Francis Offman



Work exhibited at School of Waters
SUMS
senza titolo_untitled, 2019
Acrylic, ink, coffee grounds and bolognese plaster on juta
149 x 195.8 cm
Courtesy the artist & P420, Bologna
ph. Carlo Favero
senza titolo_untitled, 2020
Acrylic, ink, coffee grounds and bolognese plaster on juta
169.3 x 224 cm
Courtesy the artist & P420, Bologna
ph. Carlo Favero
About the artist
Francis Offman (1987, Rwanda) lives and works in Bologna, Italy. The works of Francis Offman are canvases (not mounted on stretchers) with irregular contours, paintings that come from the associations of parts (or portions) of vivid, flat, uniform colors, and collage zones made with the insertion of scraps of paper – thin or thicker sheets, salvaged from bread wrappers or shoeboxes – they enter the composition like rips or wounds. An encounter that only on occasion makes elements emerge that can be traced back to the real: a dry tree, a mountain, a portion of water, earth or sky… Offman’s pieces are free compositions that imply fragile references, minimal and understated, to a faraway world (Africa and Rwanda, where the artist spent some of his childhood) and its customs, a traumatic memory and an uncertain identity; jagged, dynamic spaces that cannot give rise to an integral landscape.
Text by Davide Ferri
Fig. 1.
Francis Offman, installation view, Tragitti divaganti, distrazione da una meta, 2018, galleria P420, Bologna.
Photo by Carlo Favero,
Courtesy of the artist & galleria P420 (Bologna)
Fig. 2.
Francis Offman, installation view, Untitled, 2017
Acrylic, ink and bolognese plaster on cotton, 137 x 165.5 cm.
Photo by Carlo Favero,
Courtesy of the artist & galleria P420 (Bologna)
Fig. 3.
Francis Offman, installation view, Untitled, 2017
Acrylic, ink and bolognese plaster on cotton, 111 x 165.5 cm.
Photo by Carlo Favero,
Courtesy of the artist & galleria P420, Bologna
Francis Offman, installation view, Tragitti divaganti, distrazione da una meta, 2018, galleria P420, Bologna.
Photo by Carlo Favero,
Courtesy of the artist & galleria P420 (Bologna)
Fig. 2.
Francis Offman, installation view, Untitled, 2017
Acrylic, ink and bolognese plaster on cotton, 137 x 165.5 cm.
Photo by Carlo Favero,
Courtesy of the artist & galleria P420 (Bologna)
Fig. 3.
Francis Offman, installation view, Untitled, 2017
Acrylic, ink and bolognese plaster on cotton, 111 x 165.5 cm.
Photo by Carlo Favero,
Courtesy of the artist & galleria P420, Bologna