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Draws Inspiration From The Microscopic World

Mark Francis was born in Co. Down, Northern Ireland in 1962, he studied at St. Martin’s College of Art London and Chelsea School of Art, London. His practice as a painter responds to the plethora of microscopic images now in circulation due to the invention of the electron microscope and advances in telescopic technology. Francis uses images of items such as spores and sperm to make connections between this unseen world and the fundamentals of creation and human existence.

View “Untitled” within the Collection

Untitled by Mark Francis

Untitled by Mark Francis

Introduction of the “Grid”

He did not wish to directly represent microscopic images through paint, as this would oversimplify his conceptual process, Francis added another dimension to his paintings by introducing ‘the grid’. The grid is an essential component of abstract painting in the 20th and 21st Century. By introducing it into his paintings it helped to contextualize his work art historically and allowed his practice to develop into a dynamic duality between the man-made and the natural, order and chaos, resulting in an array of networks, lines and maps within his paintings.

“The grid came about as a way of introducing a form that wouldn’t have an obvious microscopic connection” – Mark Francis

Resume

St. Martins College of Art London, 1980-85

Chelsea School of Art, London, 1985-86

Forthcoming Exhibitions

  • ‘Structuren Projekt’, Newlyn Art Gallery, The Exchange, Penzance, (group show) 2015
  • ‘Strukturen Projekt’ Kunsthalle Wilhelmshaven, (group show), 2014

Solo Exhibitions

  • ‘Calibrate’, Kerlin Gallery, Dublin, 2013
  • Gallery Forbsblom, Helsinki, Finland, 2012
  • ‘Mark Francis’, Galeria Pelaires, Palma, Mallorca, Spain, 2011
  • Gallery, Thomas Schulte, Berlin, 2010
  • ‘Arena’, Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Cumbria, England, 2010
  • ‘Field’, Kerlin Gallery, Dublin, 2009
  • ‘Pulse’, Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin. 2008
  • Galerie Stadtpark, Krems, Austria, 2008
  • Galerie Wilma Lock, St. Gallen, Switzerland, 2008
  • Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki, Finland, 2008
  • Gallery Thomas Schulte, Berlin, 2007
  • Galerie Pelaires, Palma De Mallorca, Spain, 2007
  • Pendulum, Kerlin Gallery, Dublin, 2006
  • Frontier, Partick de Brock Gallery, Knokke, Belgium, 2006
  • Galerie, Forblom, Helsinki, Finland, 2005
  • Galerie Wilma Lock, St. Gallen, 2005
  • Gallery Thomas Schulte, Berlin, 2004
  • Maureen Paley/Interim Art, London, 2004
  • Marlborough Graphics, London, 2004
  • Michael Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles, 2003
  • Kerlin Gallery, Dublin, 2003
  • Drawings Galerie Thomas Schulte, Berlin, Germany, 2003
  • Galerie Wilma Lock, St. Gallen, Switzerland, 2002
  • Gallery Anne de Villepoix, Paris, 2002
  • New Paintings, Galerie Reinhard Hauff, Styttgart, 2001
  • Kerlin Gallery, Dublin, 2000
  • Maureen Palry/Interim Art, London, 2000
  • ‘Elements’, Milton Keynes Gallery, London, 2000
  • Mary Boone Gallery, New York, 1999
  • Kohji Ogura Gallery, Nagoya, Japan, 1999
  • Galerie Wilma Lock, St. Gallen, Switzerland, 1999
  • Kohn Turner Gallery, Los Angeles, 1998
  • Maureen Paley/Interim Art, London, 1998
  • Galerie Anne de Villepoix, Paris, 1998
  • Galerie Martina Detterer, Frankfurt, Germany, 1997
  • Kerlin Gallery, Dublin, 1997
  • Mary Boone Gallery, New York, 1997
  • Terra Nova- New Territories, Harewood House, Leeds, 1996
  • Bloom Gallery, Amsterdam, 1996
  • Galeris Anne de Villepoix, Paris, 1996
  • Kerlin Gallery, Dublin, 1995
  • Maureen Paley/Interim Art, London, 1995
  • Galerie Thieme+Pohl, Darmstadt, Germany, 1995
  • City Art Gallery, Manchester, 1995
  • Maureen Paley/Interim Art, London, 1994
  • Jill George Gallery, London, 1992
  • Thumb Gallery, London, 1990

