Cracked

You have until the end of the week to check out the exhibition prosaically titled 'White Tiles' by artist John Francis at Galerie Donald Browne.

The artworks Francis creates using humble white bathroom tiles are deceptively simple and exquisitely elegant.  Echoing the aesthetics of Sol LeWitt, Francis reaches beyond  the stark austerity of pure Minimalism and introduces the element of accident, resulting in a beautiful tension between controlled, straight lines and organic cracks which betray the materiality and process of the artwork.  

What at first glance appears to be spidery, fine lines drawn with a thin pen and a ruler are in fact cracks in the tiles themselves.  I can't even imagine how the artist does it (and I've done a fair bit of DIY in my time).  The nearly perfect lines create nearly perfect symmetrical drawings resembling architectural blue-prints, insane snow-flakes, or simple geometric patterns.  The vulgar white tile is transformed into a masterpiece which, I hope, will never be hung in a bathroom.

The exhibition runs until November 22 (www.galeriedonaldbrowne.com).

Words by Bettina Forget (www.bettinaforget.com).