Nick Gentry | London-based Contemporary Artist

Artist Nick Gentry

Nick in the studio January 2025
Photo by Paolina Stadler for Artiq

About Nick Gentry

Secret archives of human memory

Nick Gentry is a British artist who uses the physical remnants of our digital lives to tell profoundly human stories. A Central Saint Martins graduate, he cultivates a deeply engaged international community through collaborative projects and exhibitions, pushing the boundaries of traditional portraiture.

Gentry’s work breathes life into obsolete technology. By transforming thousands of discarded floppy disks, film negatives, and medical X-rays into large-scale portraits, he creates secret archives of human memory. As the modern world grapples with the dark realities of compromised data, blackmail, and information traded as currency, these physical archives take on a subversive, timely edge. They are patchworks of mysteries, using the hard edges of technology to map the organic contours of the human face.

Crucially, Gentry masks this heavy, existential weight behind a veil of nostalgic whimsy. The disks he uses are just as likely to hold brightly labeled retro video games and forgotten digital entertainment as they are sensitive files. Echoing Neil Postman’s warnings in Amusing Ourselves to Death, the artwork explores our willing, joyful surrender to a 'technopoly'. The result is a striking emotional duality: Gentry's portraits provoke an initial, lighthearted smile, only to reveal a deeper, provocative gravity. We are invited to question how our obsession with digital amusement distracts us from the very real commodification of our personal lives.

Exhibited internationally from Paris and New York to London and Miami, Gentry’s art serves as a poignant commentary on contemporary existence. Through his commitment to social art projects and charitable collaborations, he compels us to reflect on our identities, the secrets we keep, and the fragmented footprint we leave behind in the digital age.

Full Artist CV (PDF)

Nick Gentry BBC News Feature

Studio playlist

Hear the music that inspires my art

Explore the Collections

  • Floppy disk art

    Floppy Disk Artworks

    Floppy Disk artworks of assembled disks, reflecting on identity and obsolescence.

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  • Iceberg artwork

    Smoke Soot Artworks

    Smoke Soot artworks capture icebergs' fragility, highlighting climate change.

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  • Film negative art

    Film Negative Artworks

    Film Negative artworks transform celluloid into portraits of identity and memory.

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  • Blockhead artwork

    Blockhead Portrait Artworks

    Blockhead portraits explore fragmented identity and anonymity in the digital age.

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  • VHS tape art

    VHS Tape Artworks

    VHS artworks examining identity, truth, and the spectacle of politics in the digital age.

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  • Data landscape art

    Computer Punchcard Artworks

    Computer Punchcard artworks transform vintage data into abstract landscapes.

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  • Data dust art

    Data Dust Artworks

    Data Dust portraits question the boundaries between humanity and technology.

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