Nicholas Stedman

Nicholas Stedman is a figurative painter born in Portsmouth, UK, in 1953. His work manifests a personal approach to the human body, marking the contradictory tensions - metaphysical and emotional - between flight and fall. Figures soar or sink in a broken universe, arranged like hieroglyphs floating, tumbling, and falling through abstract plains.

Nicholas Stedman's Early Career and Influences

Nicholas' career began in Paris in the 1980s and, since 2006, he has lived and worked in Sicily, Palermo. Despite painting his whole life - often under the guidance of Scottish artist Nell Todd, formally, Nicholas had a scientific education in biochemistry. After graduating from Cambridge University, Nicholas decided to go to France, where he learnt to draw at the Paris Municipal Art School in the Place des Vosges. Nicholas completed his artistic education with inspiring instruction on artist material from Nicolas Wacker at the École des Beaux-Arts. He later worked under the critical eye of lyrical abstract artist Zao-Wou Ki at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs before becoming a proclaimed professional artist in 1982.

Approach to the Human Body

During Nicholas' 25 years living in Paris, he collaborated with dancers, circus artists, and various divers to explore the moving human figure. Nicholas' choreography of bodies in space refers to our perception of the human condition as highly volatile, the beauty of dance, and the artist's scientific background. His orbital, pirouetting compositions are full of suspense and, on observation, provide a somewhat kinesthetic experience for viewers to increase their own self-awareness by joining in a dance of their own.

Exhibitions and Collections

His paintings have been widely exhibited in Europe during the last 30 years, with many solo shows in Paris and Italy. His work is in several public collections such as the Asia University Museum of Modern Art in Taiwan, Air France Industries, Maires de Vitry Chatillon and Prayssac. You can also find Nicholas' artwork featured on several book covers, including a book of poems by Kim Moore, entitled The Art of Falling, and a Cambridge University Press Textbook, Health and Physical Education.