Merlin James

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Merlin James (born 1960 in Cardiff ) is a British painter, author and critic. He lives in Glasgow .

life and work

James studied at the Central School of Art and Design and the Royal College of Art in London, unlike most YBA artists of his generation, he left London for Scotland . Most of the works by James consist of small-format paintings on canvas or polyester .

Merlin James, he puts his work in dialogue with historical-conventional forms, from pseudo-naive depictions of landscapes, figures and animals to color surface painting . For the realization of his work, he uses different techniques, such as the use of heavy impasto , painting on banners over exposed slide rods, application of organic substances such as hairs and dirt on the screen, cutting holes in the canvas to a "negative" collage to that exposes the wall behind the picture. He dispenses with an ironic attitude that is close to postmodernism , in favor of a painterly practice with a clearly historiographical inclination.

As a critic and art historian, Merlin James et al. a. a book about the British artist David Jones and essays and articles about the Russian-French painter Serge Charchoune . He is considered a 'champion' by many artists, including André Derain , Chaïm Soutine, Jean Hélion , Walter Sickert and LS Lowry . In 2002 James was awarded the first Alex Katz Visiting Professorship in Painting at Cooper Union . In 2007 James represented Wales at the 52nd Venice Biennale .

Solo exhibitions (selection)

  • 2014 "Merlin James - Paintings, Drawings, Prints", Aanant & Zoo, Berlin, Germany
  • 2014 Freestyle , Kunstverein Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
  • 2013 Signal Box , KW Institute for Contemporary Art , Berlin, Germany
  • 2013 Merlin James , Parasol Unit Foundation for Contemporary Art, London, UK
  • 2007 Merlin James , Venice Biennale , 52nd International Art Exhibition, Wales Pavillion, Italy
  • 2005 Merlin James , Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York, NY, USA
  • 2001 Merlin James , Andrew Mummery Gallery, London, UK
  • 1995 Poussin's Phocion , National Museum of Wales , Cardiff, Wales

Bibliography (selection)

  • with Annick Morard: Serge Charchoune. Allander, Edinburgh, 2013.
  • Painting per se . Lecture at Cooper Union Great Hall, New York, February 28, 2002.
  • Easel painting . Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh 2002, ISBN 1-873108-42-7 .
  • Lowry's People. Lowry, the University of Virginia, 2000, ISBN 1-902970-07-1 .
  • The Non Existence of Art Criticism . Lecture at the New York Studio School, New York and the Tate Gallery, London. Kingston University, Kingston 1996, ISBN 1-899999-05-1 .
  • David Jones 1895-1974: A Map of the Artist's Mind. Lund Humphries Publishers, 1995, ISBN 0-85331-679-1 .
  • with JP Dick: Engaging Images: "practical criticism" and Visual Art. Menard Press, 1992, ISBN 0-903400-85-5 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Aidan Dunne: A Wizard in the Gallery. In: The Irish Times. February 23, 2012.
  2. Suzanne Hudson: Merlin James. In: Artforum. Nov. 2011, p. 69.
  3. David Cohen: The Holes in Merlin James, Shades of Gray on the Richter Scale. at: art critical.com. Summer 2002.
  4. Merlin James: Painting per se. Lecture at Cooper Union Great Hall, New York, February 28, 2002.
  5. ^ Hannah Firth, James Merlin: Merlin James: artists from Wales at the 52nd International Art Exhibition, Venice. Cardiff, Wales 2007.