ABOUT
James D Wilson (b.1982) is an artist based in South East London, UK working predominantly in paint on layered surfaces constructed from cardboard and wood.
​
​
statement
Wilson’s work explores the relationship between abstraction and memory, and his approach always starts with a series of drawings. Whether these are observational field notes or from memories of time spent in a place, they have a provisional feeling to them, as though glimpsed whilst on the move. He uses flashes of colour and minimal mark-making to make visual phrases, often cutting and re-assembling them in unexpected ways through collage. The compositions that emerge from this process, even in their fragmented state, retain a sense of the places that inspired them. After a period of immersion, with this research material pinned to the studio wall, intuition plays its part in deciding how to develop it.
Sometimes this means further distillation, cropping to the point of non-objectivity, as can be seen in the more reduced side of Wilson’s visual language. Often produced in series, these works tend towards the graphical and urban, with fields of colour in carefully-selected colour palettes, laid over hard-edged relief elements. There are echoes of British Constructionism within its ‘assembled’ nature alongside its preoccupation with harmony, pattern and rhythm.
Other times, the works bear more recognisable hallmarks of landscape. Painterly gestures that speak of mountains, valleys and coastlines are interrupted with sudden cuts, hard-edges and mismatches. This mimics the way memories of places are prone to abstraction and yet our sense of those places remain familiar and vivid. The eye searches for continuity between the ‘broken’ parts which in turn gives the impression of the passing of time. When present, the sculptural relief elements provide a rhythmic structure to the image-making.
He will often show non-objective and semi-abstract landscape works alongside each other because of their shared provenance. It has also led him to believe that it is not always useful to think about abstraction and figuration as mutually exclusive.
At the beginning of 2023, he challenged himself to make a trip out of London at least 3 times per month for the year to see what effect it would have on his sense of place. This took him all over the UK and abroad to Norway, Brittany and Croatia to name a few. The trips continue in 2024 with a focus on exploring Northern England and Scotland.
CV
2024​​
-
Dec; Original Works on Paper; Pitzhanger Manor; London; UK
-
Nov; Miniatures Exhibition; Canal Boat Contemporary; London; UK
-
Nov; Arranging Landscapes (group); Kobi & Teal; Frome, UK
-
Oct; Landscape & Wilderness (panel discussion with Josie Clouting); ArtYard; London; UK
-
Jul; Urban Art Fair; Brixton, London, UK
-
Jul; Art Friend - Gallery Showcase; Stoke Newington; London; UK
-
May; Field Trip (with Caroline Rose Dunning); Copper Beech Café; London; UK
-
Apr; FUTZ; (with Jay Cover & Ben Newman); The Crown; Hastings, UK
-
Mar; The Affordable Art Fair; Battersea; London
2023​​
-
Oct; The Other Art Fair; The Old truman Brewery, London, UK
-
Aug; ‘Array’ (with Ben Newman, Nick White & Laura Jane Scott); Copper Beech Café, London, UK
-
Jul; Urban Art Fair; Brixton, London, UK
-
Jul; Summer Show (group); Laurent Delaye Gallery; Ramsgate; UK
-
Jun; ‘Unmuted’ presented by Interrupted Art (group); Somerset House; London, UK
-
Mar; Artist-in-Residence; This House; Stroud, UK
-
Mar; The Other Art Fair; The Old Truman Brewery, London, UK
-
Mar; The Affordable Art Fair; Battersea, London, UK
2022
-
Dec; Society of Scottish Artists 130 Yrs Annual Exhibition; Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, London, UK.
-
Nov; 'Materialists' (group); Outset Gallery, Galway, Ireland
-
Oct; The Other Art Fair; The Old Truman Brewery, London, UK
-
Aug; 'Circle & Light' (group); Laurent Delaye Gallery; Ramsgate; UK
-
Jul, The Other Art Fair; The Old Truman Brewery, London, UK
-
Apr; 'Works on Paper 4' (online) Blue Shop Cottage, London, UK
​
2021
-
Dec; 'Almost Never Not' (solo); Copper Beech Café, London, UK
​
Education
2004
-
BA Hons Graphic Design (with Animation); University of the West of England; Bristol, UK
​
2001
-
Foundation Diploma in Art & Design; Winchester School of Art; Winchester, UK
​
galleries & PLATFORMS
James D Wilson is an internationally-collected artist who exhibits regularly at art fairs and exhibitions and works with the following galleries and platforms:
​