4th August 2008
Beating hundreds of other hopefuls, 44-year old Nicholas Archer won the ING Fresh Eyes residency, not only did he enjoy privileged access with ING and the ING Renault F1 Team throughout the British Grand Prix weekend, but Nicholas was also mentored by art legend Sir Peter Blake CBE – whose work includes the iconic cover to The Beatles' 1967 Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album. Archer was selected by; the world famous artist, Sir Peter Blake; Renault F1 Managing Director, Flavio Briatore and The Times Art Critic, Rachel Campbell Johnston.
Nicholas Archer's paintings are in part a reaction to the notion that England is somehow ‘grey' and a response to movement. Yet in his recent series of works titled “Racing and Rodeo” the intensity of colour and light lend themselves to a luminosity that appears just after a heavy down pour.
The work takes as its source a photographic perspective, a documentary style of imagery. Archer's ‘language of paint' draws the viewer in to this world of sublime colour, at once alluring but also full of movement and distraction, creating a sense of intense concentration. In his depictions of speed and racing, the ground stays flat and solid whilst the main part of the canvas is full of momentum, speed and space. The work reminds us of Gerhard Richter's series of over painted photographs.
Nicholas Archer's innovative work has attracted national acclaim and he was awarded the Hunting Art Prize, one of the country's most prestigious prize for painters in 2002 and won the BP Portrait Award in 1998. Since 2001 Nicholas has been represented by Sarah Myerscough Fine Art London. Nicholas completed his MA at the Royal Academy Schools in 1999; currently he is a part-time painting lecturer at the Heatherly School of Art, Chelsea. Nicholas Archer was born in Dewsbury Yorkshire on 30th June 1963. He lives and works in Hastings, East Sussex.
This exciting competition has been a huge success in bringing together art and Formula 1 in a new and dynamic way by placing artists in the pit lane during the race and practice days to make drawings and paintings in response to the exhilarating experience of Formula 1 racing. Taking inspiration from their inside access into F1, both Nicholas and Sir Peter will produce a works of art to be auctioned to raise money for ING's chosen charities, Great Ormond Street Hospital and Chances for Children.
