Simon James
Simon James (* 1967 in Northampton , England ) is an English artist. The painter lives in Munich and works in his studio in the Wiede factory.
Life
Simon James was born in Northampton , England in 1967 and has lived in Munich for many years . Even after leaving school, he devoted himself entirely to painting , which he acquired through self-study. But he never received any academic training. He started out as a portraitist and street painter, copying old master paintings onto the street. He has traveled to many countries around the world, he came to Germany for the first time in 1989 and moved into a studio in Munich in 1993. In the following years he took part in numerous exhibitions. In 1996 he moved back to England and developed his artistic technique further over the next five years. In 2001 he returned permanently to Munich. Simon James is married and has two children.
Factory & technology
In 2002, Simon James discovered the material gesso for his paintings . Years of experimenting and studying this technique followed. "Gesso" is still occasionally used to the present day as a primer for picture carriers made of wood or the like. In the 16th century, artists differentiated between gesso grosso and gesso sottile , depending on whether the chalk ground was burned or not. The actual painting with tempera or oil colors was then applied to this prepared painting surface .
Simon James uses this thick glue-chalk mass as painting material: glue and chalk are mixed, boiled and stirred until a thick, hot mass is created, which then has to be applied quickly. The mass cools down quickly and becomes dry and hard at the same time. Gesso is naturally white, Simon James adds color pigments and applies layer by layer on canvas or wooden panels. The mass is tipped onto the picture, distributed on the picture carrier with the hands, deep lines are drawn into a layer with the brush. The mass is either dripped onto the picture carrier or generously tufted, or it evenly covers the whole picture. The result is a relief-like surface structure.
A second step is a prerequisite for creating a "finished" work of art: because the layers are built on top of one another, the layers of color underneath are not visible. They must first be brought out by the artist. James grinds, cuts or scratches into the layers of paint with an industrial grinder , a technique called grattage (from French “gratter” - “scrape off, scrape off”). Patterns, colors and outlines become visible, the shapes that arise are random and offer associative possibilities for interpretation. Sanding down the layers is a sculptural technique, which is why Simon James calls his work “two-dimensional sculptures”. In a final step, the sanded gesso layers are sealed with wax. Brittleness and flaking are avoided, suppleness and radiance are gained.
Simon James develops performances and happenings at the twice-yearly exhibitions in the Wiede factory .
Exhibitions
- 2003: Domagk Ateliers, Munich
- 2012: Domagk-Ateliers, Munich: Group exhibition UNREALISIBLE "- Artists from the Wiede factory as guests in Hall 50"
- 2015: Simon James , Praterinsel, Munich
- 2016: Max Planck Institute for Psychiatry, Munich, Two Dimensional Sculptures
- 2016/2017: Landsberg am Lech, New City Museum, Baroque defectors
literature
- Catalog Simon James; ibid. Natalie J. Lauer
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Wiede Fabrik: Simon James, short biography, accessed November 7, 2017
- ^ Domagk studios
- ↑ " Two Dimensional Sculptures "
- ↑ Baroque defectors. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on October 4, 2017 ; accessed on April 1, 2018 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | James, Simon |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | English artist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1967 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Northampton , England |