About James

"We reduce art to its simplest expression, which is love," said Andre Breton. I believe love is the driving force behind creating art. It is what makes it beautiful. Improvisation, chance, play, experimentation and the dream are aspects of surrealism that fit well with what I do naturally. It's what brings out the psychedelia, the twisted playfulness, the mysterious, the dark humor and whimsey you'll see in my work. The misuse of the word "surreal" associates it with something negative or ugly. However, what it is really about is love, poetry and most of all freedom. Surrealism unlocks the chains of rationalism and the things that limit our ability to live a more full life.


BIO
 Aside from early TV exposure to artists like Max Fletcher and Chuck Jones, James has been influenced by artists such as Hieronymus Bosch, Rene’ Magritte, Thomas Hart Benton and others. He studied at New York's School of Visual Arts and then on a full scholarship, he obtained a BA from Southampton College. Early on he was a prize winner in an international art competition held at the Pyramid gallery in NYC. He was juried into the Parrish art Museum and he had a showing at the PeriRenneth gallery in Southampton. He then left Long Island for California. There, in Oceanside, he found the closest thing to an artist's "heaven on earth," a studio over a pizza parlor. He worked there for 3 years, appeared in two shows and further developed his vision as an artist. Today, he's living and working in Shelter Island, NY, and married to a psychologist.


EXHIBITIONS
International Exhibition of surrealism
Cairo /Saint-Cirq-Lapopie
February 2022  & June 2022

The Bistro 25
Sayville, NY 
2020 

The Michael Braceland Art Gallery
Patchogue, NY 
2020

Thornhill's Fundraiser Art Show
2 Main Street, Sayville NY
2019

Jumpstart Street Art Show
Riverhead ,NY
2016

Sea Boar Creations Online Gallery
2008-2015

The open Gallery
Northport, NY
2008

Phoenix Fine Art Gallery
Bellport, NY
2008

International Surrealist Show
Spencer, Iowa
2006

International Surrealist Show
Bowling Green, Ohio
2003
The Echo Gallery
Chicago, Illinois
2003

The Bellport Lane Gallery
Bellport, NY
2000

A.D.C. Gallery
Bridgehampton, NY
1999

Painters
Brookhaven, NY
1999

The Parish Museum
Southampton, NY
1994

Studio 100
Oceanside, CA
1993

Leucadia Art Gallery
Leucadia, CA
1990-92

The Pyramid Gallery
New York, NY
1990

The Peri Reneth Gallery
Southampton, NY
1988

Marcelle Gallery
Southampton, NY
1988

Publications
Lithaire 5 2024 La Belle Inutile Editions
International Exhibition of Surrealism 2023 La Belle Inutile Editions
ALPHABET 2021 Pierre Petiot
Mona Lisa Reimagined 2015 Goff Books
The Fashionable Futurists (Centerfold) 2010
Mix images 2009 Bernard Dumaine Exquisite Corpses
L.I. Pulse (Cover) May 2008
Metamorphosis Jon Beinart Publishing 2007
Melimages 2007 Bernard Dumaine Exquisite Corpses
The King of Arugula (Cover) Thistle Down Press Chris Millin 2007
Conscious Alliance 2006
Citizen 32 (Inside Cover) 2005
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