Stephen Bayley

Stephen Bayley was once described as “the second most intelligent man in Britain”. This is controversial and very possibly untrue, but what is indisputable is that – as the author of more than ten books, nearly thirty exhibition catalogues, countless articles, broadcasts and newspaper columns – he is one of the world's best known commentators on modern culture. He first became prominent in the 1980s as an authority on style and design when he headed up the Boilerhouse project at the V&A Museum. In 1989 he was made a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France’s top artistic honour, by the French Minister of Culture. In 1995 Stephen was named Periodical Publishers’ Association columnist of the year. In his book Woman as Design (2009), he discusses how the female body works as a sign, a symbol and a designed object. His most recent book is Ugly: The Aesthetics of Everything (2013).