Ian Francis - "Exodus"


Ian Francis is my hero, he just does exactly what I want, the eerie thing is, he does it before I know I want it. I have no idea how he does it, but time after time he comes up with the goods, the first time I saw his work was at the old Lazarides Gallery on Charring Cross Road – it was a group show with all the “Outsider” artists Mr Lazarides had assembled as a group under that moniker – all the names were there, Banksy, Insect, Micallef, Mode2, Faile etc, these guys are all superstars in the world of modern (street scented) art. But, somehow Ian Francis managed to stand out, he wasn’t as (pointedly) obvious as Banksy, or (brilliantly) deliberate as Paul Insect and certainly not as (expertly) immersed in a particular genre as the Faile guys. The only other artist that almost didn’t belong was Antony Micallef, the two painters have very different influences at times, but both are on an crucial artistic journey, but, alas, Micallef’s work is like a fine aged rum and should never to be mixed with “pop” and has a very defined need to embrace its own stand alone complex, and in company shy’s away from the limelight – where as Mr Francis’ work is proudly unaware of anything outside the realms of its applied canvas even exists.


Colour, macro detail and hazy mental screenshots are the tools used to construct these scenes. Scenes that are abstractly captured and locked down as if glimpsing, for the briefest moments, a medium of film that is so alien in its complexity that a single acrylic based cell renders hours of high definitions frame rates looking vague and unspectacular. This is the real thing people, so get yourself down to the Laz’ before the show ends on the 6th May to see which direction one of the genre’s boldest travellers is taking us to, and if you feel the need, click on the Temples home page and visit the shop to see some of the many steps in Mr Francis’ quest.




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