Francis Gallery, Los Angeles

Francis Gallery is opening a second location in Los Angeles this October, in an expansion of its original gallery in Bath, UK.

The new site is located in West Hollywood, with Francis joining some of the city’s most celebrated galleries and design ateliers.

The gallery’s inaugural exhibition presents six artists of Korean and part-Korean descent. Los Angeles is home to the largest Korean community in the United States; gallery director Rosa Park, having roots in both Seoul and LA, seeks to explore the nuanced connections between the two places. Through painting, photography, sculpture, and ceramics, the exhibition explores manifold experiences of contemporary Korean identity in international contexts, offering insights into how each artist’s cultural heritage influences their creative practice.

The design for the space was a close collaboration between Park and LA-based studio BC, who take an intentionally site-sensitive approach to interior architecture. Drawing inspiration from classic Korean forms, BC’s Lindsey Chan and Jerome Byron have taken care to preserve the building, while transforming the look and feel of the interior. Built by OHS Design & Development, it includes a new curved partition wall inspired by a moon jar, and a modern re-interpretation of a traditional Korean hanok courtyard.