The East End Van Gogh
Nick Fraser
1946 — 2023. Painted in private. Released in chapters.
I. About Nick
Behind the working life of Nick Fraser was a private artistic universe of remarkable intensity.
Born in East London in 1946, Fraser spent more than three decades working at the Tate & Lyle factory while quietly developing a visual language of his own. His paintings move between the cosmic and the bodily, the sacred and the humorous, the tender and the confrontational.
A romantic recluse with deep East End roots, Fraser created outside the art world, guided by instinct, faith and an urgent need to make sense of existence.
Today, his archive is being revealed in chapters.
Read his story
II. The Work
A body of work — coming, slowly, into the light.
III. Chapter 2
31 July 2026 — Shoreditch Arts Club.
A one-day exhibition exploring identity, masculinity, memory and the unspoken life within the work. Selected paintings, archive material, and a limited release of prints.
Enter the ReleaseBook Tickets →IV. The Estate
A friendship, a family, an archive.
The Nick Fraser estate is held in trust by Mark O'Shaughnessy, Nick's lifelong friend, muse and advocate, and curated by Marcus O'Shaughnessy. Together, their work is rooted in friendship, memory and responsibility: to protect Nick's archive, share his story with care, and bring his unseen work into the light.
Lifelong friend, muse & custodian
Mark O'Shaughnessy
Nick's lifelong friend, muse and custodian, Mark was one of the few people Nick trusted enough to speak openly with about his life, beliefs and work. Their friendship became central to the preservation of the archive.
As custodian of Nick's estate, Mark carries the memory of the man behind the paintings, protecting the work as someone who knew Nick intimately and stood beside him throughout his life.
Curator · Founder, Imaginative Reaction CIC
Marcus O'Shaughnessy
Marcus curated Nick Fraser's first public exhibition, Chapter 1, at The Crypt Gallery, London, and continues to shape each stage of the estate's release.
From this journey, Marcus founded Imaginative Reaction CIC — an arts organisation created to support unseen and unheard artists, giving others the platform Nick was never afforded in his lifetime. Chapter 2 continues that purpose, bringing Nick's work back into the world while widening the path for others.
V. Press
Featured in Raw Vision — Issue 121.
The international journal of intuitive, outsider and visionary art.
Read the featureVI. An Impression
“Spiritual, tribal, ethereal — a faintly ominous other-worldly experience. The dramatic legacy of an unrecognised yet extraordinary talent who died in 2023, unknown.”
Andrianne · Chapter 1, The Crypt Gallery, London
VII. The Short Film
The Legacy of Nick Fraser.
An eleven-minute introduction to Nick Fraser's life, work and artistic journey — featuring archive material and insight into the East End artist whose private world is now being released in chapters.
Watch on YouTube →