Photo: Peter White, FXP Photography
Mark Francis has developed an extensive practice predominantly concerned with abstract painting. His influences and preoccupations are constantly changing, though he has maintained a strong association with science and the structures of the physical and natural world.
In his more recent works, Francis is captivated by colour and sound data. Each hue seems to hold information, which oscillates in an abstract sequence, much like our subconscious minds. The colours pulse and vibrate and create a visual representation of the intricate dance between data and comprehension. The paintings are melodic and chaotic in equal measure and reflect the diverse emotions and experiences that shape our understanding of the universe. The relationship that Francis has formed between art and science is both physical and poetic.
Francis is a Northern Irish painter who works and lives in London. He was born in 1962 in Newtownards, County Down, and completed a BA in Fine Art at St. Martin’s School of Art between 1981 and 1985, followed by an MA in Fine Art at Chelsea School of Art in 1986. Francis has exhibited across the United Kingdom and worldwide, including at Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery Dublin, Milton Keynes Gallery, City Art Gallery Manchester, and the Royal Academy in the renowned Saatchi exhibition, Sensation. His work appears in numerous collections, including the Tate Gallery, IMMA Ireland and Arts Council England.
If you would like to learn more about Mark’s exhibitions, projects, publications and collections, please see his CV and Publications.
If you would like to see what Mark is up to in and out of the studio, please see his Instagram.