Anthony Francis

Anthony Francis’ Energy Flashseeks to draw attention to the effects of our visual overstimulation, striving for every brush-stroke and intervention with the pictorial surface to give retinal impressions a tactile value through its rhythm. The threads of synthetic material and oil paint applied upon the canvas are a biopsy, a cartography of communication and information systems; forms entangled upon forms, spiralling, cascading, dripping, and then stopping: caesuras in the otherwise indefatigable speed.

“I wanted every brush-stroke and intervention with the ever-changing painted surface to not only draw attention to our visual overstimulation but through the rhythm, through the pauses, to give retinal impressions a tactile value. The threads of oil paint applied upon the canvas are a biopsy, a cartography of communication and information systems; forms entangled upon forms, spiralling, cascading, dripping, and then, stopping…caesuras in the otherwise indefatigable speed. A breath, akin to Manzoni’s ‘fiati d’artista, is taken in relief when the visual plane is-opened up by the use of a light spray-paint, by a wash of white, or a Lapis Lazuli blue or even plastic, that allows a reprieve for the eyes before once again the rhythm of the paint takes you into a melee of colour and texture.”