About

Ellen Mara De Wachter is a writer based in London. She is currently working on a new book, ‘More Than The Eyes: How Artists Working with Food Bring Us to Our Senses’, which will be published by Atelier Éditions. Her book ‘Co-Art: Artists on Creative Collaboration’ (Phaidon, 2017) explores the phenomenon of collaboration in the visual arts and its potential in society at large. It includes a historical survey of artistic co-production and co-authorship as well as chapters on 25 international contemporary co-art groups. De Wachter is a co-author of ‘Great Women Artists’ (2019), and has contributed to several art surveys published by Phaidon, and exhibition catalogues about the work of artists including Daphne Wright, Sam Winston, Fiona Tan, Adam Chodzko, Melanie Manchot, John Wood and Paul Harrison, and Sora Kim. Her writing has featured in a range of publications, including Art Monthly, Art Quarterly, The World of Interiors, frieze and The White Review. Her video essays have featured on frieze.com, and her programme about research into artistic collaboration for BBC Radio 4 is available here.

De Wachter has taught widely, including at Central Saint Martins, Royal College of Art, London College of Communication, Royal Academy Schools, Goldsmiths College, Brighton University and Newcastle University. She coaches and mentors artists and writers through various publicly funded creative development schemes.

In 2013-15 she was Curator of Public Collection Development at the Contemporary Art Society, where she was responsible for CAS’s acquisitions scheme for museums across the UK. Prior to that, she worked at various arts organisations in London, including the Barbican Art Gallery and the British Museum.