Watch The Birdie!
Roman Franc
Zillman Art Museum and FRA FRA
English
Edited by Miroslav Ambroz
Texts by Miroslav Ambroz and George Kinghorn
Softcover
Edition of 250
71 pages
180 x 280 mm
2021
ISBN 9788011001964
Watch the Birdie! features over 40 black and white photographs by Roman Franc, who lives and works in Brno, Czech Republic. Franc explores both individual subjects in his work —such as a series of portraits of his brother at various ages —and images in which he orchestrates large groups of people.
Franc’s ability to harness the nuances of available light for his creative purposes, as well as his unwavering attention to find the perfect setting for his compositions, keep his portraits centered within the realm of fine art. His photographs of people, many of whom are personally known to the artist, range from the sensitive to the absurd, and from the humorous to the disconcerting. For instance, in Portrait Series-Twins, Franc has snapped an image of two young twin girls whose makeup-covered faces emerge from the darkness. The blank gazes of the girls and blackened circles around their eyes border on the macabre.
In several images, the artist enlists unclothed subjects who, when placed in the artist’s unique settings, evoke the absurd. These works bring to mind luminary Diane Arbus, whose frontally positioned subjects exude self-assurance in their nakedness. In Memories, Franc depicts two nude brothers with strikingly pronounced tan lines standing in what appears to be an unforgiving desert, yet they reflect a calm coolness despite their unfortunate condition of being severely sunburned.
(Source: https://zam.umaine.edu/roman-franc-watch-the-birdie/)
About the Artist
Roman Franc studied at Masaryk University in Brno, obtaining an MA in Education (2008). Subsequently, he earned an MFA in Photography (2015) at the Institute of Creative Photography, Silesian University, Opava (Czech Republic). Currently, he is advancing towards a PhD while serving as an external teacher at the Institute of Creative Photography, Silesian University, Opava. His primary focus lies in non-traditional portraiture and staged photography (for example, the series entitled My Little Miracles, Collectives, Brother, Portraits, Sokol: The Loyal Guard, My Name Is Hungry Buffalo). Additionally, he engages in curatorial and publishing endeavors.
Roman Franc is also the author and co-author of several books (House of Essens, My Name Is Hungry Buffalo, Watch the Birdie!, The Zbrojovka Phenomenon). In 2017, his book My Name Is Hungry Buffalo earnedrecognition as one the most beautiful books in the Czech Republic. He has also contributed to projects for the office of former Czech President Václav Havel and is the adopted son of a Navajo medicine man, Black Horse. He organizes and teaches photography courses and workshops for both private and public institutions and is currently represented by Boswell Mourot Fine Art gallery in Arkansas, USA. His photographs can be found in notable collections, including the Moravian Gallery in Brno, the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro, and the Zillman Art Museum.
https://www.romanfranc.cz/en/
(Source: https://www.romanfranc.cz/en/about-me/)
About the Publisher
The Linda G. and Donald N. Zillman Art Museum– University of Maine is a cultural resource of the state and the University of Maine, promotes an understanding of, and engagement with, visual art through its diverse contemporary exhibitions, permanent collection focusing on works of art since 1945, and educational programming.
https://umaine.edu/
(Source: https://zam.umaine.edu/about/mission-statement/)
Roman Franc, along with his friend and classmate Gabriel Fragner, he founded a two-member group FRA FRA in 2020, within which they are working on a joint project. It is titled Friday Evening at the Camp and they also created some group portraits together. The vast majority of portraits of various groups, however, Roman Franc creates alone.
(Source: https://www.lgp.cz/en/event/groups-roman-franc/)
