Artist Statement
Growing up as a closeted teenager during a period of intense anti-gay sentiment in the UK, with Section 28 in force and virtually no positive queer representation, I found my only glimpses of male intimacy in gay pornographic magazines, which I bought and kept hidden.
Growing up as a closeted teenager during a period of intense anti-gay sentiment in the UK, with Section 28 in force and virtually no positive queer representation, I found my only glimpses of male intimacy in gay pornographic magazines, which I bought and kept hidden.
Since returning to the studio, I have focused on reappropriating and referencing this deeply personal printed material. By transforming what was once shrouded in shame into art, I revisit memories of concealment and reclaim them as moments of visibility, resilience, and intimacy. My work spans delicate drawings on cigarette papers, hand-embroidered collages, and paintings. Each medium allows me to play with the dualities of hiding and revealing, intimacy and exposure, secrecy and pride.
Through this practice, I create work that is tender and nostalgic yet unapologetically queer. I aim to normalise non-heteronormative identities and speak to generations who, like me, grew up without the positive representation and imagery they deserved.
Bio
After graduating with an MA in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins in 2002, James Robert Morrison (b. 1979 Elgin, Scotland) worked in the cultural sector for 17 years before returning to his art practice in 2019.
After graduating with an MA in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins in 2002, James Robert Morrison (b. 1979 Elgin, Scotland) worked in the cultural sector for 17 years before returning to his art practice in 2019.
Since then, he has been named a winner of The Soho Open (2025), highly commended for the Young Masters Art Prize (2025), shortlisted for the Bridget Riley Fellowship (2023-24), selected for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition (2021), won the Mervyn Metcalf Purchase Prize at the ING Discerning Eye Exhibition (2021), and received a special commendation at the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize (2020).
His work is held in the UK Government Art Collection, the Neal Baer Collection, Rudolph Blume Collection, and private collections worldwide.
Education
MA Fine Art, Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design: 2001-2002
BA (Hons) Fine Art (Painting), Gray's School of Art: 1997-2001
Exhibition History
UPCOMING
Attainable Art Show, ST.ART Gallery, London: 19 - 22 November 2026
SOLO
2026
Moments of Visibility, GPS Gallery, London: 10 - 28 June
SELECTED GROUP
2026
Sucking Face, Outsiders Gallery, London: 8, 9, 15, 16, 22 and 23 August
Drawings from the Roots to the Rooftops, The Garage Gallery, London: 24 - 27 July
The Artist's Frame, Bobinksa Brownlee New River, London: 26 June - 25 July
Echoes of Us, The Box, Plymouth: 20 June - 20 September
Male Art, 44AD artspace, Fringe Arts Bath: 23 May - 6 June
Under Our Skin, Brixton (Tate) Library, London: 5 - 26 February
2025
ING Discerning Eye 2025, Mall Galleries, London: 14 - 23 November
Sweet 16: Young Masters Retrospective, 67 York Street Gallery, London: 14 - 20 October
Queer Dispositions, Amos Eno Gallery, New York (Artsy online exhibition): 15 April - 15 May
The Practice of Love: Radical Loving as Artistic Social Action, Norman Rea Gallery, York: 19 March - 4 April
I AM ME, Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, Bradford: 31 January - 5 May
Young Masters Finalists Exhibition 2025, The Exhibitionist Hotel, London: 16 January - 8 April
Beyond the Closet, Anggrek Agency, Zurich: 10 January - 22 March
2024
Bad Boys New Queer Art from Britain & China, British Embassy Beijing: from November
40th Annual Open, Southwark Park Galleries, London: 2 November - 14 December
Kinaesthesia: Art in Motion, Rise Art, London (online exhibition): 19 June - 4 September
Interrupt, The Undercroft Gallery, Norwich: 8 - 24 February
2023
39th Annual Open, Southwark Park Galleries, London: 11 November - 10 December
RBSA Drawing Prize 2023, RBSA Gallery, Birmingham: 5 September - 14 October
Drawing (Paper) Show, The Bridewell Studios and Gallery, Liverpool: 21 July - 13 August
Passages, D Contemporary, London: 6 - 24 June
Drawing Open 2023, No Format Gallery, London: 5 - 7 & 10 - 14 May
Curtain Twitchers (Uncovered Collective Exhibition), The Garage Gallery, London: 24 - 26 February
2022
StART x MMG Emerging Artist Prize 2022, Saatchi Gallery, London: 12 - 16 October
QUEER ART(ists) NOW 2022, Space Station Sixty-Five, London: 16 September - 8 October
EXH 09, Floorr Magazine, London (online exhibition): 8 September - 8 December
Derwent Art Prize 2022, 35 rue Debelleyme, Paris: 8 - 11 June
Works on Paper 4, Blue Shop Cottage Art Gallery, London (online exhibition): 9 April - 1 August
Derwent Art Prize 2022, Gallery @ Oxo, London: 24 February - 6 March
Figure and Ground, Bermondsey Project Space, London: 15 February - 5 March
Figure and Ground, Bermondsey Project Space, London: 15 February - 5 March
2021
37th Annual Open, Southwark Park Galleries, London: 17 November - 11 December
ING Discerning Eye 2021, Mall Galleries, London: 12 - 22 November
Summer Exhibition 2021, Royal Academy of Arts, London: 22 September 2021 - 2 January
Figurative Art Now, Mall Galleries, London (online exhibition): 7 July - 20 September
Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2020, Trinity Buoy Wharf, London: 9 - 22 January
2020
36th Annual Open Online, Southwark Park Galleries, London: 25 November - 31 January
Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2020, Cooper Gallery, Dundee: 13 November - 19 December
Awards | Recognition
The Soho Open 2025: Awarded Supported Solo Exhibition at GPS Gallery in 2026
Young Masters Rudolph Blume Foundation Acquisition Award 2025: Highly Commended
RBSA Drawing Prize 2023: Shortlisted
The Bridget Riley Fellowship 2023-24: Shortlisted
THE TAGLI 01.23 Collection and Mentorship Award 2023: Shortlisted
StART x MMG Emerging Artist Prize 2022: Shortlisted
Derwent Art Prize 2022: Shortlisted
ING Discerning Eye Exhibition 2021: Awarded the Mervyn Metcalf Purchase Prize
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2021: Shortlisted and Selected for Exhibition
Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2020: Awarded a Special Commendation
Collections
Rudolph Blume (US)
Jasper Garvida (UK)
Mervyn Metcalf (UK)
Joseph Rodota (US)
Mario Testino (UK)
Private Collections (UK, USA and China)
Publications | Press | Features
2026
2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020