Philip Archer OBE: CATCHING SIGHT

Philip Archer was born and brought up in Cardiff. He started his studies in Art Foundation at Cardiff College of Art and went on to complete a BA in Sheffield College of Art and MA in The Royal College of Art, London. He later moved to Scotland where he was Principal at Leith School of Art from 1991 - 2019. Philip was awarded an OBE in the 2021 New Year Honours list for services to art and education.

A large body of work in this exhibition is inspired by Cardiff Market. The paintings are typical of Archer’s characteristic practice of attention to people and places, and to shifting patterns of light and shade. Reflections and glimpses of the drama of market scenes infuse with his familiar shadow plays which represent memory and link the past with the present. With references to Shakespeare and The Mabinogion, the drama of figures and shadows, of people at work or in contemplation, explore the borders of the mystical and the material, the spiritual and the real.

There are also some beautiful studio still lives which have a touch of the romantic sublime about them; flowers in the studio window and personal photographs on the walls. All are oil paintings that emerge from a long process of adding thin layers of paint repeatedly to achieve a fine balance of colour and form.

Catching Sight is Philip Archer’s first solo exhibition with Celf Gallery and we are delighted to present his work in his home town - his first exhibition in Cardiff in 30 years. 

Collectorplan, an interest free loan scheme run by the The Arts Council of Wales, is available.