Francine Fox

Red Bird Reef, Strong Portrait of a Woman, NYC Subway Map, Bright Red Coral Reef

2017

A powerful depiction of a regal, queenly woman wearing a gold crown and ornate blue/gray dress. Signed, dated and titled on verso. Francine Fox works in many mediums including oil paint, watercolor, gouache, graphite and ink to produce striking and unsettling works of great beauty and psychological complexity. Fox incorporates art historical references, organically composed diagrams and personal and cultural vocabularies into her work. "I strive to produce work that is at once both striking and unsettling and intend the compilation of my formal and conceptual elements to parallel and reveal the intricacies of gray areas between seemingly dissonant traits. The gray areas I depict most frequently can be classified as the shared liminal compartments in Venn Diagrams, the middle sections along continuums or circumstances when the correct answer is both yes and no. While it is easier to think and understand in terms of binaries, these types of thought processes tend to oversimplify. The murky places in between are often harder to comprehend, and yet they are also more relatable and interesting because of their complex, confusing, and sometimes unresolved nature. My goal is not to clarify gray areas; rather, I hope to lure viewers into contemplation of the causes of the wonder and discomfort surrounding liminals. My work frequently returns to the gray areas between the themes of physical and metaphysical, evidence and faith, chaos and order, and identity philosophies rooted in either individualism or collectivism. My paintings and drawings create records of the perceived significance and beauty of these transitional spaces through the mediums of graphite, charcoal, watercolor, gouache, oil paint and digital painting. Within my body of work, the imagery includes figures, gently anthropomorphized animals, traditional and contemporary semiotics, and depictions of invisible forces through modified and invented charting symbols. My influences range from Walton Ford, Martin Wittfooth...

In carefully drawn dots and lines in deep shades of cobalt and indigo blue with teal, yellow and dusty rose pink details, this intricate composition is inspired by patterns in nature...

Clean and precise, carefully ordered blocks of color in shades of golden yellow cream, gray sage green, blue, and a dark coral shade of red are bright against the pale beige color of...

In this abstract painting in gouache, colored pencil, and graphite on paper by Elizabeth Gourlay, clean and precise, carefully ordered blocks of color in shades of blue, gray, blue, ...

This large, horizontal diptych woodcut print on paper evokes the peacefulness of ocean waves depicted in shades of cobalt blue with purple undertones and the artist's addition of wat...

In this abstract painting in colored pencil and gouache on Fabriano paper by Elizabeth Gourlay, clean and precise, carefully ordered blocks of color in shades of light pink, navy blu...

Howard Tangye (b.1948, Australia) has been an influential force in fashion for decades. Lecturing at London’s Central Saint Martins for 35 years, including 16 years as head of BA Wom...

Howard Tangye (b.1948, Australia) has been an influential force in fashion for decades. Lecturing at London’s Central Saint Martins for 35 years, includi...

Howard Tangye (b.1948, Australia) has been an influential force in fashion for decades. Lecturing at London’s Central Saint Martins for 35 years, including 16 years as head of BA Wom...

Howard Tangye (b.1948, Australia) has been an influential force in fashion for decades. Lecturing at London’s Central Saint Martins for 35 years, including 16 years as head of BA Wom...

Howard Tangye (b.1948, Australia) has been an influential force in fashion for decades. Lecturing at London’s Central Saint Martins for 35 years, including 16 years as head of BA Wom...

Howard Tangye (b.1948, Australia) has been an influential force in fashion for decades. Lecturing at London’s Central Saint Martins for 35 years, includi...