Summary
Franks’ work engages with the relationship between high and low culture, conflating pop imagery and ‘classical’ styles of sculpture and art deploying disposable materials and repurposed objects. Recently his work has begun exploring economies of scale and production by combination of digital technology and analogue practices. Franks has taught and lead undergraduate and postgraduate arts courses intensively in the UK and has taught in China. Franks’ work is regularly exhibited internationally, and his work is in numerous collections including the British Council. Franks has featured at major galleries and museums in Africa, Europe, UK, USA, China, Australia, New Zealand and he has completed residencies in Africa, USA and New Zealand.
Research interests
Franks' research interests include popular culture, folk art, digital technologies, sculptural histories and how they converge in the popular imagination; his work is informed by concepts of hauntology and he uses these ideas to think and develop work particularly regarding capitalism and its affect on a global obsession with nostalgia.
Selected publications
2009
- Art World magazine, ‘White On’ Uk/International edition 8
2008
- TECHMACMAYOCOM, Japan, ex cat
2007
- ‘Metropolis Rise’ new art from London, ex cat
2006
- Useless magazine, October
- Art Review June, Joao Ribas, Great Expectations, p.25
- The Nature of Things, ex cat, Birminham City Museums, UK
- Into My World Ex cat, Aldrich Museum, USA
2005
- Contrapop, ex cat, Vamiali Gallery, Greece
- Metro Life Hephzibah Anderson, Matchine Matchine
- Aug Time Out Martin Coomer, Matchine Matchine
- Art Monthly Nicky Bird, The Lost Collection of an Invisible Man, April p.25-26
2002
- Art Monthly, December, Clare Manchester, review of Tate solo show Time Out, October, Sarah Kent, review of review of Tate solo show Art Now,
- ‘transcendent plastic infinite’, TATE Britain, ex cat, My Way, ex cat, edited by Frank Lamy
- Contemporary, March, international news, Richard Dyer, Tank magazine, Vol 3, Issue 1
- Time Out, January, Martin Herbert, New Gods 2001 Tailsliding, ex cat, edited by Colin Ledwith
- Time Out, May, Martin Coomer, Ego Tripping
2000
- Art Monthly, April, Benedict Seymour, Wooden Heart
- Art Monthly, March, Gilda Williams, These Epic Islands Assembly, ex cat, London
Selected Artist Talks
- 2010-2013, ‘Made in Britain’, British council touring exhibition, China, artists talks at Sichuan Provincial Museum, Chengdu, China; Xi’an Art Museum, Xi’an, China; Hong Kong Heritage Museum, China; Suzhou Art Museum, China
- 2012, ‘Made in Britain’, British council touring exhibition, artists talk, Albanian National gallery, Tirana.
- 2011, ‘Made in Britain’, British council touring exhibition, artists talk, Hong Kong Heritage Museum and Chengdu Museum of Contemporary Art
- 2010, ‘Paper rock scissors’, British Council exhibition, Bottga Gallery Kyiv, Ukraine,
Residencies - 2012, Artist in residence/Visiting professor Xian Academy of Fine arts, Xi’an, China embedded within the School of Fine Arts, developing projects from processes and themes in my own work, collaborating on a final exhibition with students
- 2011, Artist in residence, Kimmel Harding Nelson, Nebraska, USA
- 2004, Artist in residence Weir Farm, Connecticut, USA in partnership with Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Connecticut USA
- 2004, Artist in Residence ,Triangle Arts, Nairobi, Kenya in partnership with Gasworks, London and British Arts Council
- 2002, Artist in Residence, Manukau Institute of Technology, Auckland University, New Zealand, in partnership with British Council and Creative New Zealand
Commissions - 2008, FOOOOOM!! public art work in Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany
- 2007, FOOOOOM!! CAS Commission for Economist Plaza, London
Selected solo exhibitions
2014
- ‘We Taste Custard We Taste Life’, Horatio Jr. Gallery, London
‘Matt Franks’, Punk and sheep Gallery
2008
- ‘It’s so hard to tell who’s going to love you the best’ Houldsworth Gallery London
2005
- ‘I am alive and you are dead’, Vamiali Gallery, Athens, Greece
2002
- ‘transcendent plastic infinite’, Art Now, Tate Britain
- ‘Late One Evening’, Tetuhi Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
- New Gods’, Alison Jacques gallery, London
Group exhibitions
2015-16
- ‘Bonfire of the Vanities’, Display Gallery, London
2014
- ‘Between Thought and Space’, Dilston Grove, CGP London
2012
- ‘Forward thinking’, Horatio Junior Gallery, London ‘
‘Pop Molecule’, Aubin Gallery, Shoreditch, London
2010-2013
- ‘Made in Britain – Contemporary Art from the British Council Collection 1980 – 2010
As an artist in the British Council collection, I was included in a group exhibition that toured: National Gallery of Arts, Tirana, Albania; Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece; Sichuan Provincial Museum, Chengdu, China; Xi’an Art Museum, Xi’an, China; Hong Kong Heritage Museum, China; Suzhou Art Museum, China
Included in the catalog and gave talks during the openings of each of the above exhibitions.
