Londonist's Tabish Khan shares advice for art critics

The thing that some people find daunting about art is the very thing that Tabish Khan loves. “It’s highly subjective,” he says. “If you asked a person on the street what they thought of a film, they’d probably feel confident to give an opinion. But often not when it comes to art.”

We’re sitting in the bustling café of the Royal Academy discussing choices for Tabish’s UAL Showcase collection, titled third culture art. Later, he’ll head to a Mayfair gallery for the launch of an exhibition – one of more than a thousand shows the critic will see this year. Tabish is someone who lives and breathes the London art scene.

But he didn't come into arts journalism by a conventional route. He studied biomedical science  and worked in the energy industry while building up his career as a critic, initially by blogging. Today, he’s visual arts editor for Londonist, a regular contributor to FAD and Culture Whisper and a trustee of ArtCan, City & Guilds Art School and Discerning Eye. Here are his tips for would-be art critics.

Have confidence in your opinions

Particularly because he hadn’t formally studied art history, Tabish experienced his share of self-doubt in the early days. “If I went to see something and thought it wasn’t very good but all the newspapers were praising it, I’d wonder if I’d got something wrong.” But although the imposter syndrome never quite goes away, he now has faith in his instincts. “It’s important that we have different opinions. Otherwise, you might as well replace all critics with AI robots.” What matters is that you can articulate your opinion coherently and back it up with examples.

Remember your audience

Any publication that commissions you has its own readership. Keep them in mind as you write. A specialist industry magazine is going to have readers with different expectations to those of a popular, London-wide website like Londonist, for example. “Exhibitions are expensive,” says Tabish. Whereas journalists get to see shows for free, members of the public can spend lots of money on a museum visit. “You’ve got to be conscious of that. If people only have the budget for one exhibition a month, you can’t tell them that everything is great. Because it’s not!”

Dare to be negative

Reviewing has changed over the years. Now you’re more likely to find snappy preview listicles or round ups of recommendations than longer, in-depth reviews, Tabish points out. This may be why you also see fewer negative reviews than in the past. “I struggle with negative reviews. What's the point of me telling you about an exhibition you've never heard of only to say don't go?” Even so, he believes that negative reviews still have a role – especially if the show you’re reviewing is a hotly anticipated major presentation with a hefty marketing budget.