Image Credit: Photo of Karen Ashton, co-founder of the Art Car Boot Fair.

Karen Ashton has been flying by the seat of her pants for some time. An RAF kid who spent part of her childhood in Cyprus, she remembers being “always on the go, fearless and endlessly curious”, learning early to make things work on the hoof. Her advice to young creatives today carries some of that same spirit: “jump on your ideas before the fear or self-doubt pounce on them.”

Later, Karen landed in London’s gloriously porous 1990s art scene, when artists, fashion, music, theatre and performance seemed to collide without asking permission. She remembers the word-of-mouth happenings, doing deals on feel and “an unselfconsciousness” that allowed ideas to take flight – a time before everyone was thinking about being photographed, dancing to algorithms or worrying about ROI. “And if you don’t know what an ROI is,” she adds, “good for you, keep it that way.”

Some of that freewheeling spirit found a permanent home in the Art Car Boot Fair, which Karen co-founded in 2004. Part art fair, part car boot sale, part happening, ACBF brings celebrated names and emerging artists together to sell directly to the public, encouraging conversation, discovery, affordable collecting and a healthy disregard for art-world ceremony.

Karen describes herself today as a “midwife to the artists helping them deliver their newest creations, and a fluffer to the art-curious”. Her job, as she sees it, is to create a relaxed, non-judgemental space where people can encounter an enormous range of work, trust their own responses, meet the people making it – and, if something grabs them, actually afford to take it home.

This Saturday 5 September, the Art Car Boot Fair rolls into Lewis Cubitt Square, King’s Cross under the theme PLAY FREE. With artists including Jim Moir, Rankin, Helen Beard, Mr Bingo and GG the Illustrator, it’s an invitation to experiment, misbehave, try something out and enjoy art without having to stand reverentially in front of it.

That freedom feels particularly important to Karen right now. We live, she argues, in “an age of ridiculous scrutiny and crippling fears of censure or cancellation”. She can’t change the direction of the world in an afternoon, but she can put it on hold for six hours. Her prescription? “Come to the Art Car Boot Fair – it’s a carwash for your creative mind!”

And perhaps that’s the point. Asked what happens when artists become frightened of getting things wrong, Karen delivers the shortest and funniest diagnosis of the interview: “I suppose it stops being culture and becomes an ‘immersive experience’.”

So read on, then practise what she preaches. Get yourself to King’s Cross, talk to an artist, buy something you love if you can, trust your gut, take pleasure seriously – and for heaven’s sake, have a laugh while you’re at it.

You spent part of your childhood in Cyprus, which you remember as a time of freedom, before returning to an English school system that felt comparatively oppressive. At eight, you bought an etching of a girl setting off on an adventure because you wanted to be her. Before the art fairs, artists and parties entered the story, who was that young Karen – and what advice would you give an equally adventurous young creative trying to find their place today?

It’s true that I had a lot of freedom in my formative years, allowing me to test my own boundaries pretty early on. I was always on the go, fearless and endlessly curious. As RAF kids moving about alot we learnt to make things work on the hoof, and not dwell too much on the past. My advice to adventurous young creatives is to be bold in that childlike way, jump on your ideas before the fear or self-doubt pounce on them. Get ahead of that pounce and follow your instinct, your gut, your heart – wherever you feel it most. Nothing communicates your art better than your own passion. Ofcourse we all borrow and learn from others, but the main thing that every artist needs is their subject. Everything flows from that.

Film Credit: Trailer for Art Car Boot Fair, 5 September 2026. Film made by Minky Productions.

You came into London’s art world around an extraordinary moment, influenced by Joshua Compston’s Fête Worse Than Death and a 1990s culture of happenings, parties and artists making things happen for themselves. What did that world teach you about how to live creatively – and what do you think today’s art scene has gained, or lost, since?