- , Modern Love Simon Oldfield Gallery, London
- ‘The kingdom of the Sarcophagus’, I-MYU, London
- ‘The Future Demands Your Participation’: Contemporary Art from the British Council Collection, Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai, China
2009
- ‘Fly Bys’, Christoffer Egelund Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark
- ‘Workshop of the Hereafter’, Blyth Gallery Imperial College, London
2008
- ‘20’, Dazed and Confused gallery, London
- Art futures, Bloomberg, London
- ‘zombie surfers’, cell projects London
- Ducker, Franks, Macrae, Fieldgate gallery, London
- Matt Franks & Gemma Nelson, Laure Genillard gallery London,
2007
- ‘Play’. Bearspace, London
- ‘Foreign Policy’, Luis Serpa Gallery, Lisbon , Portugal
- ‘tech-mac-mayacom’ Myonichi-kan, Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Jiyu Gakuen, Tokyo
- Blickachsen 6, Bad Homburg Kurpark, Germany in conjunction with Yorkshire Sculpture Park
- ‘LATITUDE (8X8X8)’ Fieldgate gallery
- Art Futures, Bloomberg Space. London
- ‘Eau Savage’ part 2, Fieldgate Gallery, London
- ‘The Lucifer Effect’, Gallery Primo Alonso, London
2006
- ‘Metropolis Rise: New Art from London’, curated by Anthony Gross and Jen Wu, Diaf 06, Beijing and Shanghai (catalogue) sponsored by British Council.
- ‘8x8x8, LON/MSP/NYC’ curated by Andrea Stanislav, The Soap Factory, Minneapolis, USA.
- ‘Eau Savage’, Lucy Mackintosh Gallery, Lausanne, Switzerland.
2005
- ‘Know what they mean?’ Galerie Chez Valetine, Paris.
- ‘Mysterium’, artrepco, Zurich, Switzerland
- Pencil- A Drawing Show, Carter Presents, London.
- ‘Only minutes to live’, temporarycontemporary, London.
- The Drawing Show, Shangrila, London.
- ‘The Future Lasts a Long Time’, Le Consortium, Dijon.
- ‘Do not tell me who I am’, St Pauls Gallery, London, curated by Peter Lamb
- ‘The Nature of Things’, Birmingham Museum of Modern Art, including: Glenn Brown, Neal Rock, Dave Burrows, D.J. Simpson, and Bridgit Riley
- ‘Yabadabadoo’, cell projects, London, curated by Juan Bolivar
2004
- ‘Contrapop’, Vamiali gallery, Athens, Greece, curated by Suhail Malik.
Including Ian Monroe, Daniel Pflumm, Toby Zeigler, Caroline Achaintre, Jo Mitchell - ‘The Future Lasts A Long Time’, Tal Esther, Tel Aviv, Israel.
- ‘Material Faith’, Kontainer Gallery, Los Angeles, USA, including Ian Dawson, Carolyn Castano, George Doneo, Katie Grinnan and Peter Lamb
- ‘Mind the Gap’, Triangle Arts. Marseille, France.
- ‘Shape Shifters’, M. Projects, Paris. Curated by Anthony Gross.
- ‘First Assembly’, The Ragged School, London.
