Born 1962, Newtownards, County Down, Northern Ireland.

Mark Francis studied at St Martin's School of Art in London from 1981-85 and then at Chelsea School of Art from 1985-86.

Francis has developed a distinctive individual style of painting, often monochrome and with a smooth, unmodulated surface presenting patterns and forms which draw upon the revelations obtained through the microscope and other scientific tools. Francis has a particular interest in mycology, the structures and biochemical properties of fungi when greatly magnified have provided a visual vocabulary for his work. The strange and alluring abstract images in his paintings suggest glimpses of other worlds beyond one’s normal experience.

Early solo exhibitions were held in London in 1990 and in Darmstadt. Germany in 1995; in 1997 he was included in the Sensation exhibition at the Royal Academy of work by the ‘Young British Artists’ (YBAs) from the Saatchi Collection. Since then he has been increasingly and regularly shown in galleries across Europe, most recently in St Galle, Switzerland and Helsinki, Finland (2010) and at the Dirimart Gallery, Istanbul (2014).

Francis’ work is represented in many permanent collections including the Tate Gallery, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,the Museum of Modern Art, Miami and the collection of the European Parliament.

Veil