Franko B (born in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

in 1960) is an Italian

performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

ist based in London, where he has lived since 1979. He studied fine art at Camberwell College of Arts (1986–87), Chelsea College of Art (1987–90) and the Byam Shaw School of Art (1990–91). His work was originally based on the bloody and ritualised violation of his own body. Later on he embraced a wide variety of media including

video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syste ...

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

, installation, and

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

. He performed at the ICA,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1996 and 2008, the

South London Gallery The South London Gallery, founded 1891, is a public-funded gallery of contemporary art in Camberwell, London. Until 1992, it was known as the South London Art Gallery, and nowadays the acronym SLG is often used. Margot Heller became its direct ...

in 1999 and 2004, the Centre of Attention in 2000,

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery located in London. It houses the United Kingdom's national collection of international modern and contemporary art, and forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is ...

in 2002, the Ikon Gallery, Birmingham in 2005, Arnolfini, Bristol in 2007, The Bluecoat Centre, Liverpool in 2008, CENDEAC, Murcia, Spain in 2007 and The Crawford Art Gallery in Cork, Ireland in 2005. He has exhibited work internationally in Zagreb, Mexico City, Milan, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Copenhagen, Madrid, Vienna, Brussels, Warsaw, Dublin and Siena. From 2009 to 2016 he taught sculpture at the

Accademia di Belle Arti di Macerata The Accademia di Belle Arti di Macerata is an academy of fine arts located in Macerata, Italy. It was founded in 1972. Initially, the Accademia was located in the Palazzo Buonaccorsi. After the Umbria and Marche earthquake of 1997, it was moved ...

in Italy. In 2017 he was appointed Professor of Sculpture at Accademia Albertina in Turin. He has also lectured extensively at a number of art schools, including Saint Martin's School of Art;

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

; the

Ruskin School of Fine Art The Ruskin School of Art, known as the Ruskin, is an art school at the University of Oxford, England. It is part of Oxford's Humanities Division. History The Ruskin grew out the Oxford School of Art, which was founded in 1865 and later became ...

, Oxford; Chelsea College of Art, London;

Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design (DJCAD) is part of the University of Dundee in Dundee, Scotland. It is ranked as one of the top schools of art and design in the United Kingdom. History Attempts were made to establish an art schoo ...

, Dundee;

DasArts The Amsterdam University of the Arts ( nl, Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de Kunsten) is a Dutch vocational university of arts located in Amsterdam. The university consists of: * Academy of Architecture * Academy of Theatre and Dance * Breitner Aca ...

, Amsterdam;

Goldsmiths' College of Art Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wor ...

, London; Zurich University of the Arts; and the Courtauld Institute of Art. His work is the subject of four monographs: ''Franko B'' (

Black Dog Publishing Black Dog Publishing was a British publishing company specialising in illustrated non-fiction books on contemporary culture. Topics covered by Black Dog include architecture, art, craft, design, environment, fashion, film, music and photograph ...

, London, 1998), ''Oh Lover Boy'', (Black Dog Publishing, London, 2000), ''Blinded by Love'' (Damiani Editore, Bologna, 2006) and ''I Still Love'' (Motta/

Il Sole 24 Ore ''Il Sole 24 Ore'' () is an Italian national daily business newspaper owned by Confindustria, the Italian employers' federation. History and profile ''Il Sole 24 Ore'' was first published on 9 November 1965 as a merger between ''Il Sole'' ("the ...

, Milan, 2010). An archive of materials related to his work is held as part of the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

's Theatre Collection. In April 2013, Franko B's work appeared on the cover and insert for the

UK Decay UK Decay are an English rock band, based in Luton, England. History UK Decay was born out of the ashes of another Luton band called the Resiztors, who had formed in 1978. The Resiztors' line-up consisted of guitarist Steve "Abbo" Abbott, ...

album ''

New Hope for the Dead ''New Hope for the Dead'' is the second studio album by English rock band UK Decay. It was released 22 April 2013 by record label Rainbow City. The album was funded via the website PledgeMusic and recorded in Dover with producer Chris Tsangaride ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Franko B British performance artists Alumni of Chelsea College of Arts 1960 births Living people Italian contemporary artists English contemporary artists Body art Alumni of the Byam Shaw School of Art Alumni of Camberwell College of Arts Academic staff of Accademia Albertina

Further reading

References