Tom Pike
Biography
Tom Pike (b.1978) is a British Artist currently based in London and the Peak District (UK). He started his practice in 2019, at the age of 41, whilst living and working in Germany.
Tom graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2003 with a masters degree in menswear fashion design. Since then, he has spent over 20 years working at companies such as Levi’s, Adidas and Fila and has lectured on the Fashion, Print and Textiles courses at the Royal College of Art and London College of Fashion. Today he runs his artistic practice alongside his design career, believing them mutually beneficial.
Artist Statement
Tom creates abstract works on canvas mixing elements of collage and experimental painting. His design experience and explorative painting and mark making form an alliance that sets the foundation of his practice.
Tom’s practice runs on a healthy skepticism of formal gatekeeping in art and design and his work is a deliberate collision of both. There is an unapologetic ambiguity in his core visual language, which relies on the tension between rigid structure and impermanence. He often destroys existing works and reconstructs them with a number of post production processes, where his abstract gestures collide with the hard lines of his design career.
Tom’s practice operates as a means to diagnose his own creative condition, as he finds himself caught somewhere between expression and execution; however his work also quietly speaks to the classification, consumption and production of art and design.
CV
Education:
2023/24 – Turps Banana (Correspondence Course, Painting)
2003 – Royal College of Art (MA, Menswear Design)
Exhibitions:
2023 – Group Show, New Wave, Spitalfields Gallery, London, UK
2021 – Solo Show, Tom Pike, Edel Extra Kunstverein, Nurnberg, Germany
2020 – Solo Show, Achtung Wet Paint, Edel Extra Kunstverein, Nurnberg, Germany
Prizes:
2022 – Longlisted, BBA Artist Prize, BBA Gallery, Berlin, Germany
Podcasts/Interviews:
2024 – SEEN, Carrie Scott, Artist Interview (paid subscription)
2023 – HYPE A, Cristallina Fischetti, Season 4, Bonus Episode (after episode 9)
@All images courtesy of Tom Pike.
