Carlene Frances
Artist Statement
My work emerges from the aesthetic power of Asian design elements. I explore non-objective line, symbolic circles (enso), squares, and the relationship among color, content and opposites. It reflects the juxtaposition of complexities versus simplicities;large simplistic planes of glazed luminous color fused with shapes and complex areas of spontaneous gestural lines. I seek to eliminate the unnecessary so the necessary may speak. The result is the harmonizing of ostensible opposites (yin & yang); therefore, creating balance.
This body of work is particularly important to me. It is a challenge to leave the comfort and seduction of intense color, while finding new ways to communicate with the viewer. David Batchelor said it so well;“luminous grey palettes can be potentially as rich and complex as other colors, yet in their own way, very unlike other colors. The grey makes the luminous more luminous and the luminous makes the grey so much greyer.”In this series Surface, my paintings emanate more than a visible or tactile outward appearance. Every stroke, every layer, emerges and contributes to the exterior and interior surface, occasionally revealing itself to the viewer.
Artist Bio
Bio- Carlene Frances
Frances holds a BFA in painting and drawing from Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design. She attended Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids, Michigan before moving to Colorado in 1974 where she currently resides. Her medium is oils and uses as many as 20-30 layers of thin transparent glazes creating depth and luminosity in her paintings.
Frances is inspired by aesthetes of Asian design elements and eastern philosophy. The journey of finding peace and calm is expressed through Frances’ creative practice, where she applies the Buddhist principal of Shunyata–dwelling in emptiness, to her canvases by eliminating the unnecessary so the necessary may speak.
Frances has been exhibiting professionally since 1997; her work has been featured in major national and international exhibitions, such as Brownsville Museum of Fine Art, Brownsville, TN, Civic Gallery at Azamino, Yokohama, Japan, Nagasaki Art Museum, International Exhibit, Nagasaki, Japan, Riverside Art Museum, CA. Palazzo della Provinic, Frosinone, Italy, Oceanside Museum of Art, CA., Chelsea Art Museum in New York, NY, and many others. Frances’ work has also been acquired by many public and private collections, including: Museum of Modern Art, Wales, UK, National Museum of Brazil/Museu Brasilerio da Escultura, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Flux Museum, Fort Worth, TX, Kentler International Drawing Space, Permanent Collection, Brooklyn, NY and the Marriott International Inc., Renaissance Hotel, Charleston, SC.
Selected Exhibitions
Carlene Frances
Selected Solo, Invitational, and Juried Exhibition
2019 Valdosta State University, Valdosta National 2019, Juried Exhibit, Dedo
Maranville Fine Arts Gallery, Valdosta, Georigia
2019 ART Squared, A Two Person Exhibit Seijaku, Boulder CO
2019 Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities, Colorado Abstract +10: A History & A Survey ,
Invitational Exhibit, Arvada CO
2018 Brownsville Museum of Fine Art, 46th Internatioanl Art Show, Juried group
Exhibit, Brownsville, TX
2018 K Contemporaray Gallery, Seijaku, Solo Exhbit, Denver, CO
2017 Space Gallery, White, Invitational Group Exhibit, Denver, CO
2017 Globe Fine Art, Translucency, Solo Exhibit, Santa Fe, NM
2017 Yokohama Civic Gallery, 25th International Exhibit, Yokohama, Japan
2016 Metropolitian State University Center for the Visual Arts, Colorado Woman in
Astraction, Invitational Exhibit, Denver, CO
2016 Nagasaki Art Museum, International Exhibit, Nagasaki, Japan
2016 Highline Gallery, Solo Exhibit, Retina, Boulder, CO
2016 Space Gallery, Expanding the Dialogue…., Denver, CO
2016 Rogue West Gallery, Power of Spirit, Two Person Exhibit, Steamboat
Springs, CO.
2016 Park View Gallery, LELA International Exhibit, Los Angles, CA.
2015 Riverside Art Museum, California Dreaming, Riverside, CA
2015 Nagasaki Prefectual Art Museum, International Exhibit, Nagasaki, Japan
2015 The Painting Center, The Writing on the Wall, New York City, NY
2015 Space Gallery, Nature’s Line, Denver, CO
2014 Ice Cube Gallery, Ice Breaker 5, Juried Exhibit Denver, CO
2014 Space Gallery, Fusion V, Invitational Exhibit, Denver, CO
2014 Palazzo della Provinic di Frosinoe, California Dreaming, Frosinone, Italy
2014 Oceanside Museum of Art, California Dreaming, Oceanside, CA
2013 Republic Plaza, Total Abstration, Denver, CO
2013 Space Gallery, Mind Over Matter, Denver, CO
2013 Arvada Center for the Arts, Art of the State, Juried Exhibit, Arvada CO
2013 Republic Plaza, Total Abstraction, Invitional Exhbit, Denver, CO
2012 Space Gallery,The Other Primary Colors; White Black Grey, Denver, CO
2012 Cultural Arts Council Fine Arts Gallery, Abstract Expressions,
Invitational Group Exhibit, Estes Park, CO
2011 Lowery Gallery, Poetic Synthesis, Invitational Exhbit, Community College
of Aurora, CO
2011 Chelsea Art Museum, 1st International Juried Peace Art NYC Exhibition,
International Juried Exhibit, NYC, NY
2010 Spark Gallery, Biennial Juired Exhibit, Big Themes/Small Work,
Denver, CO
2010 Museum of Modern Art, International Juried Exhibit, A Book About Death,
Wales, UK.
