PROFILE
(b. 1979 Elgin, Scotland)
After graduating from Central Saint Martins in 2002, James worked in the cultural sector for 17 years before returning to an active art practise in 2019. Since then, he has been shortlisted for the Bridget Riley Fellowship (2023-24) and Derwent Art Prize (2022), been selected for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition (2021), won the Mervyn Metcalf Purchase Prize at the ING Discerning Eye Exhibition (2021), and was awarded a special commendation at the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize (2020). His work is held in the UK Government Art Collection, Neal Baer Collection, and private collections in the UK, USA and China.
James's work reflects on the experience of discovering his sexuality and his journey to understanding, accepting, and valuing it. Since returning to his practise, his focus has been on a new body of work with two key threads - personal experience as subject matter and the referencing and reappropriation of his personal stash of gay porn magazines secretly bought when he was a closeted teen who felt pressured into hiding his true sexuality. James recalls: “At that time, these magazines were the only place I could see representations of intimacy between men. This was the pre-internet era when anti-gay sentiment in the UK was at its peak following the HIV/AIDS pandemic and the introduction of the notoriously homophobic legislation - Section 28 of the Local Government Act. There was virtually no queer representation or visibility, and if you did happen to find some, it was certainly not positive.”
From drawings on cigarette papers to paintings and collages embellished with embroidery - James approaches his use of media in a playful way with complete openness, while consistently maintaining quality and cohesion, making it deeply personal. The intimate subject matter, combined with repurposed personal archival material, allows James to present work that has a touching and nostalgic narrative, normalises non-heteronormative identities, and, importantly, begins to address the lack of positive representation and visibility that he, and so many other members of the queer community, did not encounter during their formative years.
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
2025
'I Am Me', Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, Bradford: 31 January - 5 May
'For the Love of Art History', Young Masters Finalists Exhibition 2025, The Exhibitionist Hotel, London: 16 January - 8 April
'Beyond the Closet', Anggrek Agency, Zurich: 10 January - 22 March
'Renaissance 25' (Cosimo Art x Art’otel Collaboration), Art'otel Hoxton, London, 10 January - 2 February 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
Queeriosities (Art + Makers Fair), Copeland Gallery, London: 1 - 3 November
Kinaesthesia: Art in Motion, Rise Art, London (online exhibition): 19 June - 4 September
Capital Group Taking Pride in Art 2024, Capital Group Offices, London: 18 - 28 June
'There is never more than a fag paper between them' - Portfolio of Ten Drawings, Rise Art (online): from 22 May
The Auction 2024, Terrence Higgins Trust Annual Fundraiser, Christie's, London: 15 April
'Interrupt', The Undercroft Gallery, Norwich: 8 - 24 February
2023
Queeriosities (Art + Makers Fair Winter Edition), Museum of the Home, London: 1 - 3 December
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
'Noire et Blanche, CICADA (online exhibition): from 1 June
Queeriosities (Art + Makers Fair Spring Edition), Museum of the Home, London: 19 - 21 May
Drawing Open 2023, No Format Gallery, London: 5 - 7 & 10 - 14 May
The Auction 2023, Terrence Higgins Trust Annual Fundraiser, Christie's, London: 6 March2022
38th Annual Open, Southwark Park Galleries, London: 13 November - 3 December
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
‘Queer Frontiers 2022’, 7-9 Walkers Court, London: 29 June - 10 July Derwent Art Prize 2022, 35 rue Debelleyme, Paris: 8 - 11 June
Drawing Open 2022, No Format Gallery, London: 6 - 8 & 11 - 15 May
‘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 Exhibition 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
‘Touch Me, Hold Me’, WB Gallery, USA (online exhibition): 1 June - 13 July
Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2020, The Gallery, Arts University, Bournemouth: 17 May - 2 July
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
Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2020, Drawing Projects UK, Trowbridge: 2 - 31 October
2019
35th Annual Open, Southwark Park Galleries, London: 20 November - 8 December
The London Ultra Exhibition, Bargehouse Oxo Tower Wharf, London: 31 October - 10 November
The Nude 2019, Candid Arts Trust, London: 27 September - 6 October
AWARDS | RECOGNITION
Young Masters Art Prize 2025: Shortlisted
Incubator Gallery Autumn Open Call 2024: Shortlisted
RBSA Drawing Prize 2023: Shortlisted
Visual Art Open UK & International Emerging Artist Awards 2023 - Illustration & Drawing: Shortlisted
John Moores Painting Prize 2023: Longlisted
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
John Moores Painting Prize 2020: Longlisted
COLLECTIONS
Government Art Collection (UK)
Neal Baer (US)
Jasper Garvida (UK)
Mervyn Metcalf (UK)
Joseph Rodota (US)
Mario Testino (UK)
Private Collections (UK, USA and China)
PUBLICATIONS | PRESS | FEATURES
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020