Occupying the unmade bed is Sophia Demario, 17, she has dark Hispanic skin and full black hair which is put up in a messy bun. She\u2019s lying upside-down, letting her upper body hang off the bed in what looks like a truly uncomfortable position. Her tortoiseshell glasses are askew on her face. On her stomach lays an open school notebook with the words \u2018Final Project\u2019 written on the top of the page with several bullet lines of ideas crossed out. Sophia, in a state of desperation, sits up suddenly and the notebook thuds to the ground in unison with her scream of frustration.<\/span><\/p>\n The family cat, Picasso, looks up lazily from his spot by her feet, forced to pay attention to his loud human interrupting nap time. Two knobbly hands marked with dry paint grab him. Sophia brings him close up to her face and gently shakes him.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhy can\u2019t I do this?\u201d she whines. \u201cCan\u2019t you help me?\u201d pouting.<\/span><\/p>\n Picasso just stares back at her. His long and limp body hangs in front of her, unamused.<\/span><\/p>\n At his silence, Sophia places him back down on the bed, the bell on his blue-collar sounds on impact. He watches her pace the room a couple of times before throwing herself onto the bed in defeat. She switches off the bedside lamp her lack of ideas and creativity, exhausting.<\/span><\/p>\n She takes off her glasses, the now dark room becomes familiar dark shapes – except. Sitting on the edge of her bed where Picasso once was there\u2019s a much larger figure of\u2026 a man? She scrambles to put on her glasses and frantically switches on the bedside lamp causing it to topple slightly before resting back in place.<\/span><\/p>\n The somber orange light illuminates the face of the man sitting there casually, his legs crossed almost as if bored. It\u2019s Francis Bacon. He\u2019s sitting in a grey suit, cuff links gleaming. There\u2019s nothing out of the ordinary about his appearance except for what appears to be a blue cats collar around his neck, the name \u2018Picasso\u2019 engraved on the metal plate.<\/span><\/p>\n Sophia immediately screams. This must be an exhaustion-induced dream.<\/span><\/p>\n Francis finally turns his head towards her in response to her scream as if just noticing her presence. The bell attached to the cat\u2019s collar rings with the movement.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOh please don\u2019t do that.\u201d he drawls, uncrossing and crossing his other leg.<\/span><\/p>\n Sophia stops screaming but her mouth hangs open in shock. They hold eye contact for what feels like minutes in silence. He gives her a moment, waiting for a reaction beyond this stalemate of disbelief. Finally, he says, \u201cIs that Rothko? Puh-lease.\u201d he blows air out of his mouth dismissively.<\/span><\/p>\n Sophia looks behind her at the print hanging above her bed. But Francis continues, \u201cI mean the man named his creations after the colours used. A bit of imagination, Mark.\u201d He shakes his head before resting his eyes on Sophia. \u201cSo?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Sophia stares back, her mind still reeling from the sudden apparition of the world-renowned British figurative painter sitting on her bed wearing her family cats collar.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t even know where to begin.\u201d she says.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s because you\u2019re not asking the right questions,\u201d he answers, an air of mystery about him. Something amongst the eclectic array of disregarded items on the bedroom floor catches his attention.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAh, this must be it. The why.\u201d exclaims Francis.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe why?\u201d says Sophia. Francis picks up the notebook she\u2019d thrown earlier in frustration.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe why I\u2019m here.\u201d He replies matter of factly.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMy A-Level Coursework?\u201d she asks incredulously.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThat right,\u201d he grins at her madly \u201cyou need some Bacon in your life!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Sophia\u2019s forehead crinkles at the thought. Then says, \u201cActually, I\u2019m trying to be a vegetarian at the-\u2019\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n Francis rolls his eyes, tossing the notebook back at her. \u201cSome Francis Bacon in your life. In your artistic life anyway.\u201d He scans the room again as he mutters under his breath \u201cEspecially if your chosen decoration is anything to go by.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Sophia guffaws at this. \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong with Rothko? Monet?\u201d She shakes her head as if shaking these impure thoughts. “Who talks about themselves in the first person, anyway?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Francis sits up straighter, the cat collar ringing again. \u201cAll I\u2019m saying So-ppphia,\u201d he mocks playfully \u201cIs that you need to connect your brain,\u201d pointing at his head, \u201cto your body.