Within Archer's canvases, layers of paint coalesce into dense, enigmatic vistas, each a labyrinthine journey through colour and detail. This is the realm where the 'dark side of Walt Disney meets northern landscape,' a beguiling juxtaposition that beckons us with childish wonder and evokes the spectres of bygone memories. These otherworldly landscapes, seemingly lost or imperilled, materialize as phantoms in the annals of our collective imagination.

 

At times, figures—children, in particular—emerge as protagonists, their eyes our own as we venture through these strange and disquieting landscapes. In works such as 'Ghosts,' the artist invites us to seek utopian enclaves that once thrived, now mere echoes of our rural heritage. The trees and woodlands, integral facets of Britain's landscape, now stand as ghostly apparitions, bearing witness to the passage of time and the fragility of cultural memory.

 

Nick Archer (born 1963) lives and works in East Sussex, England. He trained at the Royal Academy Schools in London (1996-1999), he won several awards, including 1st at the ‘Hunting Art Prize’, commendation at the ‘BP Portrait Award’ and the Figure Painting Award at the ‘Discerning Eye’.  Nick has exhibited extensively in the UK and Europe since 1999, including solo exhibitions with Louise Alexander Gallery (Porto Cervo, Italy), Sarah Myerscough Fine Art (London), Long and Ryle (London), Galerie Hug (Paris) and a solo show at Gowen Contemporary (Geneva) in 2014 and 2017.  He has featured in museum exhibitions including the National Portrait Gallery (London), the Wandsworth Museum (London). In 201. He had a solo exhibition at the Maison de la Culture (Metz, France) and had a solo show at the Hastings Museum (East Sussex).  Nick Archer’s work is held in private, corporate and public collections around the world including the future satellite of the Hermitage Museum (Moscow).