Artist: Mark Francis (b.1962) Title: Pathol (2003) Medium: oil on canvas Size: 61 x 61cm (24 x 24in) Framed Size: 80 x 80cm (31.5 x 31.5in) Provenance: Michael Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles; Private Collection a#morebtn { color: #de1d01; } a#morebtn:hover { cursor: pointer;} Optically intense, the paintings of Mark Francis have their origins in what cannot be seen with the naked eye. Born in Newtownards, he studied at St Martins and Chelsea in London and has been based there since. Around the end of the 1980s, he made paintings based on details of the biological struct... Read more Optically intense, the paintings of Mark Francis have their origins in what cannot be seen with the naked eye. Born in Newtownards, he studied at St Martins and Chelsea in London and has been based there since. Around the end of the 1980s, he made paintings based on details of the biological structure of plants. It was the beginning of a course of artistic inquiry that has led him into the microscopic worlds of biological processes and forms at one extreme and the macroscopic vistas of deep space at the other. The visual languages he harnesses are derived from the imagery and data feeds produced by an array of technological devices and methods, including electron photomicrography and radio telescopes. A grid structure in his paintings is indicative of the practices of measurement and calibration involved in visualising the invisible. It also recalls the grid that is at the heart of much abstract art. But he is always focused on something more than abstraction: on the clusters and patterns of basic organic forms or, on occasion, the radiation emitted by distant celestial objects. Franciss work often have a distinctly ominous air, relating as they do to organic processes often associated with pathological or other research methods. The world is made alien, but it is also uncomfortably recognisable. Since he featured in Sensation, the Royal Academys celebrated and controversial 1997 exhibition of the Saatchi collection, the artist has produced a wealth of highly acclaimed work and built a formidable international reputation. Aidan Dunne, November 2020
Artist: Mark Francis (b.1962) Title: Pathol (2003) Medium: oil on canvas Size: 61 x 61cm (24 x 24in) Framed Size: 80 x 80cm (31.5 x 31.5in) Provenance: Michael Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles; Private Collection a#morebtn { color: #de1d01; } a#morebtn:hover { cursor: pointer;} Optically intense, the paintings of Mark Francis have their origins in what cannot be seen with the naked eye. Born in Newtownards, he studied at St Martins and Chelsea in London and has been based there since. Around the end of the 1980s, he made paintings based on details of the biological struct... Read more Optically intense, the paintings of Mark Francis have their origins in what cannot be seen with the naked eye. Born in Newtownards, he studied at St Martins and Chelsea in London and has been based there since. Around the end of the 1980s, he made paintings based on details of the biological structure of plants. It was the beginning of a course of artistic inquiry that has led him into the microscopic worlds of biological processes and forms at one extreme and the macroscopic vistas of deep space at the other. The visual languages he harnesses are derived from the imagery and data feeds produced by an array of technological devices and methods, including electron photomicrography and radio telescopes. A grid structure in his paintings is indicative of the practices of measurement and calibration involved in visualising the invisible. It also recalls the grid that is at the heart of much abstract art. But he is always focused on something more than abstraction: on the clusters and patterns of basic organic forms or, on occasion, the radiation emitted by distant celestial objects. Franciss work often have a distinctly ominous air, relating as they do to organic processes often associated with pathological or other research methods. The world is made alien, but it is also uncomfortably recognisable. Since he featured in Sensation, the Royal Academys celebrated and controversial 1997 exhibition of the Saatchi collection, the artist has produced a wealth of highly acclaimed work and built a formidable international reputation. Aidan Dunne, November 2020
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
