Francis Upritchard

Francis Upritchard (born 1976) is a New Zealand born artist living in London. Upritchard and Judy Millar, represented New Zealand at the 2009 Venice Biennale.

Life and career

Francis Upritchard was born in 1976 in New Plymouth, New Zealand. She graduated from the University of Canterbury, School of Fine Arts in 1998. That same year she moved to the UK where she lives and works.

In December 2001, the Bart Wells Institute was established by Luke Gottelier and Francis Upritchard in a large East London squat. The Bart Wells Institute ran for about two years and exhibitions were curated by artists including Sam Basu, Brian Griffiths, David Thorpe and Harry Pye.

Upritchard was short-listed for the Becks Futures prize for an installation exhibition from 2003 entitled Save Yourself. A small mummy surrounded by funerary urns lay on the gallery floor vibrating and moaning. A packet of cigarettes tucked into its bandages, and a single glass eye was visible.

In 2005 Upritchard had simultaneous shows in the Andrea Rosen Gallery and Salon 94. The sculpture Torcello, Balata Figures and a selection of found objects were arranged over two large plinths. Sculptures of sloths, monkeys, orrerys and rocks. In 2005 she also won New Zealand's Walters Prize for art, after being shortlisted for her Artspace show 'Doomed, Doomed, All Doomed' in 2005.