Peter Spens painting court side at the Rio Olympics 2016
Peter Spens graduated in Fine Art BA (Hons) from Bristol Art School in 1983. Since then he has painted constantly, working from varied motifs. He has concentrated on depicting London since 1996. A retrospective of his major London works was held in the main Guildhall Art Gallery by the City of London in 2006. This bought together key pieces from four Cork Street exhibitions and a large series from the balcony at Shell Mex (80 Strand). Peter works in series from buildings, these include: Tower 42 in the City; Financial Times; Riverside House and Queen Street Place, which cluster around Southwark Bridge; Tate Modern; Millbank Tower; Shell Centre and Five Strand looking onto Trafalgar Square.
For the London Olympics Peter Spens was invited to paint beach volleyball from Horse Guards, which led to a commission for the 2016 Rio Olympics and a further commission for Paris 2024.
Peter formed the Cranley Gallery in 2009 in order to host exhibitions and talks around his work. Often these events will include studio tours and discussions of commissions.