Group Exhibitions

  • Before & After Science, Marella Arte Contemporanea, Milan, Italy, 2003
  • Jerwood Drawing Prize 2002, Jerwood Space, London, 2002
  • Dublin 7 Educate Together, Dublin, 2002
  • Leopold + Rudolf Blaschka, Design Museum, London & touring, 2002
  • ‘The Rowan Collection’, IMMA, Dublin, 2002
  • ‘Eight New Paintings’, Kerlin Gallery Dublin, including Callum Innes, Sean Scully + more, 2002 Prospects Drawing Prize, Essor Project Space, London, UK, 2002
  • John Moores 22, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, UK, 2002
  • Irish Art Now, IMMA. Dublin, 2001
  • Fluid, Wolverhampton City Art Gallery, Wolverhampton, 2001
  • Galerie Wilma Lock, St. Gallen, Switzerland, 2001
  • ‘Shifting Ground: Fifty Years of Irish Art’, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, 2000/2001
  • ‘Irish Art Now: From the Poetic to the Political’,Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, 2000
  • ‘Premio Michetti’: Europe, different perspectives in painting, Museo Michetti, Francavilla al Mare, Italy, 2000
  • ‘In the Mind’s Sky’, Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery, Claremont, California, 2000
  • The Wreck of Hope, The Nunnery Gallery, London, 2000
  • Zero Zero Four Four,Crawford Municipal Gallery, Cork; Ormeau Baths Gallery, Belfast, 2000
  • The Saatchi Gift, Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh, UK, 2000
  • ‘Irish Art Now: From the Poetic to the Political’, McMullen Museum of Art, Boston, 1999
  • College; Art Gallery of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada; drei positionen in der malerei, Reinhard Hauff, Stuttgart, Germany 1999
  • Macro-Micro, Contemporary Painters Negotiate Small Truths, University of Texas (Blanton Museum of Art) 1999
  • Zero Zero Four Four, PS1, New York and Allbright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, 1999
  • POSTMARK: An Abstract Effect, Site Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1999
  • ‘A Quiet Storm, Painting in Abstraction’, Kohn/Turner Gallery, L, 1999
  • post Naturam – nach der Natur, Stadt Münster, Germany, 1998
  • Sensation – Saatchi Collection, Museum fur Gegenwart, Berlin, 1998
  • Galleria Emilio Mazzoli, Modena, Italy, 1998
  • Interior, Maureen Paley/Interim Art, London, 1997
  • Surface, GOW Langsford, Auckland, New Zealand, 1997
  • Sensation – Saatchi Collection, Royal Academy of Art, London, 1997
  • Beau Geste, Angles Gallery, Los Angeles, 1997
  • Residue, Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, 1997
  • Nat West Painting Prize, London, 1997
  • Absolut Vision, New British Painting in the 1990’s, M.O.M.A., Oxford, 1996
  • Scattering Matrix, curated by Jane Hart, Richard Heller Gallery, Santa Monica, 1996
  • Black, Grey & White, Galerie Bugdahn und Kaimer, Düsseldorf, 1996
  • Microscopic territories, Harewood House Trust, Harewood, 1996
  • British Abstract Art III, Flowers East Gallery, London, 1996
  • Whitechapel Open, London, 1996
  • IMMA/Glen Dimplex Artists Award exhibition, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, 1996
  • Mary Boone Gallery, New York. (Mark Francis, Leonardo Drew, Oliver Herring), 1996
  • Testing the Water, Tate Gallery, Liverpool, 1995
  • Voyage Anglais, Rheimes, France, 1995
  • John Moores, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, 1995
  • From Here, Karsten Schubert/Waddington Galleries, London, 1995
  • Painters’ Opinion, Bloom Gallery, Amsterdam,1995
  • The Adventure of Painting, Kunstvereins Düsseldorf and Stuttgart, Germany, 1995
  • Human Nature, Mark Francis & Brad Lochore Herve Mikaeloff, Paris, 1994
  • The Curator’s Egg, Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London, 1994
  • New Modern British Paintings (1988 – 1994), Richard Salmon Ltd., London, 1994
  • East 1994, Norfolk Institute of Art & Design, Norwich, 1994
  • Paintmarks, Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge, 1994
  • Unveiled, Cornerhouse, Manchester, 1994
  • Europa 94, Munich Order Centre, Munich, 1994
  • Whitechapel Open, London, 1994
  • Recent Acquisitions, Tate Gallery, London, 1993
  • An Undiscovered Country; 10 Abstract Painters, curated by Charles Hall, 1993
  • Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London, Ikon Touring Exhibition, 1993
  • Snap Shots, curated by Anthony Wilkinson, Eagle Gallery, London, 1993
  • A Decade of Collecting, Tate Gallery, London, 1993
  • International Print Exhibition, Tokyo, 1993
  • Whitechapel Open, London, 1993
  • South Bank Show, Royal Festival Hall, London, 1992
  • British Art comes to St. Helena, St Helena (selected by Mary Rose Beaumont), 1992
  • Twelve Stars, European Parliment Exhibition, Belfast, Edinburgh, London, Zurich, Brussels1992
  • Four Painters, New Academy, London, 1990
  • Bonhams Contemporary Auction, London, 1990
  • Whitechapel Open, London, 1990
  • Christie’s New Contemporaries, Royal College of Art, London, 1989
  • 4 New Painters, Paton Gallery, London, 1986
  • ILEA class of ’86, Royal Festival Hall, London, 1986
  • On the Wall Gallery, Belfast, 1986
  • Another View of Ireland, Irish Artists in London, 1985
  • Athena International Awards, Mall Galleries, London, 1985
  • Riverside Open, Riverside Studios, London, 1985
  • Stowells Trophy, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1984
  • Summer Group Show, Tom Caldwell Gallery, London, 1984
  • 1983    Summer Show, Tom Caldwell Gallery, Dublin, 1983
  • New Contemporaries, The Mall Gallery, London, 1983

