NICK FRASER

First published: Winter 2024/2025

London factory worker Nick Fraser suffered debilitating arthritis, but his work buzzes with movement and creative energy

“A working-class factory worker from the East End of London, a singer of gospel, and creator of soulful, spiritual paintings that emerged from a body consumed by chronic pain.“ This is the paradoxical, prolific visionary artist, Nick Fraser, as described by his long-time friend, advocate and occasional muse, Mark O’Shaughnessy. Fraser was born in 1946, in Stratford in east London. His mother was a housewife who privately wrote poetry, while his father did bare-knuckle fighting on Blackheath Common to supplement the family’s weekly income from his fruit-and-veg market stall. In his teens, Fraser could be found at Ronnie Scott’s – the famous jazz club in Soho – playing the trombone, and later took part in traditional carol and gospel singing. He worked at the Tate and Lyle sugar refinery factory in the East End for 32 years – only ever taking seven days off, despite suffering from rheumatoid arthritis which became crippling by the time he had reached his late forties. For many years, he found solace from his physical pain in the creation of his cosmic, dreamlike artwork.

Fraser in 1991; photo: Limelight Exhibition, Lewisham Library.

O’Shaughnessy and Fraser’s friendship was built on a mutual love of singing and creativity. They first met in 1984 when O’Shaughnessy – previously a dancer in London’s West End – had taken up one-to-one fitness and healing to make ends meet. He visited Fraser in his home to provide physiotherapy to help manage his chronic pain. Fraser’s art was up on the walls but, by this time, he had stopped painting, partly due to the death of his mother – with whom he was extremely close and who most likely influenced his creativity (although her own writings were only discovered after she died) – but also because it had become increasingly difficult for him to hold a paintbrush.

Blue Tribes Duo, 1990; courtesy: Mark O'Shaughnessy

Eventually, O’Shaughnessy began to bring paints and hardboard on his visits and encouraged his patient to start painting again. Fraser took the advice, finding inspiration in the news and topical issues, such as wars, Antarctic expeditions, and the architecture of the Millennium Dome which had recently been erected not too far from his East End home.