Painter Francesca Mollett Joins London’s Modern Art

Francesca Mollet has joined Modern Art, the London gallery run by Stuart Shave. The Bristol-born painter joins a league of outstanding talent taken on by the gallery, including Terry Winters, Joseph Yaeger, Justin Caguiat, Andrew Cranston and Mohammed Sami.

Since graduating from the Royal College of Art in 2020, Mollett has seen her work hung in solo exhibitions at Taymour Grahne Projects (2022), Informality Gallery (2021), and a group show at The Approach (2021). In 2022, GRIMM Gallery announced her representation, which was followed by a solo exhibition in their flagship gallery in Amsterdam (2023), as well as New York in 2024. She is also represented by Micki Meng in San Francisco.

Mollett’s paintings are distinguished by their entanglement of iridescent colour and expressive layers of impasto that permeate the abstract landscapes.

‘When I paint, I am trying to create something that becomes like an image of looking—elements can appear almost recognisable and then dissolve,’ Mollett explained to Ocula.

‘I use a palette knife in my painting process because it allows me to entangle part of the paintings back around on themselves. I’m able to pick up one part of the painting and deposit it somewhere else. This technique’s cyclical nature also has the effect of appearing like a collage that hints at the multiplicity of perception that we experience.’

For a number of young artists nowadays, with the news of gallery representation and the anticipation of upcoming shows, it can be hard to shut out the noise and focus on the work in hand. However, the Royal College of Art graduate seems to have it under control.

‘When I am in the studio making things, I am extremely focused on the work in hand,’ Mollett explained to Rory Mitchell in 2022.. ‘I have the same sway with emotions I’ve always had between being exhilarated by one painting and completely dissatisfied with another. All this hasn’t changed—progress isn’t linear and the fluidity going on in a practice is something that will always occur at whatever stage in your career.’

Since being founded in 1998, Modern Art has expanded to a second space in London, and more recently in Paris in 2023. A solo exhibition at the gallery is yet to be announced.

Main image: Francesca Mollett. Courtesy Ocula. Photo: William Waterworth.