Francis Upritchard

Francis Upritchard was born in 1976 in New Plymouth, New Zealand. She lives and works in London and New Zealand. Upritchard’s work draws on figurative sculpture, blending references from literature to 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 natural rubber, bronze dinosaurs, glass vessels and ceramic urns. ‘Upritchard questions how we construct a vision for the future through our fractured, partial and often conflicted understanding of the past. She creates a place where histories and archives can be viewed anew through playfully exploring aspects of partiality, misreading and uncanny coincidences. Upritchard’s mini worlds are anti-imperial and non-hierarchical - there is no dominant culture.’ Heather Galbraith.

Francis Upritchard was selected by the Art Gallery of New South Wales to undertake a large-scale commission, Here Comes Everybody, unveiled in 2022 outside the new Sydney Modern, Australia. Solo exhibitions include A Loose Hold, Kunsthaus Pasquart, Biel/Bienne, Switzerland (2022), Wetwang Slack, The Curve, Barbican Centre, London, UK (2022), Surf’n’Turf, Kate MacGarry, London, UK (2022), Paper, Creature, Stone, Christchurch Art Gallery, New Zealand (2022), Big Fish Eat Little Fish, Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Belgium (2020), Francis Upritchard, The Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, USA (2014), Potato Poem, Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art, Kagawa, Japan (2013), A Long Wait, Cincinnati Contemporary Art Center, Ohio (2012) and A Hand of Cards, Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham, UK (2012). 

Francis Upritchard’s Save Yourself represented New Zealand in the 53rd Venice Biennale (2009) and Viva Arte Viva at the 57th Venice Biennale (2017). Other group exhibitions include A Thousand Doors, collaboration between NEON and Whitechapel Gallery, The Gennadius Library, Athens, Greece (2014) and Lilliput, New York High Line, New York, USA (2012).