James Owens Empty Stage, 2021 Watercolour on Paper Signed on verso 15 x 10cm (5¾ x 3¾ in.) James Owens' (B. 1995) work depicts imagined folk-like scenes, largely inspired by his upbringing spent between the countryside and a Yorkshire fisherman's village. His work gathers past, present and imagined scenes to form new narratives, blurring the boundaries between memory and contemplation. The works offer moments of liminality which draw from external visual references such as 1920/30's Disney animation. Nature and its mysteries also come to play, revealed through flowers which sway sinisterly and knowing eyes which seem to have it all sussed out. Meanwhile, curling blades of grass peer curiously across the canvas, weighed down by water droplets, drooping as though upset. Though inherently figurative, it isn't hard to feel like nature has the upper hand in Owens' works. 2016 - 2018 BA Illustration Camberwell College of Arts (UAL) 2015 - 2016 BA Illustration and Visual Media London College of Communication (UAL) 2014 - 2015 Foundation Diploma in Art and Design London College of Communication (UAL) 2021 Bloodroot, Arusha Gallery, Edinburgh Spring Fling, All Mouth Gallery, London What I See I Will Never Tell, Wilder Gallery, London Safe As Milk, Arusha Gallery, Edinburgh '07', PM/AM Gallery, online exhibition When Shit Hits the Fan Again, Guts Gallery, virtual exhibition via Instagram 2020 Curated for Christmas, All Mouth & Bowes Parris Gallery, London Delphian Open Call 2020, virtual exhibition Cellar Door, APT Gallery, London [postponed] Tender Kith, 155a Gallery, London Hung Up, All Mouth Gallery, The Hackney Tub, London In Response, The Viewing Room Gallery, Blue Shop Cottage, London Anti Freeze, The Viewing Room Gallery, virtual exhibition Curated for Covid, online exhibition When Shit Hits the Fan, Guts Gallery, virtual exhibition via Instagram 2019 Winter Fair, 155a Gallery, London Pop-up Exhibition, Partnership Editions, Islington Square, London 2018 Evening Standard Art Prize (shortlisted), National Gallery, London Modernist Miniaturists, Benk + Bo, London Affordable Art Fair (Battersea) recent graduates show, London Oh, What a Tangled Web we Weave, Take Courage Gallery, London About the Postcards These works are imagined scenes inspired by films, life and memory. Watercolour on paper works act as a preparatory method used to conjure up ideas for larger works on canvas. So these become the most raw form of a new work; experimenting with dry brushstrokes and pools of colour to create a semi abstracted flow to the painting.
James Owens Empty Stage, 2021 Watercolour on Paper Signed on verso 15 x 10cm (5¾ x 3¾ in.) James Owens' (B. 1995) work depicts imagined folk-like scenes, largely inspired by his upbringing spent between the countryside and a Yorkshire fisherman's village. His work gathers past, present and imagined scenes to form new narratives, blurring the boundaries between memory and contemplation. The works offer moments of liminality which draw from external visual references such as 1920/30's Disney animation. Nature and its mysteries also come to play, revealed through flowers which sway sinisterly and knowing eyes which seem to have it all sussed out. Meanwhile, curling blades of grass peer curiously across the canvas, weighed down by water droplets, drooping as though upset. Though inherently figurative, it isn't hard to feel like nature has the upper hand in Owens' works. 2016 - 2018 BA Illustration Camberwell College of Arts (UAL) 2015 - 2016 BA Illustration and Visual Media London College of Communication (UAL) 2014 - 2015 Foundation Diploma in Art and Design London College of Communication (UAL) 2021 Bloodroot, Arusha Gallery, Edinburgh Spring Fling, All Mouth Gallery, London What I See I Will Never Tell, Wilder Gallery, London Safe As Milk, Arusha Gallery, Edinburgh '07', PM/AM Gallery, online exhibition When Shit Hits the Fan Again, Guts Gallery, virtual exhibition via Instagram 2020 Curated for Christmas, All Mouth & Bowes Parris Gallery, London Delphian Open Call 2020, virtual exhibition Cellar Door, APT Gallery, London [postponed] Tender Kith, 155a Gallery, London Hung Up, All Mouth Gallery, The Hackney Tub, London In Response, The Viewing Room Gallery, Blue Shop Cottage, London Anti Freeze, The Viewing Room Gallery, virtual exhibition Curated for Covid, online exhibition When Shit Hits the Fan, Guts Gallery, virtual exhibition via Instagram 2019 Winter Fair, 155a Gallery, London Pop-up Exhibition, Partnership Editions, Islington Square, London 2018 Evening Standard Art Prize (shortlisted), National Gallery, London Modernist Miniaturists, Benk + Bo, London Affordable Art Fair (Battersea) recent graduates show, London Oh, What a Tangled Web we Weave, Take Courage Gallery, London About the Postcards These works are imagined scenes inspired by films, life and memory. Watercolour on paper works act as a preparatory method used to conjure up ideas for larger works on canvas. So these become the most raw form of a new work; experimenting with dry brushstrokes and pools of colour to create a semi abstracted flow to the painting.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
