Francis Upritchard

°1976, New Plymouth (NZ) – lives and works in London (UK)

Known primarily for her figurative sculpture, Francis Upritchard’s work is keenly observant of human nature, and treads the line between realism and fantasy. Her figures, a group of misfits and travelling players, appear to taking part in a pageant or masquerade – their expressions melancholic and distant, seemingly questing for something beyond reach.

Francis Upritchard’s work draws on figurative sculpture, craft traditions and design, blending references from literature to Japanese folklore, Indian miniatures to Romanesque frescoes, and ancient sculptures and burial grounds to science fiction. Her installations showcase a wide variety of materials; her distinctive figurative sculptures are made using polymer plastic, amorphous mythological figures in balata – a Brazilian rubber, bronze dinosaurs, glass vessels, ceramic urns and felt hats adorned with beads, badges and plastic decorations.

(courtesy of Anton Kern)

Francis Upritchard - Desert Hippie, 2018

Francis Upritchard - Four Dead, 2017

Francis Upritchard - Grumpy Grumpy Grumpy, 2019

Francis Upritchard - Pruitt Igoe, 2018

Francis Upritchard - Exhibition view of New Materialism, at Bonniers Kunsthalle, Stockholm in 2018

Francis Upritchard has had numerous solo exhibitions, including shows at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Whitechapel Gallery, London; Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Deurle, The Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin; and Barbican Centre, London. Her work has been shown in several group exhibitions at venues such as Hayward Gallery, London; Kunstmuseum Bern; and Tate Liverpool. Upritchard also represented New Zealand at the 53rd Venice Biennale in 2009 together with Judy Millar.

Francis Upritchard is represented by the following galleries;
click through to discover more of her work.

Kate MacGarry, London

Anton Kern Gallery, New York