Helen Molesworth is not afraid to say what’s on her mind. For the past three decades, she has used her voice—as an art historian, a writer, a curator, a critic, and a podcaster—to advocate for artists, especially those who fall outside the white-cis-het-male archetype that has historically ruled the art world. Molesworth loves artists, and they love her back.
Her advocacy has not been without consequence; in 2018 she was ousted from her job as the chief curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, after four years in the position. A statement from the museum’s director cited “creative differences,” but to her many defenders, it looked like retaliation for Molesworth’s unabashed agitation against the status quo.
Since her firing, Molesworth has found immense creative freedom organizing shows at David Zwirner and the International Center for Photography, hosting podcasts such as Death of an Artist, and writing for exhibition catalogs and art publications like Frieze and Artforum.
“I’m not someone who had a plan,” Molesworth says. “I’m someone who kind of went along and saw what happened, and I did what felt right in the moment.”
Today, Molesworth’s book of collected essays, Open Questions: Thirty Years of Writing about Art, is published by Phaidon. Filled with rich commentary on artists including Kerry James Marshall, Catherine Opie, Noah Davis, Simone Leigh, Marcel Duchamp, and Ruth Asawa, Open Questions is the fierce culmination of a career forged on her own terms.
Ahead of the book’s release, Molesworth and I spoke about art and identity, how losing her museum job unleashed her writing, and the ice-cold waters of Cape Cod as a metaphor for vulnerability. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Vogue: How did this book come about? Why now, why 30 years’ worth?
Helen Molesworth: All the credit really goes to my editor of many years, Donna Wingate. She called sometime during the pandemic and said, “You should have a book. We’ve got to get your writings into a collected volume.” To be honest, I was a little like, Sure, whatever, but leave me out of it. Because I didn’t actually think anyone would be interested. And then she pitched the book to Phaidon and they were interested. I was really surprised.