Kiki Women: Marine Tanguy

A visionary in the art world and a champion of new and upcoming artists.

Marine sees art all around us, in both the ordinary and the extraordinary. We were lucky enough to sit down with Marine at her home in Marylebone to discuss all things art, inspiration and how her work influences her style.

Where did your interest in art come from?

I'm incredibly sensitive visually. I need natural light, I take certain streets, I've worked and curated my entire life around the visual environment that I want to be in. Art was a natural progression from that because, ultimately, artists are the most inspiring visual thinkers. That led me to thinking, how can I support them better? How can I support them to create projects that will inspire millions of people on a daily basis? 

What led you to find the MTART Agency? 

I've been in the art world for 15 years. I was the gallery manager for Steve Lazarides who discovered Banksy when I was 21 years old, and that was really inspiring because there were a lot of street artists (then). What I love about street artists is that they engaged in much larger audiences in the art world, but they also positioned a lot of those conversations right on the streets.  

As I was running that gallery, I was approached by an investor to open my own gallery in LA. I moved from London to LA when I was 23 and that's where I was exposed to the talent agencies that you see in LA who are building reputations of talents but also putting hands together and creative together to create the most amazing, powerful projects. It made me think that my relationship with the arts is not to just sell paintings from a wall, but to truly back the artist to make sure that those artists work together and that we get to integrate their art in all everyday contexts. 

So how would you describe your style and what do you think it says about you?   

I love the idea of flexibility, whether it's the clothes or jewellery that I wear that can be part of every aspect of my life. The beauty of women today is that we can afford to have multiple personalities. The woman I will be with my kids, and the one running my office, and the one leading my company. These identities mix in a single day, and it means that the jewellery that I wear, the clothes that I wear must go with it. 

You said that art is universal, do you believe that applies to jewellery too?   

I think any creative expression is universal and I feel I am constantly in conversation with creativity. I walk the streets and wonder who has designed the buildings, even up to the flowers in the park, to what someone is wearing, to the art that you will see everywhere. It’s the ability to see that all of those were creative expressions and those together are making the world far more interesting.  

Tell us about some of your favourite Kiki pieces that you've selected.   

One of the stones I love most is Blue Topaz. I think my relationship with blue goes quite a long way because blue is the colour of trust, and I also see the colour of energy. A very active colour which results in taking initiative. The combination of something so calming as blue, and being trustworthy with that energy, is something that I relate and connect to very deeply. I saw an article recently on how we now go for beige and whites all the time, but I see the celebration deeply of colours and how incredible it is to have all those colours around us. We know that colour therapy is deeply effective, and I mentioned earlier how important it is for me to be flexible and ultimately, all these pieces can go from night to day. 

Watch the full interview on our YouTube channel.

Our Kiki Women series champions women at the top of their game in a variety of industries, and we are so grateful to Marine for allowing us an insight into her visual world.