Andrew Holmes

After gaining an Art and Design Degree in 1980, Andrew worked as a freelance illustrator, collaborating on commercial projects in advertising, design, TV and film, until 2008 when he returned to painting. His art practice is predominantly centred on figurative painting. Andrew’s still life paintings of sweet foods describe temptation and desire with undertones of the erotic and sensual whilst his generic figure pieces are an oblique portrayal of discreet sexuality, gender and equality. Stylistically, Andrew’s work refers to Baroque & Rococo portraiture, contemporary painting and his interest in formalism and visual culture.

“I’m curious about aesthetic appreciation and how we know if something is good or bad art. A painting, or any artwork, is a physical and cognitive record of the process an artist has engaged in when making it. Regardless of how successful it is, the finished piece will inevitably be an authentic account of this process and open to examination. But it’s the contextualisation of an artwork, in a place or through critical engagement, that truly influences our perception and intellectual judgement of it.”

​Born 1959 in Kent, England, Andrew lives and works in London.

Awards

ING Discerning Eye 2017, London and South East Region Award for outstanding work.

​Experience

2008 – present, visual artist.

1980 – 2018. Illustrator.

1976 – 1980. MSIAD, Faculty of Art and Design, Cornwall, UK