2010 National Museum of Brazil/Museu Brasilerio da Escultura 2010,
International Invitaional Exhibit, A Book About Death, Sao Paulo, Brazil
2010 Flux Museum, FluxFace in Space, Fort Worth, TX
2009 The Dairy Center for the Arts 2009, Juried Exhibit, Enso The Circle,
Boulder, CO
2008 Curtis Art & Humanities Center, Juried Exhibit, 25th (2008) , 20th (2003), 17th
(2000), 16th (1999) Annual All Colorado Art Show, Greenwood Village, CO
2007 Denver Public Library, Santa Fe Drive Art District Exhbit, Denver, CO
2004 Susan K. Arndt Gallery, Mountain Valley Women Artists 2004, Red Rocks
Community College, Lakewood, CO
2004 The Lincoln Center, NCAA13th National Art Exhibition 2004, Fort Collins, CO
2004 Evergreen Arts Center, Contemporary Art Exhibit, Evergreen, CO
2002 Museum of Contemporary Art, Regional Juried Exhibit, Rocky Mountain
Biennial, Fort Collins, CO
2000 Canyon Road Contemporary Art, National Invitational, Juried
Exhibit, Santa Fe, NM
Museum and Corporate Collections
2016 Envision Healthcare, Denver, CO
2014 Willow Creek Dental, Lonetree, CO
2012 Dean Evans & Associates, Greenwood Village, CO
2010 Flux Museum, Fort Worth, TX
2010 Museum of Modern Art, (MOMA), Wales, UK
2010 National Museum of Brazil/Museu Brasilerio da Escultura (MUBE),
Sao Paulo, Brazil
2009 Marriott International Inc., Renaissance Hotel, Charleston, SC
2009 Kentler International Drawing Space Permanent Collection, Brooklyn, NY
2008 AMS Health Inc., Denver, CO.
2008 DCG Law Firm, Broomfield, CO
2007 Towne & Country Real Estate Company, Denver, CO
2007 Law Firm of Castle, Meinhold & Stawjarski LLC, Denver, CO
2000 Law Firm of Huttner & Huttner, Denver, CO
1998 Summit Financial, Englewood, CO
1998 Mississippi Dental, Aurora, CO
1998 Stephens Finanical, Denver, CO
Education
1998 BFA, Painting and Drawing, Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design,
Denver, CO
1972 Kendal College of Art and Design of Ferris State University, Grand
Rapids, MI
1970 Schoolcraft College, Livonia, MI
Awards
Awards, Recognition, Publications
2018 Publidhed Review in Westword Magazine by Michael Paglia, Seijaku, Solo
exhibit, K Contempoaray, Denver, CO
2018 Publish Article in ARTBEAT Magazine, Carlene Frances, Non-Referentially Speaking,
Denver, CO
2015 Published Review in Westword Magazine by Michael Paglia, Natures’s
Line Exhibit, Space Gallery Denver, CO
2015 6th, 2015 Artslant Prise Showcase Competition winner.
2013 Recognition by Westword’s Best of Denver, “Best Group Show”, The Other
Primary Colors; White Black Grey, Space Gallery, Denver, CO
2013 Published Review in Westword by Michael Paglia, Mind Over Matter
Exhibit, Space Gallery, Denver CO
2013 Recognition by Westword’s Best of Denver 2013, “Best Big Show
Colorado Art”, Art of the State, Arvada Center For The Arts, Arvada, CO
2013 Arvada Center For The Arts Exhibit Catalog, Art Of The State, Arvada, CO
2013 Published Review in Westword by Michae Paglia, Art of the State, Arvada
Center For The Arts, Arvada CO
2012 Space Gallery Exhibit Catalog, The Other Primary Colors; White Black Grey
Denver, CO
2012 Published Review in Westword by Michael Paglia, The Other Primary
Colors; White Black Grey. Denver, CO
2011 Space Gallery Exhibit Catalog, Fusion IV, Denver, CO
2011 Published, Tao Te Ching, by RZ Foster, Painting on Book Cover
2010 Flux Museum Exhibit Catalog, FluxFace in Space, Fort Worth, TX.
2008 Home & Gardens TV, 22 Paintings featured and filmed in Denver, Designed
by architect Suzette Evans for HGTV series, “My Amazing Renovation”
2007 Orbitz Design Published, Corporate Calendar, Denver, CO
2007 Published Article, Art of the Four Corners Magazine, Fall Issue, Full page
article on Fusion Exhibit, page 68
2007 Published Book, Fusion: Painting and Poetry
2006 Curators Choice Award, Art for Aids Exhibit, Denver, CO
2004 First Place Award, Contemporary Art Exhibition, Evergreen Center for the Arts,
Evergreen, CO
2002 Award of Merit, 3rd Annual Artful Women Exhibit, Fremont Center for the Arts,
Canon City, CO
2000 Award of Excellence, National Invitational, Canyon Road Contemporary Art
Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1997-2001, RMCAD Published Mural, Integration of Space, Rocky Mountain
College of Art & Design College Catalog, Denver, CO
