The Art Report - Charlotte Archer
The Art Report is a bimonthly series that aims to highlight a mix of up and coming artists in the beginning of their careers as well as established artists that have inspired and paved the way for our generation. Twice a month you’ll get to learn more about their lives and their work, and hopefully find some new favourite artists!
Every day I walk home from university and every day I take the same road. Every day I cross the same streets, walk past the same hairdresser, wait for the same traffic light to turn green. It’s a nice walk, but after doing it for a year, and especially on the days I’m rushing to get home and relax after a day of studying, I have to admit I sometimes do it on autopilot. A few weeks ago there I was, coming back home after finishing a paper, probably lost in my thoughts or thinking about what I was going to make for lunch, when a painting on a window made me stop for a moment. Maybe it was the bright colours, maybe it was the contrast between the figures and the solid background, but the painting had such a vibrant energy that I couldn’t just go on with my day. So I looked up the artist and found her Instagram (@charlotte.archer.art), where she has created a world full of joy, colour and lots, lots of music.
I was lucky to be able to talk to Charlotte, and to confirm that music really is an important part in her life , so it’s not surprising that it has such a big influence on her art.
“Music is very important to me, it can totally elevate my mood & helps me a lot to concentrate when I’m painting.”, says Charlotte, who also designed and created art installations for multiple nightclubs when she lived in Ibiza. What had started as just a hobby, painting during the quiet winter months on the island, quickly turned into an actual job as friends, cafés and bars started to ask her for paintings and murals. But it wasn’t until Charlotte went on a trip to Uganda that she found her love for portrait painting, and combining that with music she began to paint some of her favourite artists - Erykah Badu, Biggie Smalls, Lauryn Hill, Roy Ayers and Prince, channeling their energy through fun, lively paintings. Her latest exhibitions were also tremendously influenced by music, the first one about Drum and Bass music, held in a record store in London’s Soho, and her latest one in Barcelona, showcasing the portraits of some of her favourite Hip hop artists.
About Barcelona, Charlotte says she decided to move to the city because she was missing “the city buzz and culture, I was craving going to a museum or an exhibition and wanted to see what new opportunities could arise for me in a new city”. Charlotte’s art is a perfect reflection and celebration of all of these things - the excitement of summer in Ibiza and its nightclubs, the creative energy of Barcelona, and the passion for music, that despite being something so difficult to materialise, comes to life in each of her paintings.
