Last updated: 28 October 2026
Graham Fink is the London-born artist and former advertising creative director who draws portraits with his eyes and photographs faces hidden in rocks, walls and clouds. Here you will find our take on his work, where to see Graham Fink’s art, how to buy it, and his two mixed media pieces in this year’s War Child auction.
Our take on Graham Fink
Fink has spent his art career chasing faces. He photographs them in cracked walls and flaking paint, prints them on marble, and draws them with an eye-tracker instead of a pencil. “I have been preoccupied with faces since childhood. I see them in rocks, clouds, cracks in walls,” he wrote for his show at Riflemaker.
His two War Child pieces are mixed media and look like a pair. In The Last Beautiful Thing, a figure in a white shirt falls head first through dripping teal and dark blue paint into a blaze of yellow. The End of Day has two pale, tumbling figures against deep navy, with thick yellow paint pooling below. Both read as a loose answer to this year’s lyric, “as we fell into the sun”.
The thick, hand-made paint is a change from the screen-based eye drawings he is best known for. Even there, though, he lets the image find itself. “I never set out to draw a face, but take the line on a journey,” he told Wallpaper. That instinct shows in these two small, fast-looking pieces.
Graham Fink: the essentials
- Born in London. Before turning to art full time he was one of Britain’s best-known advertising creatives.
- Became the youngest ever president of D&AD in 1996, and later served as executive creative director of M&C Saatchi in London.
- Became chief creative officer of Ogilvy & Mather China in 2011.
- Founded the conceptual production company thefinktank in 2001 and theartschool in 2005, which held sessions in venues including the House of Commons, according to his own site.
- First solo show, NOMADS, at Riflemaker in London in 2014: twelve photographs of faces found in surfaces, printed on Thassos marble.
- Developed eye-tracking drawing software with the Swedish firm Tobii, which lets him draw live on screen using only his eyes.
Where to see Graham Fink now
- Coming up: Sound & Vision 2026, a War Child charity auction online from 27 October to 12 November 2026, with the works on view at Iconic Images Gallery, London, 6 to 8 November. The pieces are The Last Beautiful Thing and The End of Day (both 2026), mixed media, 15 x 21 cm (5.9 x 8.3 in), lot pages for The Last Beautiful Thing and The End of Day.
- In Transition (solo), VVA Gallery, 5 March to 10 April 2020, his first work in monotype printing, as listed on his own site.
- Duets, with the Shanghai fashion designer Ziggy Chen, Annroy Gallery, 20 July to 24 August 2018.
- Stone Souls (solo), Riflemaker, London, 1 February to 2 March 2017.
How to buy a Graham Fink artwork
There are no Graham Fink prints or editions on general sale. Two small originals are in a charity auction, and other works are available through the artist:
- The Last Beautiful Thing and The End of Day, 2026: two small mixed media works in the War Child Sound & Vision auction, bidding from £100 until 12 November 2026 (bid here on The Last Beautiful Thing or The End of Day).
- Other works: enquire through the artist’s website, price on request.
Graham Fink FAQs
Is Graham Fink the advertising creative?
Yes. He was D&AD’s youngest ever president in 1996, ran the creative department at M&C Saatchi London and became chief creative officer of Ogilvy & Mather China in 2011.
How does Graham Fink draw with his eyes?
He uses a Tobii eye-tracker and software he developed with the company. Infrared light tracks his eye movements, which appear as lines on a screen.
What is pareidolia in Graham Fink’s work?
It is the habit of seeing faces in random patterns. His photographs record faces he has spotted in walls, rocks and decaying surfaces.
Where can I see his work in London?
His two War Child pieces are on view at Iconic Images Gallery from 6 to 8 November 2026.
More from CoolCuration
- This Is Still Not a Pipe review: Magritte at Gagosian, another artist who worked in advertising.
- Great Art Explained: the stories behind famous paintings.
- Art on a Postcard: another charity art sale where small works by big names go for less.
- Frieze London guide: where to see new art in London.
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Main image: Graham Fink. Courtesy the artist, via grahamfink.com. Cropped and framed by CoolCuration. Exhibition dates, prices, auction results and market figures last checked: 28 October 2026.
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