BIOGRAPHY
NICOLASANDRO is the conception of artist, writer, poet, traveller, musician and songwriter Nicholas Peart.
1983
Born Nicholas Alexander Peart in London to a Polish mother and South African father.
1987
Creates his first paintings when he is 4 years old and wins numerous art related prizes throughout his youth.
2001
Enrols at the Wimbledon School of Art, which is an important time in his artistic development, where he begins experimenting with different materials and concepts.
2002
Composes songs for the first time, but only played them live two years later.
2004
Began writing poetry and write prolifically until 2007. The poems he wrote during this period are gathered in two collections, In Arctic Measure and Tight Capsules.
2006
Travels to New York and Morocco. His trip to Morocco was the catalyst for a lifelong passion for exploring the world.
2007
Travels in India for three months.
2007-8
Paints his first official series of paintings and performs his songs frequently in various music venues in London.
2008-10
Embarks on a two year journey across Latin America where he travels overland from Los Angeles to the Argentinian city of Ushuaia located at the bottom of the South American continent. He visits and spends time in many countries such as Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Chile, Argentina and Brazil.
2011
Exhibits his work extensively for the first time in and around London. In June 2011, he curates a group exhibition of international artists at the House Gallery in Camberwell, London entitled 'Time Out Of Mind'.
2012
Creates a series of experimental short films. The first of these films, 'Out Of The Blue', was a collaboration with the French artist Geraldine Gallavardin and the Colombian artist Tania Ramirez. This project was made for the 'Rainbow' theme of the 2012 London Biennale founded by the Filipino artist David Medalla and the Australian artist Adam Nankervis.
Begins his second official series of paintings
2013
Embarks on an eight months journey across Latin America, Africa and Europe. During this trip he travelled overland from Mexico City, across Central America to Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guyane and Brazil. From Fortaleza, Brazil, he attempts to travel by freight ship to the Cape Verde islands off the west coast of Africa. Unfortunately that option falls through so he proceeds to travel by plane from Fortaleza to the Cape Verdian capital of Praia. From Cape Verde, he flies to Dakar, Senegal and then continues to travel overland via Mauritania towards Tanger, Morocco. From Tanger he takes a boat to Algecires in Spain before returning overland to London. During this trip, he kept a diary and created a number of short films. One of these films, 'Atlantic: East and West Land's End Extremes' was filmed at Ponta do Seixas (the most eastern point of the Americas) in the Brazilian city of Joao Pessoa and at Pointe des Almadies (the most western point of Africa) in Dakar, Senegal. It was subsequently featured as part of the 'Maps, Mazes and Mysteries' theme of the 2014 London Bienalle and also exhibited as part of the Duality exhibition at the Espacio Gallery in East London, curated by the Brazilian artist and curator Ana Cockerill.
2014-15
Spends time in France where he resumes painting.
Returns to London for a few months in the first half of 2015.
2015-16
Travels to South Africa where he was is mainly based until the end of the summer of 2016. As well as spending time absorbing the rich and vibrant art and cultural scenes of Cape Town and Johannesburg, he creates a fresh new series of paintings, which make up his third official series of paintings.
During his time in South Africa he also established a blog called The Slider (now re-named Latitude Post) as a platform to share his writings on his travels, art and other topics. It has since blossomed into an established blog read by thousands of readers.
Towards the end of 2016, Nicholas returns to India after an absence of nearly a decade.
2017
After returning from India, he spends some months living in Paris where he helps his sister establish a business.
In August , he travels by bus from Paris to the Croatian capital Zagreb from where he travels extensively across the western Balkans visiting Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo and Albania, and writing about his experiences and encounters. During this time, he spends a lot of time in the Serbian capital Belgrade and the Bosnian capital Sarajevo immersing himself in the blossoming and exciting art scenes of both cities and writing about it on his blog.
In November, he spends a month in Athens, exploring the city's epic history whilst also immersing himself in the city's thriving contemporary arts scene and writing about it.
After his time in Athens, he spends much of December travelling across Albania including many days spent in the capital Tirana where he investigated the city's contemporary arts scene. He later wrote a comprehensive article about art in Albania and Kosovo on his blog.
2018
In March, he embarks on a month-long trip exploring the art of Italy, especially from the Renaissance and Classical periods.
Since June, Nicholas has been working on a new series of paintings.