Beth Greenacre

This article was previously published in the special edition, ALUMNAE (December 2018).

BA 1997

Beth Greenacre is a leading force in the British contemporary art world. A curator and art consultant specialising in Modern British and International Contemporary art, she graduated from The Courtauld in 1997 with a BA in the History of Art, moving into the curatorial art world soon after.

Greenacre started working closely with David Bowie, one of the most influential musicians of the twentieth century, from 2000 after meeting the singer shortly after graduating. She curated his collection of (mostly) Modern British painting and sculpture (containing works by Frank Auerbach, Peter Lanyon, and Graham Sutherland), and together they curated several exhibitions, including Sound and Vision as part of Bowie’s Meltdown at the Royal Festival Hall in 2002. She also launched and directed Bowieart, a ground-breaking – and possibly the first ever – online platform for supporting young artists and promoting their

careers. In 2005, Greenacre established an independent gallery, ROKEBY, with the same aims. After Bowie’s death in 2016, Greenacre oversaw a series of worldwide exhibitions of works from the collection attracting almost 60,000 visitors, before the sale, BOWIE/COLLECTOR, of part of the collection at Sotheby’s under her guiding hand.

Since then, Greenacre continues her consultancy practice and is the curator for The Allbright, an association and female members club which creates opportunities for women to thrive in business, furnishing their Bloomsbury venue with art by young female artists with ties to London. She is currently working on the new Maddox Street venue, which will open next year.