Francis Upritchard
Encyclopedia
Francis Upritchard is a New Zealand born artist living in London. Upritchard represented New Zealand at the 2009 Venice Biennale.
In December 2001 the Bart Wells Institute was established by Luke Gottelier and Francis Upritchard in a large squat in East London. The Bart Wells Institute ran for about two years and exhibitions were curated by artists including Sam Basu, Brian Griffiths
, David Thorpe and Harry Pye
.
Upritchard was short-listed for the Becks Futures prize for an exhibition she made 2003 Save Yourself, a small mummy surrounded by funerary urns which lies on the gallery floor vibrating and moaning. A packet of cigarettes is tucked into its bandages, and a single glass eye can also be seen.
In 2005 Upritchard had simultaneous shows in the Andrea Rosen Gallery and Salon 94. The sculpture Torcello, Balata Figures and a selection of found objects were arranged over two large plinths. Sculptures of sloths, monkeys, orrerys and rocks. In 2005 she also won New Zealand's Walters Prize for art, after being shortlisted for her Artspace show Doomed Doomed All Doomed in 2005.
It was announced in 2008 that Upritchard, along with Judy Millar
, would be New Zealand's representatives at the 2009 Venice Biennale.Upritchard's installation was entitled Save Yourself. This was Upritchards first major installation of furniture with figures. Across thee rooms in Fondazione Claudio Buziol Palazzo, 3 over sized tables which made up the works Long, Lonely and Dancers, with a mix of references including psychedelic culture, hippies
, Pieter Bruegel the elder and Erasmus Grasser
.
In the 2009 show Feierabend at Kate Macgarry, Upritchard showed with the jewelery designer Karl Fritsch and furniture designer Martino Gamper. The show blended craft, design and fine art in a seamless way, to a point where the viewer became unsure of the authorship of each work. Gesumptkunsthandwerk at the Govett Brewster in the show ‘Stealing the Senses’ was a further exploration of this collaboration. The show was shown again later at Hamish McKay gallery in Wellington. This show included ceramics and bronzes made together by Fritsch Gamper and Upritchard, alongside sculptures and lamps by Upritchard, rings and ornaments by Fritch, furniture and bowls by Gamper.
Upritchards first solo museum show in Europe was at the Vienna Secession
called In die Höhle (into the Cave). The show included works combining furniture and figurative sculptures referencing Sol LeWitt
, Gustav Klimt
, Beethoven Frieze
and Weiner Werkstatte
.
Francis Upritchard is represented in the UK by Kate Macgarry, in the US by Salon 94 and in New Zealand by Ivan Anthony Gallery.
severed heads in black and white photocopy, which had a British flag as a cover. The edition was 100 copies.
Human Problems, designed by James Goggin (Practice) was co published by Kate Macgarry and Veenmen. It included a short piece of commissioned fiction by Hari Kunzru about an anthropologist who becomes increasingly deranged in an unspecified village.
Doomed Doomed All Doomed was designed by James Goggin (Practice) and was published by Artspace. The booklet includes an essay ‘Seventeen reduced Propositions For Francis Upritchard’ by JJ King and Mathew Hyland and accompanied Upritchards solo show at Artspace, Auckland in 2005.
Dent de Leone is a publishing hut based in London which Upritchard joined in 2008 when she collaborated with Abake on the artist book Every Colour By Itself. ' After editing the book Bart Wells Institute with Luke Gottelier she joined the publishers as a member.
In 2010 the 70 copy first edition of the In die Höhle (into the Cave) which was co-published with Secession. This artist's edition includes images of Upritchards sculptures from solo show at the Vienna Secession, a specially commissioned short story of a man who journeys to a strange island by the author David Mitchell. The second edition was co-published between Secession and Koenig Books and included a reworked version of the first edition with additional photos of the Secession Installation.
The book Save Yourself was published in 2009 to coincide with Upritchards participation in the Venice Biennele. It includes essays by Heather Galbraith, Francesco Manacorda and Melanie Oliver. It was designed by Kalee Jackson and published by the Govett Brewster.
