Augustus Francis: Materia Prima

New York, NY… ACA Galleries is delighted to present Augustus Francis: Materia Prima, his debut solo exhibition in New York City. Featuring two new bodies of work that embrace the contradictions and dualities inherent to his practice. The Oltremarino series of paintings rooted in blues, created primarily in the English countryside, are characterized by jewel-like tones, flowing compositions with earthy striations and airy expanses of color. Alternately the New York series incorporate vibrant reds and fluorescent pigments that recurs in flows, drips, and wax accretions evoke the metropolitan energy and neon billboards of his new urban environment. 

The exhibition title, Materia Prima, refers to a central tenet of alchemy. Materia prima is a universal starting point, the essential chaotic matter from which all else is formed. For Francis, alchemy is a useful analog for his interest in a universal, primal source of creativity and subject matter.  Rather than pursuing an elixir of life, Francis sees painting as being capable of representing the splendor of  the unknowable and the sublime. To that end, abstraction, perhaps the original and most timeless of visual  art forms, is an approach better suited to the immortal than the symbolic lexicon of the alchemist. 

"I’ve come to realize that these opposing states of matter— fluidity of paint, solidity of wax, and powdered pigment— are opposing poles within my abstract language, creating a push  and pull." - Augustus Francis

Fittingly, Francis has of late begun to introduce matter into his work. Until recently, the uniform treatment of  the surface with a liquid exploration of gravity, movement, and rhythm has been the hallmark of Francis’s personal approach to abstraction. By physically manipulating his canvases to direct pours of paint, Francis  contradicts a singular orientation. Smooth waves of color against monochrome grounds are pierced by  gestural marks – drips, splatters, throws – that disrupt the resolution of these works into lavish aerials or celestial bodies, maintaining a reverence for the flatness of the picture plane. 

This approach, what Francis identifies as “flow painting,” remains foundational to his new work. Atop a base  of vibrant fluid color he builds a repertoire of material and gestures that are in many ways the antithesis of flow. Thick, impasto marks are applied to the surface with a palette knife and dry powdered pigments are  projected onto the canvas and affixed with varnish, disrupting the silky surface of his pours with an earthen grain. Reflective materials, such as glitter and micro-pearls, contrast the heavy impasto wax with an  effervescence that scatters light and mass alike. Applying waxes between layers of wet paint, by contrast,  adds more density to the work. The overall effect is to introduce a new tactility that encourages a bodily  experience more directly than pure gesture and flow ever could.
(Excepts of exhibition text by art historian, Dr. Christopher T. Green, Ph.D.)

Augustus Francis (b. 1986, Los Angeles, California) is an abstract painter whose practice centers on the  sensory impact of color. Primarily living and working on an estate in Yorkshire, UK, Francis explores the uniform  treatment of surfaces in his paintings, creating works where the canvas becomes an extension of the space beyond it. His process involves a deep understanding of how colors interact—each hue responding to the next—to evoke a visceral experience. The son of the Abstract-Expressionist Sam Francis and the English artist Margaret Francis, Augustus holds a BA in Fine Art from Leeds Metropolitan University (2006–2009) and completed an internship at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice (2011).  In addition to his abstract painting Francis’ multidisciplinary approach includes glass sculptures and porcelain works. Francis has exhibited internationally including the American Contemporary Art Gallery (Germany), Fernet Branca Museum (France), Bergamot Station Arts Center (Santa Monica), and Big Sight Exhibition Centre (Tokyo). Francis currently maintains studios in Yorkshire, UK, as well as Pawling, New York. 

ABOUT ACA GALLERIES  

Established in 1932, ACA Galleries (American Contemporary Art Gallery) has been at the vanguard of  American Art for over 90 years. ACA’s pioneering interest in progressive American art was established early  on in exhibitions featuring, and often introducing, the work of Rockwell Kent, Alice Neel, Barnett Newman,  Irene Rice Pereira, David Smith, and Charles White, among others. In 1935, ACA hosted the inaugural  meetings of the American Artists’ Congress (AAC), the influential precursor to the Federal Art Project (FAP)  and Works Project Administration (WPA), federal programs that aided American artists and funded public art  projects throughout the depression. We remain committed to supporting artists whose work sparks critical  conversations, challenges societal norms, and ignites meaningful progress. ACA’s mission is to elevate  significant voices across all backgrounds united in their devotion to make significant and brave contributions  to the field. 

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