were really angry that I didn’t want to continue relationships with them, and I went full South London on them, which is like—I don’t even know how to describe it in U.S./New York terms, but the British London listeners specifically would know. But I just told them exactly who I am and who they’re not, and then instantly regretted it. I remember my gallerist at the time told me that I should be careful and act in certain ways. And I just remember thinking, “but that’s who I am.”
And then the next morning I woke up and an actor from one of my favorite shows had DM’d me asking to have a studio visit. And I was like, you know what, I should not doubt. Because I went to bed really doubting myself, being like, “God, me and my big mouth are gonna ruin my career before it’s even been anything.” And then the next day I was met with, actually, someone whose talent I really admire is interested in learning some more about me, and all I did was act true to myself.
Throughout paintings, works on paper, ceramics, and site-specific mural and sound installations, Michaela Yearwood-Dan endeavors to build spaces of community, abundance, and joy. Yearwood-Dan’s unique visual language intertwines lines of text with botanical motifs and draws on a diverse range of influences, including Blackness, queerness, femininity, and healing rituals.
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