Simon Francis
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Simon Francis (born 1952) is a professional abstract painter residing in Wolverhampton, England. He usually uses oil paints on canvas to, in his own words, "enhance perception and question perceived visual reality by using paint on two dimensional surfaces mainly with the expressive vehicles of abstract form and formlessness." He describes his main influences as Picasso's later works, Howard Hodgkin and Mark Rothko.
Most of his works are part of a series, which is a development of a theme or motif. Some of the series include "Vacuity", "Crow" and "Sunflower" (the latter is a reinterpretation of Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers, but that series ended abruptly when Simon was hospitalised, partly due to hypertension).
Before becoming a self employed artist in July 2001, Francis worked as a physics lecturer in a number of schools and colleges around England.
Simon Francis is currently based at Eagleworks studio, a studio in an old industrial building in Wolverhampton which has hosted two of his exhibitions, Open - shut (September 2002) and Beyond The Motif (March 2003). Among his most recent exhibitions were those at the Fresh Art Fair[1] (http://www.freshartfair.co.uk/) in London in July 2003 and at the Affordable Art Fair, again in London, in October 2003. The newly opened View Gallery in Thames Ditton[2] (http://www.viewgallery.co.uk/) is currently holding an exhibition of some of his latest work (until February 2004).
Corporate collections include Wragge & Co (Birmingham), I Soft (Solihull), Carvers (Walsall) and Extrinsic (Solihull), as well as a growing number of private collectors.
External links
- Website (http://www.smfrancis.demon.co.uk), featuring most artwork
- Eagleworks Studios (http://www.eagleworks.org.uk)
- "Coal smoke kills" (http://www.coalsmokekills.org.uk), Simon Francis' campaign to "raise awareness about the human health damage due to smoke from the domestic combustion of coal and wood."