Francesca Franco

Francesca Franco is an independent curator, art historian, and producer based in England and Italy, specializing in the history of early computer art and its pioneers. She is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Exeter and Visiting Lecturer at Danube University Krems, with an upcoming appointment as Visiting Professor of Art History at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology's Institute of Art and Architectural History from April 2025.

Francesca studied Art History at Ca' Foscari University of Venice, followed by an MA in Digital Art History and a PhD in History of Art at Birkbeck University of London. Her academic journey reflects her deep commitment to understanding the intersection of art and technology throughout history.

Her research focuses on the history of early computer art, generative and interactive art, and the connections between constructivism and systems art in early computational practices. A central aspect of her work is the history of the Venice Biennale, which she has reviewed extensively since 2007. Franco's scholarship bridges historical research with contemporary digital art practices, examining how early computational art pioneers shaped today's digital culture. She places particular emphasis on primary sources—from artist interviews to institutional archives—fostering independent research and deep understanding of digital culture's historical development.

Francesca's publications reveal a consistent focus on documenting and analyzing key figures in computer art history, particularly Ernest Edmonds, Vera Molnár, Manfred Mohr, and Roman Verostko. Her work spans art history, computer science, and cultural studies, with particular attention to curation, preservation, and the evolving relationship between technology and artistic expression. She has published extensively, with works translated into multiple languages including Russian, Chinese, and Romanian.

As an educator, Franco has extensive teaching experience at undergraduate and graduate levels, currently teaching Media Art and Curatorial Practice at Danube University Krems. She was co-investigator on the AHRC-funded project "Documenting Digital Art: Rethinking Histories and Practices of Documentation in the Museum and Beyond" at the University of Exeter. Her courses combine historical research with practice-based learning, encouraging students to engage with both theoretical concepts and the materiality of digital art, culminating in collaborative projects linked to important collections like ZKM (Center for Art and Media).

Francesca has directed numerous international exhibitions exploring the intersection of art and technology, including "Vera Molnár: Icône 2020" at the 59th Venice Biennale (2022), "Algorithmic Signs" (Venice, 2017), and "Vera Molnár: Variazioni Icône" (Rome, 2023). She has commissioned significant new works including Molnár's first glass work from Murano, "Icône 2020" (2021), Roman Verostko's "St. Mark's Apocalypse" (2017), and Ernest Edmonds' "Growth and Form" (2017). In 2025, as Chair of SIGGRAPH Art Gallery, she will direct an exhibition exploring the dynamic relationship between nature, art, and technology.