Jermaine Francis
New Commission
GRAIN Projects are delighted to be working with multi-disciplinary artist Jermaine Francis on a new commission which will see him respond to the West Midlands landscape and a narrative of place, memory and heritage.
Francis was born and grew up in the Black Country, a distinct area northwest of Birmingham with no defined boundaries, where coal and iron were exploited in the eighteenth century in the industrial heart of England.
His approach will include photography, moving image and archive as he makes a nonlinear response to the landscape in and beyond the Black Country, making an autobiographical link with London. He will consider the regeneration and devolution agendas, psychogeography and the areas of many connections to infrastructure and visual culture, through interpersonal connections and arbitrary routes.
Francis studied at Walsall College and the University of Derby before moving to London. His practice is rooted in documentary and portraiture and he is driven by personal experience and issues arising from his interactions with the environment. His work often disrupts the landscape and breaks down our perceptions of people and place. His practice includes the context of books, galleries and editorial, primarily in the discourse of the photo document.
He is currently associate lecturer in MA media studies at the Royal College Art, MA Documentary Photography at London College of Communications, and BA Fashion Communications Central St Martins school of Art.