Life and Career
Francis Upritchard was born in 1976 in New Plymouth, New Zealand. She graduated from Canterbury University of Fine Arts in 1998. That same year she moved to the UK where she lives and works.In December 2001 the Bart Wells Institute was established by Luke Gottelier and Francis Upritchard in a large squat in East London. The Bart Wells Institute ran for about two years and exhibitions were curated by artists including Sam Basu, Brian Griffiths
Brian Griffiths
Brian Griffiths is an artist based in London. He produces three dimensional collages using a range of sources, including old textbooks, fifties and sixties furniture, remnants of cut linoleum and polystyrene. His most well known works are his full-size cardboard reconstructions of computer work...
, David Thorpe and Harry Pye
Harry Pye
Harry Pye is an artist, writer and event organiser. He was born in London in 1973. He completed a foundation course at Camberwell School of Art in 1991. He then studied printmaking at Winchester School of Art from 1992 to 1995. In his second year he stopped painting and printmaking and began...
.
Upritchard was short-listed for the Becks Futures prize for an exhibition she made 2003 Save Yourself, a small mummy surrounded by funerary urns which lies on the gallery floor vibrating and moaning. A packet of cigarettes is tucked into its bandages, and a single glass eye can also be seen.
In 2005 Upritchard had simultaneous shows in the Andrea Rosen Gallery and Salon 94. The sculpture Torcello, Balata Figures and a selection of found objects were arranged over two large plinths. Sculptures of sloths, monkeys, orrerys and rocks. In 2005 she also won New Zealand's Walters Prize for art, after being shortlisted for her Artspace show Doomed Doomed All Doomed in 2005.
It was announced in 2008 that Upritchard, along with Judy Millar
Judy Millar
Judy Millar is a New Zealand artist, who lives in Auckland and Berlin, Germany.- Education :Judy Millar received a BFA in 1980 and an MFA from Auckland University's Elam School of Fine Arts in 1983...
, would be New Zealand's representatives at the 2009 Venice Biennale.Upritchard's installation was entitled Save Yourself. This was Upritchards first major installation of furniture with figures. Across thee rooms in Fondazione Claudio Buziol Palazzo, 3 over sized tables which made up the works Long, Lonely and Dancers, with a mix of references including psychedelic culture, hippies
Hippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
, Pieter Bruegel the elder and Erasmus Grasser
Erasmus Grasser
Erasmus Grasser was a leading sculptor in Munich in the early 16th century.He developed in an animated and realistic style, furthering on the works of Nikolaus Gerhaert...
.
In the 2009 show Feierabend at Kate Macgarry, Upritchard showed with the jewelery designer Karl Fritsch and furniture designer Martino Gamper. The show blended craft, design and fine art in a seamless way, to a point where the viewer became unsure of the authorship of each work. Gesumptkunsthandwerk at the Govett Brewster in the show ‘Stealing the Senses’ was a further exploration of this collaboration. The show was shown again later at Hamish McKay gallery in Wellington. This show included ceramics and bronzes made together by Fritsch Gamper and Upritchard, alongside sculptures and lamps by Upritchard, rings and ornaments by Fritch, furniture and bowls by Gamper.
Upritchards first solo museum show in Europe was at the Vienna Secession
Vienna Secession
The Vienna Secession was formed in 1897 by a group of Austrian artists who had resigned from the Association of Austrian Artists, housed in the Vienna Künstlerhaus. This movement included painters, sculptors, and architects...
called In die Höhle (into the Cave). The show included works combining furniture and figurative sculptures referencing Sol LeWitt
Sol LeWitt
Solomon "Sol" LeWitt was an American artist linked to various movements, including Conceptual art and Minimalism....
, Gustav Klimt
Gustav Klimt
Gustav Klimt was an Austrian Symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement. His major works include paintings, murals, sketches, and other art objects...
