Merlin James (born 1960 in
Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
,
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
)
is an artist living and working in
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
.
Life and work
James studied at
Central School of Art and Design
The Central School of Art and Design was a public school of fine and applied arts in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1896 by the London County Council as the Central School of Arts and ...
,
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, and the
Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It o ...
, London.
His college thesis, on French artist
Jean Hélion
Jean Hélion (April 21, 1904October 27, 1987) was a French painter whose abstract work of the 1930s established him as a leading modernist. His midcareer rejection of abstraction was followed by nearly five decades as a figurative painter. He w ...
, led to Hélion introducing him to London's Albemarle Gallery and subsequently to James' first solo exhibition there in 1990.
James moved from London to Glasgow in 2004.
Of roughly the same generation as the
Young British Artists
The Young British Artists, or YBAs—also referred to as Brit artists and Britart—is a loose group of visual artists who first began to exhibit together in London in 1988. Many of the YBA artists graduated from the BA Fine Art course at Goldsm ...
, James is perhaps unusual in making work on the model of the traditional easel picture.
It frequently takes the form of small-scale paintings on stretched canvas or polyester, sometimes incorporating artist-made frames.
[Barry Schwabsky and Morgan Falconer et al., Vitamin P2, Phaidon, London, 2011.] He also makes drawings and prints.
As a critic Merlin James has published widely, including many articles and contributions to books and catalogues. In 2002 he became the first to hold the
Alex Katz
Alex Katz (born July 24, 1927) is an American figurative artist known for his paintings, sculptures, and prints.
Early life and career
Alex Katz was born July 24, 1927, to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, as the son of an émigré who ha ...
Visiting Chair in Painting at
Cooper Union.
[James, Merlin. "Painting ''per se''" lecture delivered at Cooper Union Great Hall, New York, 28 February 2002.] In 2007 James represented Wales at the 52nd
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...
.
[Firth, Hannah and Merlin James. "Merlin James: artists from Wales at the 52nd International Art Exhibition, Venice." Cardiff, Wales. 2007.]
Notable solo exhibitions
*2014 ''Merlin James – Paintings, Drawings, Prints'', Aanant & Zoo,
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
[Merlin James at Aanant & Zoo, Berlin](_blank)
/ref>
*2014 ''Freestyle'', Kunstverein Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau
The Breisgau () is an area in southwest Germany between the Rhine River and the foothills of the Black Forest. Part of the state of Baden-Württemberg, it centers on the city of Freiburg im Breisgau. The district of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, ...
, Germany Douglas Hyde Gallery
The Douglas Hyde Gallery is a publicly funded contemporary art gallery situated within the historical setting of Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland.
When the Gallery opened in 1978, it was for a number of years Ireland's only public gallery of ...
, Trinity College Trinity College may refer to:
Australia
* Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales
* Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...
, Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...
, EireVenice Biennale
The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...
, 52nd International Art Exhibition, Wales Pavilion, Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
(catalogue) Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
, Scotland – 40 works covering a 20-year period.Kettle's Yard
Kettle's Yard is an art gallery and house in Cambridge, England. The director of the art gallery is Andrew Nairne. Both the house and gallery reopened in February 2018 after an expansion of the facilities.
Kettle's Yard galleries, shop and caf ...
Gallery, Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...
, England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
National Museum of Wales
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, c ...
, Cardiff, Wales
Notable group exhibitions
*2013 ''Inevitable Figuration'', Museo Pecci, Prato, Italy
*2013 ''Picture Show'', Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow, Scotland
*2010 ''Long Long Gone'', Leo Koenig, New York, NY, USA
*2009 ''Nus'', Fortes Valeca, São Paulo
São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...
, Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
*2008/9 ''21: Selections of Contemporary Art from the Brooklyn Museum'', Brooklyn Museum, New York, NY, USA
*2006 ''Faces of a Collections'', Kunsthalle Mannheim
The Kunsthalle Mannheim is a museum of modern and contemporary art, built in 1907, established in 1909 and located in Mannheim, Germany. Since then it has housed the city's art collections as well as temporary exhibitions – and up to 1927 those ...
, Germany
*2004 ''The Edge of Real'', Whitechapel Art Gallery
The Whitechapel Gallery is a public art gallery in Whitechapel on the north side of Whitechapel High Street, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The original building, designed by Charles Harrison Townsend, opened in 1901 as one of the ...
, London, UK
References
External links
Artforum review of ''Merlin James'' at Galerie Les Filles du Calvaire, by Mara Hoberman
''Painting per se'', Lecture delivered by Merlin James at Cooper Union Great Hall, New York, 28 February 2002
Frieze review of ''Merlin James'' at Sikkema Jenkins & Co, by Ara H. Merjian
Represented by Aanant & Zoo, Berlin
Represented by Kerlin Gallery, Dublin
Represented by Sikkema Jenkins & Co, New York
{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Merlin
1960 births
Artists from Glasgow
Artists from Cardiff
Alumni of the Central School of Art and Design
Alumni of the Royal College of Art
Living people
Welsh contemporary artists