In her inaugural lecture, Professor Massey will look back at a life in art and design, beginning with a childhood spent surrounded by modern architecture, sporting art and Hollywood film and following 40 years spent looking at the overlooked, between the boundaries, and into the gaps.

“Beginning my art student life in fashion design, I moved to the history of modern art and design, giving me an opportunity to look across different disciplines and at the neglected history of the Independent Group. This diverse collection of architects, artists, designers, one musician and three writers inspired me, and I am proud to say I published on this subject in the esteemed Middlesex University publication BLOCK in 1985, along with Penny Sparke.”

“Since then my work has encompassed a variety of subjects, including the neglected history of interior design and the influence of Hollywood on design, the integration of autobiography with art history and the history of the chair. In my lecture, I will consider the connections between historiography and my life as an art and design historian. I started by looking at the overlooked, but now find the overlooked is looked at more and more.”

Professor Anne Massey

Professor Massey’s research has covered a wide range of subjects, from the impact of Hollywood on design to the interior design of ocean liners. Following the collapse of the Berlin Wall, she wrote the first cultural guide to Berlin and East Germany. She recently published the book Chair (Reaktion/Chicago University Press, 2011) and Out of the Ivory Tower: the Independent Group and Popular Culture (Manchester University Press, 2013), a sequel to an earlier work which investigates the untold history of popular culture in 1950s London.

In recognition of her work on The Independent Group, the Institute of Contemporary Arts appointed her as its first Associate Academic in Residence in 2012.

Professor Massey is the Founding Editor of the academic journal launched by Berg, Interiors: Design, Architecture, Culture, and the recipient of several awards from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).

For more information please visit Middlesex University website.