Will Gompertz

Will Gompertz is the Director of Arts and Learning at The Barbican, a position he took up from June 2021. He is Author of international bestselling art history book What Are You Looking At? and is one of the most respected commentators on The Arts and a speaker on creativity.

Voted one of the World’s Top 50 Creative Thinkers by New York’s Creativity Magazine, Will was previously a Director of The Tate Gallery.

In 2009, he wrote and performed a sell-out one-man comedy show about modern art at the Edinburgh Festival.

As a writer he has penned numerous articles for, among others, The Times and the Guardian and his second book Think Like an Artist: Imaginative Ways to a More Creative and Productive Life was released by Penguin in 2015, and is a witty and inspiring read, identifying ten lessons to be learned from the greatest artists across history, to give us tools to unlock creativity and thrive at work and in our personal lives.

Previous to his appointment at The Barbican, Will was known to many people as the BBC Arts Editor.

SPEAKING TOPICS

Will Gompertz share his insights for unharnessing your creativity and how to unlock your inner artist to be happier, healthier and more profitable.

By identifying key lessons, he explores how we can learn from the greatest artists across history, from Da Vinci to Ai Weiwei, drawing on interviews with leading contemporary artists who are using smart-thinking to become not just brilliant artists but brilliant business people too.

Wil is also an experience host and interviewer at corporate events.