Debra Franses
B. London,1967
She studied Politics and Economics at the University of Manchester and initially pursued a career in advertising, before enrolling at Central St Martins School of Art (2002-2005) and creating Artbag.
Raised by an art teacher and an international handbag fittings agent for the luxury brands market, Debra herself was exposed to a unique outlook on art and fashion from a young age, which helped develop her intriguing style. As a student, she caught the eyes of the tutors with her handbag casting. The handbag rapidly became her canvas and the medium to express her unique style and aesthetics of intimacy
Her ideas explore consumption and the complex relationship with material objects both as consumable fashion goods but also as harbingers of memories, love, and aspirations.
With their kitschy elements, her works are a clear nod to pop art, brought into the digital age; now more than ever, how we curate and display the emblems that we love, and they, in turn, curate and display us.
Artist CV
Debra Franses lives and works in Amersham, England. She has taken part in several solo/group/ exhibitions, pop-ups, Art Fairs, Charity events, Media podcasts, and Auctions (selection):
Sothebys Art Auction Cologne (2023)
Group Show, Cambridge (2023)
New York Art Fair (2022)
Clarendon Gallery London Pop Art Show” (2022)
Maison Et Object Paris w/Cobra Amsterdam” (2018 -2023)
Dubai @ The Concept Store Solo Show” (2022)
IFC Shanghai Solo Show Abandoned Luggage” (2021)
Art Palm Beach w/Gallery Biba (2017-2022)
“London Fashion Week, Scout, Exhibition with Runway” (2020); “Gallery and The Beautalists” (2020); “Diamonds and Money Exhibition London” (2019); “Art Fair Islington Mark Jason Gallery/TAG Fine Art (2019); “New York AAF Mark Jason Gallery/TAG Fine Art”(2019); New York AAF Mark Jason Gallery/TAG Fine Art” (2019); “FFS, Saatchi Gallery, London, TAG Fine Art” (2019); “NewYork September Fashion Week, Runaway Gallery” (2019); Exhibition, Blacks, Soho, London” (2019); Basel Museum SWMV Handbags Exhibition”(2019); “Gallery Montmartre Paris Artist Exp” (2019); “Gallery Saint Martin Arcachon/St Tropez” (2019); “Cobra Gallery, Amsterdam Gallery Show” (2019); (2019); “Hong Kong AAFW”, TAG Fine Arts, Hong Kong (2018); “Scope Miami“, S’ist Gallery, Venice (2018); ; “New York AAF”, Tag Fine Art & Mark Jason Gallery, New York (2018); “New Generation artists“, Cobra Fine Art, Amsterdam & Rotterdam (2018); “Summer exhibition”, Gallery Saint Martin, St. Tropez (2018); “Winter exhibition”, Gallery Bartoux, Courcheval, Megeve, Singapore (2018); “New Artworks“, Galleries Artelie, Paris (2017); “Art Palm Beach”, Gallery Biba, Palm Beach (2017); “Gallery artists”, Buemee Contemporary, Tunbridge Wells (2017); “Coca Cola 100 years of the Bottle”, Global tour & WORLD EXPO Milan (2015); “Hong Kong AAF”, TAG Fine Arts, Hong Kong (2016); “New York AAF” Mark Jason Gallery, New York (2016); “Hamburg AAF”, Wanrooij Gallery, Hamburg (2016); “Winter exhibition“, Gallery Bartoux, Courcheval, Megeve, Singapore”(2016); “London AAF”, Mark Jason Gallery, London (2016); “Summer Exhibition“, Rarity Gallery, Mikonos (2015); “London art fair Islington”, Mark Jason Gallery, London (2013); “Hong Kong AAF” Mark Jason Gallery, Hong Kong (2013); “Scope Basel”, Wanrooij Gallerym Basel (2013); “Scope Miami”, Wanrooij Gallery, Miami (2013); “Ghent Art Fair“ Axel Pairon, Antwerp (2013); “Amsterdam AAF”, Wanrooij Gallery, Amsterdam (2013); “Hamburg AAF”, Wanrooij Gallery, Hamburg (2013); “Upon Reflection” Quidley &Co, Boston (2013); “Battersea and Hampstead AAF”, Mark Jason Gallery, London (2013); “Bucks Open Studios“, The Red House, Harefield (2013); Quidley & Co Nantucket (2013); “Launch”, Biba Gallery, Palm Beach (2013); “Scope Miami”, Wanrooij Gallery, Miami (2012); “Boston Art Fair”, Quidley & Company, Boston (2012); “Gallery artists“, Axel Pieron, Antwerp (2012); “Affordable Art Fair“, Wanrooij Gallery, Hamburg & Amsterdam & Brussels (2013); ”Greenwich Art and Design”, Manart Gallery, Stanford (2012); “Urban Intersections”, Quidley & Company, Boston (2012); “Affordable Art Fair”, Mark Jason Gallery, London & Singapore & New York (2012); “Knokke“, Axel Pairon, Antwerp (2012); “Gallery Opening Show“, Manart, Paris (2012); “Realisme“, Wanrooij Gallery, Amsterdam (2012); “London Art Fair”, Mark Jason Gallery, London (2012); London Art Fair, Mark Jason Gallery, London (2011); “John Lennon Show”, Legend Celebrity Art, London (2011); “Art Chicago”, Mark Jason Gallery, Chicago (2011); “London Design Week”, Brompton Oratory, London (2011); “Identity”, RED PENGUIN GALLERY, El Court Ingles Marbella (2011).
The Artbag is an intimate object
It was whilst she was at art school that the idea for Artbags first materialised. Debra took a beautiful handbag from a top couture house and adapted it into a silicone mould for casting. Whilst the first bag was sculpted in heavy white plaster, her next bag, ‘Catch’, was cast in resin and featured a goldfish inside a tank of water, mounted on a plinth. Her first pieces were highly autobiographical, as, through these, Debra visualised how she was feeling about various areas of her life.
She has since lived and worked in New York, Europe and London, where she is now based. She regularly collaborates with her contemporaries and, in 2020, she opened her own dedicated Gallery to represent herself alongside a few trusted galleries across the world.
Spanning luxury and familiarity, the elements held in each bag combine comfort, prestige, and style. The medium of resin encapsulation gives the chosen items a visually intensified presence, with the anticipation of their consumption forever suspended in time, never to be forgotten……
