Lemn Sissay
In 1984, 18-year-old Lemn Sissay left the care system. In the ten years that followed, he published his first book of poems, performed at the Hacienda and tracked down his birth mother in Gambia. He looks back at the decade when, he says, he entered the world as an artist.
Decades: EPISODE 09
More episodes in Decades
Ronnie Wood (Decades: Episode 08)
We spoke to musical legend Ronnie Wood about his adventures in 1960’s Britain; switching bands, swapping records and crashing parties. whynow’s decades series asks established people from the arts to discuss ten years that changed them and their work. Fresh out of art school, Ronnie was flitting between the mods and the rockers, while painting canvasses and jamming with Hendrix.
Marc Quinn (Decades: Episode 04)
Contemporary artist and visionary Marc Quinn has, quite literally, shed blood for his art. Perhaps his most well-known work, Self, creates a cast of his head with ten pints of his own blood, and is remade every five years. Discussing his entrance into the world of art, permanence and impermanence in his work, and his interest in how ‘art makes itself’, Quinn looks over the years 1981-91 for our ‘Decades’ series.Â
Tracey Emin (Decades: Episode 01)
Tracey Emin needs no introduction. After leaving school with no qualifications at thirteen, Emin went on to become one of the leading figures of Britart. Here she discusses her growth through the 80s and her adoration for art.
Jack Hill (Decades: Episode 02)
Award-winning Times photographer Jack Hill has captured the conflict and suffering of war for years. In 2014, along with foreign correspondent Anthony Lloyd, Hill was double-crossed, captured and beaten by a rebel gang in northern Syria. Covering 2006-2016 for our ‘Decades’ series, Hill talks through the hardship and beauty in his work.
