Archer Davies
“My painting aims for a tension between a beautiful surface of colour and brushwork and the intimacy and psychological depth of the human subject. Art historical traditions, themes and genres are never far from my mind and I see my work as a contemporary continuation of them” Archer Davies, 2025
Tracing a link between the great Masters such as Titian, Velasquez and Manet, Archer Davies paints ‘from life’, drawing inspiration from a fascination with historical portraiture, still life and cinema.
Staged theatrical compositions are embodied in a style that is both gestural and realistic and often reminiscent of a cinematic mise-en-scene, where the protagonists exist in their own mysterious world. Narrative threads are suggested but read in a poetic way rather than a linear ‘story’, intentionally leaving interpretation open for the viewer.
Born in Maleny, Queensland, Davies graduated from Queensland College of Art in 2010 with a Bachelor of Fine Art (Painting) with First Class Honours. He was twice awarded the Griffith Award for Academic Excellence in 2011 and 2014. Archer has been a finalist in a number of prizes including The Kilgour Prize (2021), The Percival Portrait Prize (2019, 2014), the Rick Amor Self Portrait Prize (2018) and the Churchie Emerging Emerging Art Prize (2014). He is a featured artist in the 2024 Thames and Hudson publication ‘About Face’ by Amber Creswell Bell. In 2024 he was the artist-in-residence with Lucy Culliton at the Brisbane Royal Show, the EKKA.
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