James "Jamie" Nares (born 1953 in

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 ...

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 ...

) is a British

transgender woman A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and so ...

artist living and working in New York City since 1974. Nares makes paintings and films (most notably the no wave film ''Rome 78''); played guitar in the no wave groups

James Chance and the Contortions James Chance and the Contortions (initially known simply as Contortions, a spin-off group is called James White and the Blacks) was a musical group led by saxophonist and vocalist James Chance, formed in 1977. They were a central act of New York ...

and the Del-Byzanteens (the latter also including

Jim Jarmusch James Robert Jarmusch (; born January 22, 1953) is an American film director and screenwriter. He has been a major proponent of independent cinema since the 1980s, directing films including ''Stranger Than Paradise'' (1984), '' Down by Law'' (19 ...

); and was a founding member of

Colab Colab is the commonly used abbreviation of the New York City artists' group Collaborative Projects, which was formed after a series of open meetings between artists of various disciplines. History Colab members came together as a collective in ...

Art education

Nares attended the Chelsea Art School in London from 1972 to 1973. She later studied at the

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by ...

in New York from 1974 to 1976.

Painting

Nares is best known as a

contemporary art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic ...

painter. Her method involves repeated strokes that eventually create a precise representation. She is known for employing single but intricate gestural brush strokes in most of her works.

Grace Glueck Grace Glueck (July 24, 1926 – October 8, 2022) was an American arts journalist. She worked for ''The New York Times'' from 1951 until the early 2010s. Early life Glueck was born in New York City on July 24, 1926. Her father, Ernest, worked ...

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

art critic, described the effect of Nares's paintings as a combination of Japanese

calligraphy Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined ...

and the 1960s cartoon works of

Roy Lichtenstein Roy Fox Lichtenstein (; October 27, 1923 – September 29, 1997) was an American pop artist. During the 1960s, along with Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, and James Rosenquist among others, he became a leading figure in the new art movement. ...

. Her work is exhibited in various museums in the United States: such as the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of t ...

in New York, the

Albright-Knox Art Gallery The Buffalo AKG Art Museum, formerly known as the Albright–Knox Art Gallery, is an art museum at 1285 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, New York, in Delaware Park. the museum's Elmwood Avenue campus is temporarily closed for construction. It hosted e ...

in Buffalo, NY, and the

Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–194 ...

in New York. Some of her solo exhibitions include 1976: Films and Other Works at Paul Kasmin Gallery, in New York in 2012, and Mixed Use, Manhattan: Photography and Related Practices 1970s to the present in 2010 at the

Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia Museo may refer to: * Museo, 2018 Mexican drama heist film *Museo (Naples Metro) Museo is a station on line 1 of the Naples Metro. It was opened on 5 April 2001 as the eastern terminus of the section of the line between Vanvitelli and Museo. ...

in Madrid, Spain. Nares's other solo exhibitions include New Paintings in 2004 at the Hamiltons Gallery in London and the New Paintings and Chronophotographs exhibition in 2005 at the Goss Gallery in

Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

. Her works were also featured in the Painting and Sculpture exhibition at the Lehmann Maupin gallery in New York City in 2010. Rizzoli published a

monograph A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject. In library cataloging, ''monogra ...

dedicated to Nares's works in 2013. When speaking on her work, Nares once stated:

I try to embody the nature and combine the forms—it's like one and one making three—to expose a metaphor of some kind. It's searching for metaphors, for likeness, like a breeding ground. It seems to me, that's how a language develops. Everything breeds through metaphors.

