Francesca Simon
London
Links
I make paintings. An instinct for geometry and pattern-making, combined with a fascination for three-dimensional effects worked onto the flat plane of the canvas, typify my practice. The harmony of my compositions is governed by an inner symmetry; my use of colour is restrained.
My way into abstraction was through the topography and field shapes of North Yorkshire and, although my work is no longer situated in landscape, surface and what lies beneath continues to hold my interest. In my work the layers of gesso which obliterate the original painting are subsequently rubbed back to reveal what is below; the past is teased back to the present, a painted palimpsest.
I have recently been making a series of ‘secular’ hinged triptychs, a contemporary take on an essentially Christian devotional object. The repetitive pattern-making typical of Islamic art is of equal importance to me though and my triptychs owe as much to visits to the Alhambra, and the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, as anything else.
EDUCATION
2009 – 2010 Central Saint Martins MA Fine Art
2002 – 2005 City & Guilds of London Art School BA Fine Art
1998 – 2000 Heatherley School of Fine Art Diploma in Portraiture
1972 – 1975 University of Cambridge, Newnham College BA
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2015 Navigations, Ryedale Folk Museum
2014 Site Lines, Beardsmore Gallery, London
2012 Taking Shape, Beardsmore Gallery, London
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2017 London Art Fair, Islington, Beardsmore Gallery
2016 Turps Gallery Summer Mix, London
2016 The Tim Sayer Bequest: A Private Collection Revealed, The Hepworth Wakefield
2016 London Art Fair, Islington, Beardsmore Gallery
2015 London Art Fair, Islington, Beardsmore Gallery
2014 Making Matters, Platform-A Gallery, Middlesbrough
2014 20/21 British Art Fair, Royal College of Art, London, Beardsmore Gallery
2014 London Art Fair, Islington, Beardsmore Gallery
2013 First Come First Served, Lion and Lamb, Hoxton
2013 Art Britannia - The Best of New British, Madonna Building, Miami
2013 Summer Saloon Show, Lion and Lamb, Hoxton
2013 Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy, London
2013 London Print Fair, Royal Academy, London, City & Guilds
2013 London Art Fair, Islington, Beardsmore Gallery
2012 First Come First Served, Lion and Lamb, Hoxton
2012 Discerning Eye, Mall Galleries, London
2012 20/21 British Art Fair, Royal College of Art, London, Beardsmore Gallery
2012 Postcardwall, Mall Galleries, London
2012 Ha Ha What Does This Represent?, Standpoint Gallery, Hoxton, London
2012 London Art Fair, Islington, London, Beardsmore Gallery
2011 Small is Beautiful XXVIIII, Flowers Gallery, London
2010 MA Fine Art Degree Show, Central Saint Martins, London
2010 nothing to be done, Empire, Bethnal Green, London
2010 Scratching the Surface 2, BayArt, Cardiff
2010 Necessary Illusions, Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf, London
2009 London Group Open, Menier Gallery, Southwark, London
2009 Ghosts, The Cello Factory, Waterloo, London
2007 Scratching the Surface, The Drawing Schools, Eton College
2006 Circus, Empire, Bethnal Green, London
2006 Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy, London
AWARDS AND COLLECTIONS
2010 Cass Art Painting Prize
2004 Skinners Company Travel Award
Paintings in the Government Art Collection, the Sayer Collection, the Cass Art collection, City & Guilds Institute collection, at Newnham College and in private collections
REVIEWS AND CATALOGUE ESSAYS
Annie O'Donnell, Saturation Point, 2015, Francesca Simon: Navigations
David Rhodes, artcritical, 2015, Weaving a Thread: Fall shows in London and Beyond
Andy Parkinson, Saturation Point, 2015, Francesca Simon: Site Lines
Andy Parkinson, patternsthatconnect, 2014, Francesca Simon at Making Matters and Site Lines
Paul Carey-Kent, Paul's Art World Rolling Top 10, Current Choices 18 Nov 2014
Niko Munz, Site Lines, 2014
Andy Parkinson, Saturation Point, 2014, Making Matters at Platform A Gallery
Andy Parkinson, Artlyst, 2014, Constructed Realities: Making Matters at Platform A
Andy Parkinson, patternsthatconnect, 2013, Summer Saloon
Georgia Grimond, 2012, Kentishtowner A Dose of Art too
Anna Moszynska, Taking Shape, 2012
Sophie Hill, Postcard 199
Sophie Hill, Postcard 216
Matthew Collings, Hello Painting, Scratching the Surface, 2007
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