Nicky Carvell
| Nicky Carvell | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1983 Hertfordshire, United Kingdom |
| 🏳️ Nationality | British |
| 🏫 Education | Chelsea College of Arts, Goldsmiths College, Royal Academy Schools |
| 💼 Occupation | |
| Known for | Painting, Installation, Design, NIKWEAR clothing line |
| Movement | Contemporary art |
| 🌐 Website | nickycarvell.com |
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Nicky Carvell (born 1983) is a British contemporary artist whose work explores the boundaries between art, design and fashion. She is known for her vivid use of colour, graphic motifs and references to popular culture, which she describes as "Naff Grafix".
Early life and education
Carvell was born in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom, in 1983. She studied at Chelsea College of Arts (Foundation Studies in Art and Design, 2002–2003) and Goldsmiths, University of London (BA Fine Art, 2003–2006) before completing a Postgraduate Diploma in Fine Art at the Royal Academy Schools in London (2006–2009).[1]
She lives and works in London.
Career
Carvell’s practice spans painting, installation and design, drawing inspiration from branding, club culture, sport and pop aesthetics. Her style combines the visual language of consumer culture with painterly abstraction, producing what she terms "Naff Grafix". Her work has been exhibited widely across the United Kingdom and internationally, including in the United States, Belgium and the Netherlands.
In 2012 Carvell undertook a residency at 3rd Ward in Brooklyn, New York, after winning the Grand Prize in the 3rd Ward Open Call.[2]
In 2013 she founded the clothing line NIKWEAR, extending her exploration of the crossover between fine art and fashion.[3] Her work and designs were later featured in the i-D Magazine article "Lady of Leisure Wear" by Namalee Bolle, with photography by Rosaline Shahnavaz, published by VICE Media on 25 March 2017.[4]
Her installation Esprit Heat at the French Protestant Church, Soho Square, was part of the 2016 Soho Create Festival and featured in the SOHO CREATE supplement of The Guardian.[5] The same year, Carvell was named the Soho Create Festival Winner for Installation.
Her earlier projects received national press attention. PEACE FROM EAST 17 (2014), exhibited at the Self Run Pop Art Centre in Walthamstow, featured East 17’s Brian Harvey and was covered by NME and the Evening Standard.[6][7]
Carvell’s work was featured in Super Super Magazine (Issue 12, June 2008), It’s Nice That (December 2011), The Upcoming (October 2011), and the international design publication Pretty Ugly - Visual Rebellion in Design (Gestalten, May 2012).[8][9][10][11]
Her public works were included in *Sculpture at Canary Wharf - A Decade of Exhibitions* (Canary Wharf Group, 2011).[12] In 2014, she appeared in a stand-alone BBC Culture Show special on the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, and was profiled in a two-page feature in the Radio Times.[13][14]
Carvell has continued to exhibit across the UK and internationally, including with GIANT, Bournemouth (2021), Tatjana Pieters Gallery, Ghent (2019), and OHSH Projects, London (2023). Her work is held in private collections worldwide.
Awards and residencies
- 2019 - J.M.W. Turner’s House, Sandycombe Lodge, six-month residency, London
- 2016 - Soho Create Festival Winner, London
- 2012 - 3rd Ward Open Call Grand Prize Winner, Brooklyn, New York
- 2009–2010 - The Land Securities Studio Prize, Oxford Street, London
- 2009 - Alumni Award, Royal Academy of Arts, London
Selected exhibitions
- 2024 - Visage, Blackbird Rook Online (11 Jan–14 Feb)
- 2023 - MERCHBAU, OHSH Projects, Peckham, London; Solo/Social Scribbles, Photo Book Café, London
- 2021 - Big Medicine, GIANT Gallery, Bournemouth; Summer Exhibition, Artwave West, Dorset
- 2019 - Installation at Turner’s House, London; Fully Awake, Edinburgh College of Art, Scotland; There’s Something About Painting, Tatjana Pieters Gallery, Ghent, Belgium
- 2017 - Wearable Expressions, Palos Verdes Art Center, Los Angeles; Brains and Lip Takeover, Hix Art, London
- 2016 - Mannequin, Griffin Gallery, London; Run Forrest Run, The Kennington Residency; Esprit Heat, Soho Create, London
- 2015 - Bonfire of the Vanities, Display Gallery, Holborn, London
- 2014 - SECURE DECOR and Flatpacked/Wrapped/Stacked, Punk and Sheep, Canary Wharf; RA Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London
- 2012 - RAINBOW REV, 3rd Ward, Brooklyn; Red, White and Blue - Pop/Punk/Politics/Place, Chelsea Space, London
- 2010 - Modern Love, Simon Oldfield Gallery, London; This is England, Aubin & Wills Gallery, London
- 2009 - Plastic Culture: Legacies of Pop, The Harris Museum, Preston and The Exchange, Penzance
Style and themes
Carvell’s work merges the aesthetics of commercial design, neon signage and postmodern irony. Drawing on late twentieth-century subcultures, advertising and music culture, her art explores the tension between consumer identity and self-expression. Critics have described her approach as both playful and critical, bridging the worlds of fine art, streetwear and pop nostalgia.[15]
Publications
- Carvell, Nicky. "It’s Modern Mysticism; but where’s the magick." Super Super Magazine, Issue 14, 2009, p.133.[16]
External links
References
- ↑ "Nicky Carvell". Royal Academy of Arts. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
- ↑ "3rd Ward Open Call Grand Prize Winner: Nicky Carvell". 3rd Ward. 2012.
- ↑ "NIKWEAR feature". Notion. No. 66. December 2013.
- ↑ Bolle, Namalee (25 March 2017). "Lady of Leisure Wear". i-D (The Fifth Sense). VICE Media. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
- ↑ "SOHO CREATE supplement". The Guardian. 20 May 2016.
- ↑ "East 17's Brian Harvey featuring in Royal Academy Exhibition". NME. June 2009.
- ↑ "East 17 bad boy takes centre stage at RA show". The Evening Standard. 17 June 2009.
- ↑ "Feature". Super Super Magazine. No. 12. June 2008.
- ↑ "Feature on Nicky Carvell". It’s Nice That. December 2011. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
- ↑ "Review of Nicky Carvell exhibition". The Upcoming. October 2011. Missing or empty
|url=(help) - ↑ Pretty Ugly - Visual Rebellion in Design. Gestalten. May 2012. Search this book on
- ↑ Sculpture at Canary Wharf - A Decade of Exhibitions. Canary Wharf Group. December 2011. Search this book on
- ↑ "Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2014". The Culture Show (Television special). 2014. BBC Two.
- ↑ "Feature on Nicky Carvell". Radio Times. 7–13 June 2014. pp. 28–29.
- ↑ "The Art of Protest at Bournemouth's GIANT". Arts & Collections. 7 August 2021. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
- ↑ Carvell, Nicky (2009). "It's Modern Mysticism; but where's the magick". Super Super. No. 14. p. 133. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
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