I try not to feel too smug about it. It was a brilliant time to be in London – so much word of mouth stuff going on and flitting in and out of an art scene that seemed to effortlessly stretch itself into fashion, music, theatre and performance in a seamless way. And I knew all the secret parking spots in Soho! Plus no-one was dancing along to any algorithms or thinking about being photographed all the time or ROI’s (and if you don’t know what an ROI is – good for you, keep it that way). The main thing was an unselfconsciousness, the spirit of doing deals and flying by the seat of your pants, making commercial partnerships based on feel and mutual goals. Obviously the demystification of the way the business of art runs is good in some ways and the internet and smart phones have created many opportunities for artists who can engage with tech – though I always feel it’s a bit like those gigantic drag nets they use for deep sea fishing.

Image Credit: Work by Vic Reeves aka Jim Moir.

You’ve spent more than two decades bringing established names and emerging artists together, removing some of the usual barriers between artist and audience. At this point in your life, how do you see your own role – curator, instigator, troublemaker, matchmaker, cultural entrepreneur, or something else entirely?

I am a midwife to the artists helping them deliver their newest creations, and a fluffer to the art-curious. Like the warm up act for a comic. I create the space and the place to help get them in the mood and find their own visceral and immediate responses to art by making it easy to come across a huge range of art and artists in a relaxing and non judgement space and engage – and then if they feel like it, to buy at prices virtually unheard of anywhere else.

Image Credit: ‘Performative Tote Bag’ by Mr Bingo.

This year’s Art Car Boot Fair is called PLAY FREE, with artists including Jim Moir, Rankin, Helen Beard, Mr Bingo, GG the Illustrator and many more invited to experiment, misbehave and try things out. Why does creative freedom feel particularly urgent in 2026 – and who should we make a beeline for at Lewis Cubitt Square?

Urgent because there’s so little of it about – we live in an age of ridiculous scrutiny and crippling fears of censure or cancellation. While I can’t change the way the world’s going, or stop the fact that people are sleep walking into not thinking for themselves, I can put it on hold for six hours! Come to the Art Car Boot Fair – it’s a carwash for your creative mind !

You’ve described fun, frivolity and anarchy as important ingredients in art, yet artists today navigate funding criteria, algorithms, institutional caution, online judgement and pressure to turn themselves into brands. Are we becoming too well behaved – and what happens to culture when artists become frightened of getting things wrong?

I suppose it stops being culture and becomes an ‘immersive experience’.

Image Credit: Work by Helen Beard.

ACBF has pointed to Professor Daisy Fancourt’s Art Cure and the growing evidence that culture can be good for our health. But should art also retain the right to be gloriously useless, difficult, sexy, ridiculous or simply pleasurable?

YES!

After 22 years of Art Car Boot Fair, you’ve achieved the difficult trick of creating something successful without apparently polishing away its original mischief. What are you still looking for personally and creatively – what excites you now, what do you want more of in your life, and what would you still dearly love to make happen?

I’ve got a new idea, and I’m going to try to make it happen next year – it’s akin to the Art Car Boot Fair so watch this space! I’m also planning to change transportation method but keep my acronym the ACBF and launch The Art Cycle Basket Fair. Otherwise as soon as the dust has settled on PLAY FREE I’m going to pursue my goal to finish a novel I’ve started which involves a car and an adventurous girl….

Image Credit: Work by Sara Pope.

Finally, which three cultural places in London mean something special to you – whether grand institutions, tiny venues, strange corners or glorious survivors – and why should Run Riot readers experience them?

Too many to mention so I’ll go with the places that nourish me – The Curzon Bloomsbury in the afternoon – watching films, meeting pals, scribbling in my notebook – I just love the aesthetic of the place and it has a fabulous dochouse programme too. The Academy Club (above Andrew Edmunds) – which is a tiny one roomed club is both timeless and contemporary and a place where you feel that you can really let your hair down and rant away. Then I am thrilled to be almost anywhere in the Barbican Centre – the beautiful theatre, cinema and gallery. It’s a joy to be in any of these places regardless of what’s on or who’s in!

Find Karen at @art_car_boot_fair

Art Car Boot Fair
Lewis Cubitt Square, King’s Cross
Saturday 5 September, 12:00 – 18:00

Info & tickets → artcarbootfair.com