Projects and Awards

  • Public Art Development Trust: Mark Francis / Nicky Hirst, 1997
  • IMMA/Glen Dimplex Artists Award, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, 1996
  • Grand Prize Tokyo International Print Exhibition, 1993

Collections

  • ACC Bank, Dublin
  • Allied Irish bank
  • Anglo Irish bank
  • Arts Council of England
  • Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY
  • American Express Collection
  • Arthur Andersen & Co Ltd
  • Bank of Ireland
  • Bank of America, Dublin
  • Bank of Scotland, Dublin
  • British Credit Trust,Slough
  • British Council, London
  • Caldic Collection, Amsterdam
  • Cleveland Clinic Art Foundation Program, Lyndhurst, Ohio
  • Chelmsford Borough Council
  • Contemporary Arts Society, London
  • Crawford Municipal Art Gallery, Cork
  • de Young Memorial Museum San, Francisco
  • Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, Michigan
  • Deutsche Bank, Germany
  • Deutsche Morgan Grenfell, London
  • Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane
  • The Economist
  • European Parliment
  • General Mills Inc.
  • Goldman Sachs International, London Government Art Collection, London
  • The Hallmark Art Collection, Hallmark Cards, Inc., Kansas City, Missouri
  • Hammersmith & Fulham Education Authority
  • Heytesbury Holdings, Australia
  • IIB Bank, Dublin
  • Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin
  • Hunterdon Art Museum, Clinton, New Jersey
  • KIASMA Museum of Contemporary Art Helsinki, Finland
  • Lambert Collection, Zurich
  • Leicester Education Authority
  • Learnington Spa Art Gallery and Museum
  • Machida City Museum Of Graphic Art, Tokyo
  • Manchester City Art Gallery, Mancheste
  • r Matheson Ormsby Prentice, Dublin
  • Mead Gallery, Warwick University
  • Merrill Lynch & Co, Inc., New York
  • Merrill Lynch International Bank, London
  • The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
  • Microsoft Art Collection, Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Washington State
  • Museum of Modern Art, Miami
  • Nat West Group Art Collection, London
  • Neuberger Berman, A Lehman Brothers company
  • New York Public Library, New York
  • The Rowan Collection Belfast
  • Saatchi Collection, London
  • Sarah Hilden Art Museum, Tampere, Finland
  • Southampton City Art Gallery
  • Simmons & Simmons, London
  • Stanhope Properties Plc
  • The Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, Missouri
  • St. Peters College, Oxford
  • Tate Gallery, London
  • UBS Art collection, Switzerland
  • Ulster Museum, Belfast
  • Unilever Plc, London
  • University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts
  • Victoria and Albert Museum, London
  • Wellmark BlueCross Blue Shield Corporate Art Collection, Des Moines, Iow