Spanning almost twenty years of work, MUMA is excited to present the first major survey exhibition of London-based, New Zealand-born artist, Francis Upritchard. From her early collections of mock burial artefacts, to primate-like figures constructed from discarded fur coats, and her more recent enigmatic gurus, Upritchard has developed a highly idiosyncratic language of sculpture that frequently borrows from craft practices and a broad range of references from the deep recesses of museum collections folklore and counter-cultures to high modernist design.

This exhibition will include little-seen and significant early artworks, her arresting sloths, a selection of curious personal and ritualistic artefacts and talismans, small sculptures accompanied by their bespoke furniture supports, as well as recent life-size free-standing technicolour figures, such as Blue and Green Scarf 2013 and Sun Worship 2013 (pictured above), which blur the lines between the archaic and futuristic.

^{Image: Francis Upritchard: Jealous Saboteurs, installation view, Monash University Museum of Art, 2016. Photo: Christian Capurro}

Acknowledgements

Francis Upritchard: Jealous Saboteurs is a joint project with City Gallery Te Whare Toi, Wellington and has been curated by their Chief Curator Robert Leonard and MUMA's Director Charlotte Day.