Paul Tracey is a London born artist and designer, now living in Hampshire, who has had many solo and group exhibitions of his paintings, drawings and silkscreen prints, exhibiting with the Royal Society of British Artists most years. He also collaborates with architects and designers in the visual realisation of their projects using CAD design systems.

ABOUT THE TALK

Paul spent five years visiting and painting piers in the UK, Europe and the US. As well as the paintings, he collected vintage postcards, lithographic prints, stories from old newspapers, stories of heroic feats of courage when disaster struck and all sorts other pier memorabilia. All the paintings and some of the memorabilia were published in his book – 100 Piers, Paintings at the Water’s Edge.

Every pier, from the grandest to the most modest has its own story. They have been blown up, blown down, knocked down, fallen down, they have burnt down, had boats knock them down and been the subject of bankruptcies and dodgy deals. 

The paintings have been exhibited in several group and one man shows in England and for the past ten years with the Royal Society of British Artists, in the Mall Galleries, London.  

Paul’s talk concentrates on some of the piers we have along the south coast, their history and how they ended up as they are, plus a few stories on the job of selling paintings, including how to sell the same painting twice and other stories.