\u201d his same finger points to his chest.<\/span><\/p>\n She sits up straighter on the bed, running her hand through the loose strands fallen from her bun. \u201cI still don\u2019t-\u2019\u2019 she begins to say, but Francis is on a roll. The bell on the cat collar rings as he springs up from the bed.<\/span><\/p>\n He starts to pace back and forward in the small space, all the while excitedly spouting, \u201cSophia, the mind, the brain. It\u2019s our greatest tool! It\u2019s a marvellous catalyst to everything we\u2019ve ever done or will think of doing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n He comes up close to her face, his eyes as large as plates trying to convey his life-changing advice.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a large system of nerves\u00a0that link to the brain and spinal cord. It is full of sensory receptors, which process changes in internal and external stimuli and communicate that information to the central nervous system.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThat sounds like science.\u201d deadpans Sophia, disgruntled at the thought. \u201cI hate science.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s neuroscience, it\u2019s the rock and roll of all sciences.\u201d He exclaims once again pacing the room, gesticulating wildly.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI also hate rock and roll.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Francis comes to a sudden stop, his arms coming down to rest defeated at his side. \u201cOh, you\u2019re a teenager, you hate everything.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Sophia laughs in disbelief. But soon that laughter turns into a fit that takes over her body like a fever, ravishing her. The night’s events catch up to her. She looks at Francis Bacon staring back at her in his fancy suit, Picasso\u2019s collar around his neck. She\u2019s laughing so hard her glasses fall down her nose. She snorts. Francis smirks at this, and soon the smirks turned into a full-blown face-splitting smile and they\u2019re both laughing maniacally.<\/span><\/p>\n Finally, their laughter subsides, Sophia wiping a tear from the corner of her eye.<\/span> Sophia smiles at the sincerity. \u201cYou\u2019ve already helped me. So much.\u201d She gets up from the bed and grabs her school bag. It\u2019s spattered in dry paint and there\u2019s a peeling sticker of the female gender sign smack in the middle. She reaches into the bag and pulls out a large white book. It\u2019s quite worn and there\u2019s a litter of neon yellow and pink sticky notes peeking out the top of the closed pages.<\/span><\/p>\n Sophia sits down next to Francis, the book in hand. The title reads Francis Bacon and the Mind: Art, Neuroscience, and Psychology.<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022 \u2022 \u2022<\/span><\/p>\n \n Figure at a Washbasin<\/em><\/strong>, 1976\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a9 The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved. DACS 2019<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Francis Bacon is one of the most enigmatic\u00a0 British artists of modern history. The raw imagery of his work evoked both horror and delight (at times, simultaneously). Obsessed with self depiction and understanding his own motivations, Bacon created unique and sensory paintings, inspired by art movements such as Cubism and of course the Godfather of Cubism, Pablo Picasso. Just as cubists depicted every side of an object or person, Bacon depicted both inside his body and the internal struggle known as \u2018the wound\u2019, and how it affected the external.<\/span><\/p>\n Celebrated recently at the official launch hosted by the Royal Academy of Arts, Francis Bacon and the Mind: Art, Neuroscience, and Psychology is the first book\u00a0<\/span>to be published by The Estate of Francis Bacon publishing in association with Thames\u00a0& Hudson with an insight to the British painter in the form of an analytical study.<\/span><\/p>\n Head I<\/i>, 1948 \u00a9 The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved. DACS 2019<\/b><\/p>\n Five writers for five essays, Christopher Bucklow, Steven Jaron, Darian Leader, John Onians, Semir Zeki and Tomohiro ICI. Previously Semir Zeki\u2019s essay was only available online, this is the first time it has been published.<\/span><\/p>\n Alongside the essays are some of Bacon\u2019s most visceral paintings. This book is a must-read for all art lovers interested in the sometimes wild but always brilliant workings of an artists mind. An inside and outside, if you like, of him and his work.<\/span><\/p>\n \u2018The first book in Francis Bacon Studies, a series that seeks<\/span>
\n In the moment of quiet Francis speaks out, \u201cI\u2019m just trying to help you, you know.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/centmagazine.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/A-bacon-jpg.jpg\")
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\n to illuminate Francis Bacon\u2019s art and motivation.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n