Archie Franks

Archie Franks is a British painter whose works explore familiar cultural motifs such the fairground, puddings and football. Memory, decadence, and a heightened sense of unreality permeate his imagery, often revealing the haunting undertones that nostalgia can evoke. 

Archie's inspirations include the atmospheric lighting in Jean-Honoré Fragonard’s paintings, modern advertisements for food, and Caravaggio’s iconic still lives. His swift, often highly textured brushwork echoes the transient nature of pleasure and fun - but a sense of foreboding can be detected. Turbulent skies loom above a fairground ride, and white-kitted cricket players appear like ghosts, conjuring up a sense of Englishness - and an unsettling reminder of cricket’s colonial exportation.

Archie studied at City & Guilds of London Art School and the Royal Academy Schools, graduating in 2012. The following year he exhibited in Bloomberg New Contemporaries and was awarded the Sainsbury Scholarship in Painting, which included a one-year, fully-funded residency at the British School at Rome. He was awarded the Jerwood Painting Fellowship in 2016, concluding with a UK-wide touring exhibition that opened at Jerwood Space in London. In 2025 he was selected for the Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery in London. Archie lives and works in south east London. 

We are looking forward to exhibiting Archie’s work in our upcoming exhibition A Day at the Seaside.