From Adland to Art: Andy Fackrell’s Creative Evolution and Iconic Sports Portraits
180 Amsterdam, DDB Asia Pacific, Wieden + Kennedy — these are all places creative director Andy Fackrell has called home.
But nowadays, working freelance, Andy feels more at home in front of a canvas with a palette by his side.
His unique paintings, headlined by a customisable portrait of tennis star Iga Świątek, are the centrepiece of his partnership with sports brand On.
Speaking to LBB, he discusses his transition into the art world, highlighting the influence of his extensive background in creative direction. He reveals the process behind his most prominent paintings and explains how his environment in Bondi, Sydney, shapes his artistic expression and daily creative practices.
LBB> What inspired your transition from advertising to painting, and how has your background in creative direction influenced your evolving career as an artist?
Andy> Painting and drawing have always been there, way before I knew advertising was even a thing. I occasionally took painting vacations, like the one to Grenada in 2002 (keeping me away from Cannes and picking up a Grand Prix for Nike Tag) but the commitment to painting came well after quitting my day job. However, being so obsessive about sport; this became a natural segue. This tennis series feels like I’ve commissioned myself.
‘GRAVEYARD CRICKET’. Grenada, 2002. Oil on canvas.
LBB> How did your collaboration with the sports brand On come about?
Andy> I’ve been working with On’s Feliciano Robayna – a former colleague at 180 Amsterdam – for over five years, resulting in the films Untethered and Superfrau. More recently, I was pitching tennis projects, which is where I got to know a bit about Iga. Her portrait project came about through Feli and I chatting about how Iga’s anniversary at On coincided with her 23rd birthday at the French Open. Feli had seen some of my paintings and one thing led to another.
LBB> What was the creative process for developing the customisable portrait of Iga Świątek?
Andy> Adding the interactive aspect – stamping with a new trophy for each new title – was a bit of a failsafe, if the technique didn’t stand up. Thankfully she won her fourth, so it all made sense. The stencils give the portrait ongoing meaning, something Iga can add to every June, when she returns home from Paris. I like to think she’d be visualising stamping numbers 5, 6, 7 and 8 to beat Chris Evert’s overall tally.
‘IGA SWIATEK’, 2024. Commissioned by her agent, presented to Iga prior to French Open at Roland Garros. A template was supplied with the painting for Iga to add future French Open titles.
LBB> Your portrait of Świątek nods to early-20th-century technique. How do you blend different artistic styles and historical references into your contemporary works?
Andy> It’s still about the idea, and the nod to that era made sense once I’d introduced the WW1 monoplane shadow, as flown by Roland Garros (whom the Parisian centre is named after). It also justified the long days spent in Paris museums – staring at Picasso, Beckmann, Gaugin, Bonnard, Russian expressionists, to Jules de Balincourt, Peter Doig, Tadanori Yokoo, etc. For now, I don’t mind shifting techniques between projects – this will ultimately be decided for each individual idea, but my work is always painterly.
LBB> The new piece for Ben Shelton is quite different. And is this number two in a series for On?
Andy> Yes, it’s an ongoing series. Each painting coincides with the one year anniversary of the athletes signing with On. For Ben, it’s about this raw, unbridled talent. The palette – yellow, teal, pink, orange – reflects his Florida roots. Miami Vice meets expressionism. If Iga’s the introvert, Ben is certainly the opposite. A third is in the mix.
‘BEN SHELTON.’ 2024. Commissioned by his agent, for presentation prior to US Open.
LBB> Having created iconic sports ads and now sports-related art, how do you see the relationship between sports and art evolving in your work?
Andy> Sport and art have been entwined since I can remember. From the age of seven, I’ve been drawing and playing cricket, basketball, rugby, football, tennis - everything. At University, I majored in illustration and advertising while playing basketball at national club (and street) level. (My final year project was an advertising campaign promoting New Zealand’s national league.)
Fast forward fifteen years to be working on Nike and adidas, in their heyday. Impossible to imagine. And now, On. This portrait project is a little quirky; old school oil painting for this tech-savvy brand. It’s been a dream collaborating with On these last five years. I’ve benefited hugely from some stellar creative relationships that have valued individual expression; W+K/Nike and 180/adidas, and now directly with On.
LBB> Can you tell us more about your self-portrait, which was accepted into the 2024 Archibald prize exhibition at the Salon des Refusés?
Andy> I was in my back courtyard, taking in some late winter sun, waiting on a Zoom call to Amsterdam. I quickly sketched the composition and grabbed a screenshot. It was my framer who suggested I enter it. I said, “you think? It’s not very big. And not of anyone famous.”
It was definitely a surprise to get in the show.
‘SELF PORTRAIT.’ 2024.LBB> Having worked in different creative fields (advertising, documentaries, children’s books, and now painting), how do you approach each new medium and what challenges have you encountered along the way?
Andy> I’d naturally evolved into the documentaries, after making increasingly longer-format work for adidas – Kicking It, Last Man Standing, Road To Lisbon, etc – but I learned much of this from my time at Wieden and Kennedy, from the early mockumentary Miller work (directed by a young Todd Phillips) to Tag with Frank Budgen.
I’ve always loved how Oliver Jeffers approached kid’s books, starting with a huge conceptual thought. For me, projects just seem to morph into new mediums. My picture book “Group Hug” followed a mini documentary I’d made about animal poaching in Africa, in which I’d used collective nouns as the narrative device. ‘The Gruffalo’ inspired the writing, if Oliver inspired the concept. (I met up with Oliver in NYC to unsuccessfully ask him to illustrate Group Hug)
That one idea gave me a film for an LA-based NGO and a kid’s book about diversity, supported by the UNDP.
Painting is unique because of its solitude. It’s difficult being objective.
But whatever medium, you’re still trying to find a quality that elevates it. You just have to trust yourself, and acknowledge your insecurities as part of the process. That goes with the territory.
LBB> Living in Bondi, Sydney, how does your environment influence your art, and what daily practices or routines do you follow to stay creatively inspired?
Andy> The ocean and cliffs – perched as we are right on the edge of this huge continent is inspiring to wake up to. At sunrise, I’ll walk down the coast for an hour, drink a lot of coffee, or visit the world’s best indie bookstore, Gertrude and Alice. Much of my work in the last two years has been done within this 5km radius. It’s not necessarily sweeping seascapes, but small things with meaning: a drinking fountain tainted red by the bushfires, a ray caught in a shark net, the millenia-old petroglyph scratched on my nearby headland.
You can see more of Andy's work at @andrewfackrell.
