IT is often said that life imitates art.

And perhaps one recent example is the work of Huddersfield-trained artist Frank To.

The 29-year-old, with a degree in Fine Art from Huddersfield University, has launched his first major show in two years, at the Leith Gallery in Edinburgh. It features paintings depicting medieval plague doctors.

The opening was quickly followed by news reports of a breakthrough in a cure for the bubonic plague, by scientists at Albany Medical College in New York.

Frank, who has long been fascinated with the strange costumed figures who wore long pointed masks, was amazed to see how topical his subject matter was.

The Glasgow-born artist said: “I did the exhibition and a week later it was being reported that scientists had found a cure.

“It was quite funny because I was reading about it in the same paper that I had been in – dressed up as a plague doctor!

“Perhaps I sniffed a cure for bubonic plague in the air!”

The plague doctor was a special medical physician of the Middle Ages who saw people who had the bubonic plague.

The beak they had was a filter for what they believed to be bad, infected air.

Frank has always been intrigued with the 1600s and 1700s, when science was starting to emerge but alchemy was still prevalent.

He said: “It’s quite a dark subject matter and a dramatic change from what I’m known for.

“I first came across an image of the plague doctors three years ago and this fascinated me and prompted me to research the subject more.

“I could only find one other artist who had touched on the subject matter with brief etchings but I wanted to create more of a body of work.”

The exhibition, named The Human Condition, features 22 paintings in including two self-portraits as Frank as the plague doctor.

Frank believes in researching his subject matter as thoroughly as possible and as part of his show took to the streets of Edinburgh dressed up in the menacing attire.

Frank said the exhibition was inspired by the relevance of plague doctors in the modern world as well as his fascination with their imagery.

He said: “This exhibition was inspired by the growing incidence of biological threats and viral pandemics arising over recent years.

“It’s fascinating to hear that scientists have just discovered new ways to protect against such diseases.

“It’s interesting to see that hundreds of years ago town and city councils paid fortunes to plague doctors to aid sufferers, whilst today we are seeing the NHS subjected to radical cost-cutting reforms.

“For me the exhibition is quite political. The recession is like a plague that has affected everybody and artists from Huddersfield and beyond are struggling at the moment.

“But hopefully they can be encouraged not to give in and keep at it like I have done.”

Since graduating and now based in Glasgow, Frank has enjoyed a growing international reputation as a leading contemporary figurative painter.

He has exhibited alongside some of the greats of the arts scene, including Banksy and Antony Gormley, and counts Sir Patrick Stewart as one of his famous collectors.

The Star Trek actor attended Frank’s degree show at the university and the pair became good friends, with the artist even painting an image of the Mirfield-born star in the style of a Roman emperor.