For the second episode, we visit Frank Holliday in his Bushick’s studio as he prepares for his upcoming solo show at the gallery and in conjunction with his presentation on Artsy’s Foundation.

If Abstraction is a way to explore the infinite possibilities of expression of both colors and the body beyond any existing linguistic codes, for Frank Holliday, painting becomes a vector to create epic metaphors of human existence, before morphing into language and rational formulation. Bursting with vibrant colors and animated by contrasts, Holliday’s paintings fully embrace the idea of élan vital explored by Henri Bergson, wherein the vital force—a principle of creativity immanent in all organisms—is considered responsible for a continuous evolution.

Connecting the psychic and somatic levels, Holliday's recent abstraction seems to mount a spectacle of evanescent floating bodies, embodied in the kaleidoscopic texture of densely intricate layers of colors.

WATCH.

CONNECT

How would you describe your current studio?

“
My current Painting studio is in Bushwick, Brooklyn. I have been here for a while, and it’s changing fast. My studio is a good size, and I find I have been productive here.

There’s something about I need to make a mess, clean up, and make a mess in the studio. I go on this mood of making a painting, and it gets messy, the floor gets on the painting, and everything in the studio kind of builds to make this body of work.
My standard is Francis Bacon’s studio.

I have had so many studios while painting here in NY, from studio apartments to industrial with no heat or water, I’ve had a studio on 42nd street between 7th and 8th before Disney, and then I had a big loft in Chelsea. It was hard to leave the city but space is expensive. It has been always the same: the artist goes in, then it’s cool, then the builders flood in, and it changes. Part of being an artist in NY.”

Frank Holliday (b. 1957), *Mad Kisses*, 2024, Oil On Linen, 24 x 20 in. / 60.96 x 50.80 cm

You’re currently working on your upcoming show. Can you tell us more about that title and some of the leading themes or sensations driving these new works for the show?

“At this moment, I am working towards a finish. I never really knew until the show was out of the studio. I try to use the time pressure of a show to take risks and push forward. So, I am finishing up, but I don’t title until I finish. It always comes to me towards the end.
The big painting is “We Disappear at Dawn”. The show is going to be about painting. I have been at this for a while, and I am focusing on letting the painting show me , it’s fun. Building slowly, the forms, memories, light, figure, sensation, and presence.
They are based on my ideas on painting and attitudes towards making.
Because my paintings are about perception, how we perceive an image, how a color
rises and falls, and creates something.
The forms and the colors, all come in the process of making the painting.
I’m spending all the summer trying to make those things look easy.
But what I am focusing on the most is trusting that everything is there, and all I have to do is show up and paint—the painting. My experience shows me the way if I am patient—it always does.”

What kind of atmosphere do you prefer when you work?

“I need a space where I can be a total slob. I don’t know, but I call my studio my dirty room. I was always the kid jumping into mud puddles and enjoying that kind of rule rupture. Also I hate natural light. It really creates a glare on the paintings. So I prefer a cave.”

Is there anything you like to listen to/watch/read/look at etc. for inspiration?

“I used to be picky about what I listened to regarding music. I love Bowie and beyond. Music is a distraction for my critical mind, so the painting can be discovered like a kid, On a good day, that is.I have all my art books surrounding me. I don’t know. I can look at things online, but for some reason, a physical book is better for me. More real. I draw from them, and when I am seeking, I always look. It reminds me to relax and simplify. If you look at my books, you will know the history that I love and crave. At this point, it’s for inspiration instead of the style they are painted in.”