- ‘Decoding Highlights’, VTO, London, curated by Eva Karapanou.
- ‘Into my world’, New British Sculpture, The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Connecticut, U.S.A. Including: Mike Nelson, Jim Lambie, David Thorpe, Roger Hiorns, Laura Ford, James Ireland, Mariele Neudecker, Saskia Olde Wolbers
- ‘Cinderella’, Biscuit factory, Bermondsey, London. Curated by Juan Bolivar
- ‘Tonight’, Studio Voltaire, London curated by Paul O’Neil
2003
- ‘MATCHINE, MATCHINE’; Group show, Spitalfields, London, One in the Other Outside, curated by Chris Norika. Keith Wilson, Mark Titchner, Sam Basu. Art Lab, Kevin Francis Grey, Diann Bauer, Guy Bar Amotz.
- ‘This Was Tomorrow’, New Art Centre, Roche Court, Salisbury, Hampshire. Curated by Penelope Curtis. including Barbara Hepworth, Liam Gillick, Claire Barclay, Eva Rothschild, Toby Patterson and Tacita Dean.
- ‘Inc. Attention! Vous etes face d un espace intermediaire...’, Air de Paris; Praz Delavallade, Paris, France.
- ‘The Collection of an Invisible Man’, Laing Gallery, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. Curated by Brian Griffiths.
- ‘Point of No Return’, Dublin. Curated by Yari Lager, Colin Ledwith and Mark Titchner.
- ‘Easy Rider’, cell projects, London
2002
- ‘Craft’, Cell Project Space, London. .
- ‘My Way’, LE CREDAC, Galerie Fernand Leger, Paris. Curated by Frank Lamy
- ‘Ego Tripping’, Anthony Wilkinson Gallery, London.
- ‘All of My Heart’, Galleria Arte e Personae, Florence, Italy. Curated by Stephen Hepworth
- ‘Flying High’, S*W*A*B Presents, with Dan Arps, Achilles House, Auckland, New Zealand
2001-2003
- ‘Tailsliding’, British Council touring exhibition. Curated by Stephen Hepworth and Colin Ledwith.
- Touring Europe: Turku Art Museum, Turku, Finland; Museum Of Contemporary Art, Belgrade, Serbia; House Of Artists, Brno, Czech Republic; Tallinn Museum Of Contemporary Art Estonia; Centre Of Contemporary Art, Vilnius, Lithuania; Bergen Kunsthall Norway; Museum Of Contemporary Art, Salamanca, Spain. Including Jim Lambie, Peter Davis, David Thorpe, Simon Periton, Eva Rothschild, Gary Webb, DJ Simpson, Kate Bright and Clare Woods.
2000-2001
- ‘London Orphan Asylum’: Open Space, Milan and ACCA, Melbourne, Plimsol Gallery, Tasmania Including Tim Noble & Sue
- Webster, Martin Creed, Mark Leckey, Brian Griffiths, Tomoko Takahashi and Jeremy Deller
- ‘The Armchair Project’, Cinch, London. Curated by Paul McDevitt and Declan Clark.
- Hallucinating Love’, Alison Jacques, London. Curated by Gigotto del Vecchio
2000
- Mental Wilderness, Gale Gates, et al, Dumbo, Brooklyn, New York, supported by Andy Warhol Foundation.
- Assembly, RCA & Goldsmiths MA graduate show, London
- Wooden Heart, AVCO. Curated by Reza Arameshi
- These Epic Islands, Vilma Gold, London. Curated by Brian Griffiths
Courses taught
- Art 216 Sculpture1 introduction to Sculpture
- Art 217 and Art 317 intermediate Sculpture
- Art 416 Advanced Sculpture
- Art 417 Problems in Sculpture Advanced class
- Art 498 BFA Seminar Class
- Art 710 Graduate studio practices
I also work on thesis committees for undergraduate and post graduate
Education
- 1999-2000 M.F.A Fine Art, Goldsmiths College, University of London
- 1989-1992 B.A (hons) Fine Art, Staffordshire University, UK
- 1988-1989 Foundation Diploma in Art and design (FAD level 3), University of Lincolnshire and
Humberside, Hull School of Art, UK