Art Basel Hong Kong 2023: Shingo Francis

Shingo Francis フランシス真悟

Born 1969 in Santa Monica, California. Lives and works in Los Angeles, USA and Kamakura, Japan. Francis explores the vast space and spirituality of painting through abstract expressions that consist of multiple layers of blue and deep monochrome color works. His major exhibitions include DIC Kawamura Memorial Museum of Art,(Chiba, 2012), Lobby Gallery, Durst Organization, (New York, 2013), Ichihara Lakeside Museum, (Chiba, 2017), Sezon Museum of Modern Art, (Nagano, 2018), Martin Museum of Art, (Waco, 2019). His works are in collections including JPMorgan Chase Art Collection, Banco de Espana, Frederick R. Weiseman Art Foundation, Mori Arts Center, and Sezon Museum of Modern Art, Oketa Collection, Tokyo American Club.

Featured Works

Interference series
Paintings of the Interference series are created with special materials that cause optical interference, resulting in light passing through multiple layers of paint to produce a variety of colors when viewed at different angles. The canvas of these pieces appears to be full of light, as the viewer approaches a painting, it starts to give off a rich array of colors due to the reflection and refraction of light. Like seeing a rainbow in the sky, this visual effect caused by the viewer’s movement brings an awareness that the colors reaching our eyes are intermediated by particles of light. Francis’ new works invite viewers to experience the paintings directly and in person, so that they can witness how the layers of color deepen and how the texture responds as the viewer moves in front of the painting.

Shingo Francis, Illumination (violet-pink), 2023
Oil on canvas, 122 x 122 cm

Shingo Francis, Illumination (red-gold), 2022
Oil on canvas, 38 x 38 cm

Shingo Francis, Four Sides Equal (Cerulean), 2022
Oil on canvas, 41 x 41 cm

Monochrome Series
A diagonal line intersects a primarily flat and even monochromatic surface. Thin washes of paint at top and bottom of the colorfield plane reveals the layers of paint gradually fading into the white of the canvas. Francis’ signature monochrome series is created by applying multiple layers of paint which is observable upon close inspection. Minimalistic expression, the signature style of Francis’ paintings, follows the movements of Abstract Expressionism by artists such as Ad Reinhardt and Barnett Newman, yet also pertains an elegance and tranquility rooted in Eastern philosophy. His sensibilities with color reflect heavily from his experience of growing up in the vastness and bright spaces of California.