Adrian Searle

Sad to read that Adrian Searle is leaving his post as the chief art critic at the Guardian, after thirty years of writing. The paper announced Friday that his final article - a look back at three decades - will run on April 1st. 

I stayed at his London house about a decade ago, and more than once opted to stay home and go through his collection rather than go out (that’s his Hans-Peter Feldmann title, below). Bookshelves lined the rooms, from floor to ceiling. 

Originally a painter - represented by Nigel Greenwood Gallery - Searle gave it up when he began at the Guardian. 

"I was always torn between making art and writing,” he said, "Writing won." 

His criticism ranged across painting, sculpture, performance, video, and installation, and he was an early champion of many artists who have gone on to considerable success, including Peter Doig, Marlene Dumas, Isaac Julien, Steve McQueen, Chris Ofili and Gillian Wearing. 

Searle also curated exhibitions at Serpentine Gallery, La Casa Encendida, Hayward Gallery, Marian Goodman Gallery, and Frith Street Gallery. He served as a juror for the Turner Prize (2004), Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Andy Warhol Foundation and the Kurt Schwitters Prize (2009–13).

In addition to the Guardian, his writings have appeared in The Independent, Time Out, Artscribe magazine, Artforum, El Mundo, and Frieze.

Guardian editor-in-chief Katharine Viner, said “The Guardian will miss Adrian’s fantastic writing on the visual arts, and so will I. His reviews are always perceptive, insightful, and often funny. He looks at art with incredible care, even tenderness, and notices the details that make it soar or sink. Adrian’s body of work creates a high bar for the Guardian to live up to as we continue to deliver more of the rigorous, world-class culture coverage he has championed for three decades.”