10 Women -10 Countries Noosa Gallery 2002-2003 Magda Francot Bio

Magda Francot (born in Antwerp on 30 July, 1942) is married to Architect Hug Francot, and lives and works in Antwerp, Belgium.
She primarily works in oils on canvas and panel and her work finds its roots in the great Flemish tradition. Besides creating her portraiture and symbolic work, Magda also has her own art school where she teaches enthusiasts the art of drawing and painting, also in traditional techniques like tempera. The knowledge of this latter technique also enables her to restore old paintings to their former glory.

Magda and her husband Hug own a cottage in the French
Ardeche, and above watercolour by Magda depicts this landscape.

1957-'60 Institute for Decorative Arts in Antwerp.
1960-'61 Academy of Fine Arts in Dendermonde, department Monumental Painting.
1960-'62 Institute of Fine Arts in Antwerp, department decoration.
1962-'64 Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, department oil painting, with Prof. Gustaaf De Bruyne. Drawing with Prof. Marcel Mutsaerts.

1964-'68 Textile applications and wall hangings.
1968-'70 Series of assemblages commissioned by "Borg Fabrics".
1970-'71 Reliefs in textile and plaster.
1971-'72 Single figures in painted plaster.
1973-'82 Drawings, lithographs, en oil paintings.
1982-'90 Trompe L'oeil wall paintings, oil paintings with tempera base, canvas glued on panel.
1990-'99 Oil paintings, colour pencil drawings, pastel drawings.

1968 Oostende and Ronquieres "Art in the Benelux countries"
        Goes "Creative Art skills in the Province of Antwerp"
1972 Eindhoven - Bijenkorf
1974 Mons, Federation du tourisme de la Provence du Hainaut
1976 Gallery "De Drie Dennen" - Herentals
1980 Graphics exhibitions "Sports in Arts" Frans
        Masereelcentrum.
         "Schelde and Harbour" Galerie "De Witte Arend" in Antwerp.
1981 Meise - Audiovisual center
1982 Gallery SMAG in Vremde (Boechout)
Gallery VTB in Antwerp
        Artscenter "De Gouden Pluim" in Gent
        Huis ter Beurse in Bruges
1983 Museum A. Blomme in Roeselare
        Gallery "Lazarus" in Rumst
        Gallery Gemeentekrediet in Antwerp
1986 Cultural Circle in Wezemaal
1987 Gallery "AWW" in Antwerp
1990 Art in the World of Justice - The Justice Building in Antwerp
        "Salon 90" Gallery "De Lelie" in Antwerp
1993 Gallery "De Griffioen" in Sint-Pauwels
        Huis van Nispen
1995 Gallery "De Griffioen" in Sint Pauwels
        Gallery "De Lelie" in Antwerp
        Gallery "Huyse Molensloot" in Antwerp
        Gallery "Axpoele" in Ruiselede
1996 Zaventem "Gemeentehuis"
1997 Gallery "Huyse Molensloot" in Antwerp
        "Open Ateliers", Artiestengang in Antwerp
        Gallery "Iris" in Werchter
        Gallery "De Pekhoeve" in Ulvenhout, NL
1998 "Isard International Art School" in Antwerp
        "Biennale" in Saint Leonard de Noblat, France
        "Open Ateliers Noord" in Antwerp
1999 Gallery "Lijn 3" in The Hague, NL
        Gallery "Campo & Campo" in Antwerp
         St.Leonard de Noblat -Limoges-France
        Carquefou -Brittany-France
        Gallery Palumbus-Antwerp-Belgium
        Gallery Axpoele -Ruiselede (Bruges) Belgium

1980 Laureat "Grand Prize Alfons Blomme" for the art of oil painting.
        Honourable mention "Schelde en Haven"
1981 Honourable mention "Jules van Campenhout Prize"
1982 Selected for 4th Prize for Painting in Boechout
        Selected C.V.K.C Jozelf Storme Prize for Painting
1983 Selected for "Grand Prize Alfons Blomme"
        Selected for "Lazarus Prize"
        First Prize "Prize E. van Mieghem"
1995 First Prize Local Selection "Choose for Art"

A number of magazines and newspapers.
"Painting and Sculpture after 1945" by Dr. H. Dierckx
Book "5 Jaar De Lelie", 1992 by Danny Renders

Belgium: Antwerp, St. Niklaas, Kapellen, Keerbergen, Halle, Brussels, Vremde.
France: Bandol.
Germany: Munich.
U.S.A.: New York, Delavan (Wisconsin).

"Because of the confusion in art, the feelings of being deceived by modern art, the work you will view here has grown in a reverse evolution for me.

It is more than necessary to follow one's own lines, and form a link in the chain of a great artistic tradition based on traditional values and techniques, authenticity and motivation.

I have decided to give my work an extra dimension of illusion and call it "Illusionary Realism", which means a reality painted from imagination.

I thank all who view and like my work and express an opinion .
You help me continue on this difficult road..."

THE DARK ROMANTICISM OF MAGDA FRANCOT

The myths and symbols inherent to Romanticism move between two poles:

Longing for nature, idealization of medieaval times, cult of sensitivity, rekindled religion, interest in the occult and magic, and an esoteric view of the world coloured by a profound melancholy

In contrast to:

The “dark side” with an emphasis on the morbid, macabre tendencies and love of death related issues including ghosts, vampires, femmes fatales, tombs and gravestones... in short all forms of cultivated decadence.

Above themes dominate my psyche and occur in abundance in my work which is based on captured images from inner experience. To visualize this inner world as clearly as possible, I must devote all of my time to my duty to perpetuate the craft and knowledge involved in painting. It is my responsibility to apply traditional values and techniques in contrast to the chaos of contemporary art.

During the experimental 1960's Magda attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. It was a time in which a number of visions and concepts gave new impulses to the language of visual expression.

Magda initially went through an experimental phase in which she created painted objects. The theories of Dubuffet motivated her to give creative therapy, which meant a treasure of experience that would later result in a turning point in her own work.

She returned to her roots in traditional painting with enriched skill and renewed respect for the medium. The works she then started to create were carefully crafted from perceptions of forms taken from history, mythology and imagination. Shadow images reflect their pattern and conjure up fantastic associations from the depths of the spiritual work of the artist. In her symbolic works she is often the model and her function is as intermediary between the inner and outer world. Her style is realistic and figurative, but mostly points to a different reality, a deeper sense of existence. She also works with surprising understatement that invite the viewer to accept the dialogue.

Illusion plays a primordial role in the oeuvre of the artist. It is the way in which she deals with the dream images that turn into a reality. The reflection of an inward spectrum, conjuring up images that come to life in her most inner being. Images that she chooses to portray in a very figurative way, which is a difficult way. Her paintings are therefore visually attractive and colourful and conjure up just that dreamworld that we all look for. What is surprising in her work are the many "self portraits". Magda herself calls this being an "intermediary", the person that stands between the artist and the composition without that person playing a very significant role.

Magda Francot also teaches art. In her studio she schools children in the finer points of line, point, corner, open and closed forms. She has achieved astonishing results with her own teaching methodology and now teaches children to work with oils on canvas, passing on the traditional skills and enabling the children to express their imagination.