Living on the outskirts of Paris, Francis Marshall (b 1946) spent over forty years constructing a world of over four hundred life-sized sculptures—figures made from discarded furniture, rags, nylons, and debris gathered from the Seine. His scenes, both haunting and tender, depict a crumbling domestic world filled with dystopian humour and unexpected charm. Smiling faces emerge from splintered cupboards, obedient dogs wait beside broken chairs, and poetry points nowhere.
Championed by Alain Bourbonnais of La Fabuloserie, Marshall’s work debuted in 1973 at Atelier Jacob and has since been shown at the Musée d’Art Moderne, the AVAM, and the Hayward Gallery’s Outsiders exhibition.