Francis Rubbra

Placeholder art is a new form created by Rubbra, born out of the story in his book Rebel Without a Palette. It began as a way to question the role of the art object itself. In the book, the last romantic artist, imprisoned in Adelaide, chooses to abandon physical artworks in pursuit of something purer—art that exists in thought rather than in things.

From this idea came placeholder art: works that hold space for the real art, which lives in the imagination. Each piece is tied to the story and the book, making the physical artwork secondary to the concept behind it. What you're seeing isn't the final piece—it's a pointer, a marker. The true art is what happens in your mind when you connect the story, the object, and the idea behind them both.

I studied fine art in London.