Love Letter to Bacon

(Not that bacon)

This is my submission for the IndieWeb Carnival May 2026.

Dear Francis Bacon,

I just finished watching this video about your life and how you came to be who you were. I do not think I really appreciated the motivations for the expressive nature of your work prior. The work itself has appealed to me largely due to its deconstructive nature and its implied movement.

Part of the reason it connects so much is that I see in it something I was doing already when we were first introduced. Back in highschool my art teacher suggested I seek out your work based on the work I was doing. The subject matter was different of course, but the almost stop and start blending along with the realistic next to hightened interpretation was there.

I was really happy to see your work a few years ago when my brother Matthew and I saw it at Art Institute Chicago. The scale is wrong in the movie but Joker agrees this is a keeper.

Knowing more about your life leads me to believe that the open mouths are both a gasp for air and a scream. They are dark because the world can be dark.

I think in some way you wanted people to look at things they normally would look away from. There is a visceral reaction to the work in a way very few can achieve. The abstraction, the painterly approach makes these uncomfortable scenes more approachable.

I don’t think most people know your work and that’s a shame. It may be uncomfortable but I think you and your work are worth knowing.

This is day 38 of 100 Days To Offload.