, Beethoven Frieze
Beethoven Frieze
The Beethoven Frieze is a painting by Gustav Klimt.-Description:In 1902, Klimt painted the Beethoven Frieze for the 14th Vienna Secessionist exhibition, which was intended to be a celebration of the composer and featured a monumental polychrome sculpture by Max Klinger. Meant for the exhibition...
and Weiner Werkstatte
Wiener Werkstätte
Established in 1903, the Wiener Werkstätte was a production community of visual artists. The workshop brought together architects, artists and designers whose first commitment was to design art which would be accessible to everyone...
.
Francis Upritchard is represented in the UK by Kate Macgarry, in the US by Salon 94 and in New Zealand by Ivan Anthony Gallery.
Publications
In 2004 Nieves published a small artist book of Upritchards Heads Of Yesteryear which consisted of 19 drawings of PakehaPakeha
Pākehā is a Māori language word for New Zealanders who are "of European descent". They are mostly descended from British and to a lesser extent Irish settlers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, although some Pākehā have Dutch, Scandinavian, German, Yugoslav or other ancestry...
severed heads in black and white photocopy, which had a British flag as a cover. The edition was 100 copies.
Human Problems, designed by James Goggin (Practice) was co published by Kate Macgarry and Veenmen. It included a short piece of commissioned fiction by Hari Kunzru about an anthropologist who becomes increasingly deranged in an unspecified village.
Doomed Doomed All Doomed was designed by James Goggin (Practice) and was published by Artspace. The booklet includes an essay ‘Seventeen reduced Propositions For Francis Upritchard’ by JJ King and Mathew Hyland and accompanied Upritchards solo show at Artspace, Auckland in 2005.
Dent de Leone is a publishing hut based in London which Upritchard joined in 2008 when she collaborated with Abake on the artist book Every Colour By Itself. ' After editing the book Bart Wells Institute with Luke Gottelier she joined the publishers as a member.
In 2010 the 70 copy first edition of the In die Höhle (into the Cave) which was co-published with Secession. This artist's edition includes images of Upritchards sculptures from solo show at the Vienna Secession, a specially commissioned short story of a man who journeys to a strange island by the author David Mitchell. The second edition was co-published between Secession and Koenig Books and included a reworked version of the first edition with additional photos of the Secession Installation.
The book Save Yourself was published in 2009 to coincide with Upritchards participation in the Venice Biennele. It includes essays by Heather Galbraith, Francesco Manacorda and Melanie Oliver. It was designed by Kalee Jackson and published by the Govett Brewster.
Exhibitions
- 2011 Echo, Kunsthal KAdE, Amersfoort, the Netherlands
- 2010 In die Höhle, Wiener Secession, Vienna, Austria
- 2009 Save Yourself, 53rd Venice Biennale, New Zealand representation
- 2009 Feierabend, Kate MacGarry, London
- 2008 Rainwob I, Govett-Brewster Art GalleryGovett-Brewster Art GalleryThe Govett-Brewster Art Gallery is a contemporary art museum at New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand. The gallery receives core funding from the New Plymouth District Council....
, New Plymouth, New Zealand - 2008 Rainwob II, Artspace Sydney and Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces, Melbourne
- 2007 Bogagnome, Ivan Anthony Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
- 2006 Francis Upritchard, Kate MacGarry, London
- 2005 Francis Upritchard, Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York
- 2005 Solo project for Salon 94, New York
- 2005 Francis Upritchard, The Bakery, Annet Gelink Gallery, Amsterdam
- 2005 Doomed, Doomed, All Doomed, Artspace, Auckland, New Zealand
- 2004 Artist in Residence, Camden Arts Centre, London
- 2003 Francis Upritchard, Kate MacGarry, London
- 2003 New Work, Ivan Anthony Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
- 2001 Ich Dien, Ivan Anthony Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
- 2001 Untitled (Boxing arms), Rear View, Dunedin Public Art Gallery,New Zealand