Felix Chesher
Felix Chesher is a British born portrait artist best known for his provocative contemporary realist portraits of the male form.
Felix graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art as a Scenic Painter for Theatre, Film & Tv, and turned to portraiture during/due to Covid.
Felix Chesher has painted and worked with iconic and celebrated figures from the LGBTQ+ community, the focus of which formed his first solo exhibition in late 2021 which Felix described as "a positive to come from the horror of the COVID period and an opportunity to celebrate the wider LGBTQ+ community.”
He graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 2019 and had a short spell of working as a freelance scenic painter in the West End until everything came to an abrupt stop caused by COVID-19, and he found himself unemployed.
Having explored his passion for drawing people and painting portraiture as a young adult, it was the consequences of the COVID pandemic that gave Felix the time to refine his talent for oil painting and portraiture. Whilst his life was paused, Felix was able to reflect and made the conscious decision that he would focus on fulfilling his dream to become a portrait artist.Felix commented in early 2021, “Like many others, I have struggled with my mental health during the pandemic, finding the whole experience extremely isolating and claustrophobic. This was compounded by the lack of support for the arts from the government, and with no hope they would help keep the careers of creatives afloat, I felt even more compelled to work for myself and become self-sufficient once this global crisis was over.”
Throughout his early career his works have already been exhibited as part of a number of competitions, including having been shortlisted for the BP Portrait Awards (National Portrait Gallery) and being exhibited in the ING Discerning Eye Exhibition at the Mall Galleries. This has led to Felix becoming an in-demand portraitist, regularly undertaking new private commissions.
Today, his works are held in private collections across the U.K. and North America. The artist lives and works in London.
