Nicholas Baldion

 

Nicholas Baldion is a British Colombian artist based in London.  He has been awarded the John Moores Painting Prize 2023 and the Visitors’ Choice award for his powerful depiction of the Grenfell Tower tragedy. While aesthetics held a place in his practice, he firmly believed that art should also carry a message. This message, for him, often leaned towards the political and social spheres. One interesting example of this philosophy in action is his Social murder, Grenfell in three parts painting triptych. Baldion's outrage at the tragedy fueled a long-term project that responded to the official inquiry and its aftermath. His involvement extended beyond the canvas, is a protest against the negligence of the system. The painting itself served a multifaceted purpose: education, remembrance, and a tool in the fight for safer housing and justice.

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“The Grenfell one, it was a long time coming. It was five years after the fire when I started to work on it and I knew I'd wanted to do it for those five years.”

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One of Nicholas Baldion’s paintings delves into the history of the Ford Dagenham strikes, specifically the crucial fights for equal pay between men and women in 1968 and 1984. The central figure, a young female activist, represents the future taking a stand. Portraits of the actual female strikers from both strikes flank her, grounding the scene in history. Social realism emerged as a prominent aspect of Nicholas Baldion's practice, alongside the more personal and intimate works.