Film

In the mid-1970s, Nares made a series of short sculptural-related

minimal art Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or co ...

films. In 1978, she released a no wave 82-minute color Super-8 film entitled Rome 78, her only venture into feature-length, plot-driven film. The narrative is about the Roman emperor

Caligula Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (31 August 12 – 24 January 41), better known by his nickname Caligula (), was the third Roman emperor, ruling from 37 until his assassination in 41. He was the son of the popular Roman general Germani ...

now set in a shabby 1978 downtown Manhattan apartment. As such, it proposes an

analogy Analogy (from Greek ''analogia'', "proportion", from ''ana-'' "upon, according to" lso "against", "anew"+ ''logos'' "ratio" lso "word, speech, reckoning" is a cognitive process of transferring information or meaning from a particular subject ...

between ancient Rome and modern America as cultural empires. Despite its large cast in period costumes, the work is never made out to be a serious undertaking, with actors who interject scenes with self-conscious laughter, and deliver seemingly improvised lines with over the top bravado. The work features No Wave Cinema regular

Lydia Lunch Lydia Lunch (born Lydia Anne Koch; June 2, 1959)Martin Charles Strong. ''The Great Indie Discography''. 2003, page 85 is an American singer, poet, writer, actress and self-empowerment speaker. Her career began during the 1970s New York City no ...

Teenage Jesus and the Jerks Teenage Jesus and the Jerks were an influential American no wave band, based in New York City, who formed part of the city's no wave movement. Background Lydia Lunch met saxophonist James Chance at CBGB and moved into his two-room apartmen ...

along with artist David McDermott of

McDermott & McGough McDermott & McGough consists of visual artists David McDermott and Peter McGough (born 1952 and 1958 in Hollywood, CA and Syracuse, NY respectively). McDermott & McGough are contemporary artists known for their work in painting, photography, sculp ...

James Chance James Chance, also known as James White (born James Siegfried, April 20, 1953), is an American saxophonist, keyboard player, and singer. A key figure in no wave, Chance has been playing a combination of improvisational jazz-like music and pu ...

John Lurie John Lurie (born December 14, 1952) is an American musician, painter, actor, director, and producer. He co-founded the Lounge Lizards jazz ensemble; has acted in 19 films, including ''Stranger than Paradise'' and '' Down by Law''; has composed ...

, Eric Mitchell as a Roman general,

Judy Rifka Judy Rifka (born 1945) is an American artist active since the 1970s as a painter and video artist. She works heavily in New York City's Tribeca and Lower East Side and has associated with movements coming out of the area in the 1970s and 1980s s ...

, Jim Sutcliffe,

Lance Loud Alanson Russell "Lance" Loud (June 26, 1951 – December 22, 2001) was an American television personality, magazine columnist, and new wave rock-n-roll performer. Loud is best known for his 1973 appearance in ''An American Family'', a pionee ...

Mitch Corber Mitch Corber is a New York City neo-Beat poet, an eccentric performance artist, and no wave videographer known for his rapid whimsically comical montage and collage style. He has been associated with Collaborative Projects, Inc. (aka Colab), par ...

, Patti Astor,

Anya Phillips Anya Phillips (1955 – June 19, 1981) was an American fashion designer and the co-founder of legendary New York nightclub the Mudd Club along with Steve Maas and Diego Cortez. Phillips had an influence on the fashion, sound and look of the New York ...

as the

Queen of Sheba The Queen of Sheba ( he, מַלְכַּת שְׁבָא‎, Malkaṯ Šəḇāʾ; ar, ملكة سبأ, Malikat Sabaʾ; gez, ንግሥተ ሳባ, Nəgśətä Saba) is a figure first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. In the original story, she bring ...

and

Kristian Hoffman Kristian Hoffman is an American musician. Biography and career Kristian Hoffman came into public consciousness as the best friend of Lance Loud in the PBS series ''An American Family.'' His sister is the writer Nina Kiriki Hoffman. During the ...

, among others.

Video

Nares' video "Street" (with a score composed by

Thurston Moore Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958) is an American musician best known as a member of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label. Mo ...

), acquired by the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

, is the centerpiece for an exhibition she curated for the museum from their collection on the so-named theme. This exhibition ran from 5 March until 27 May 2013.

Selected solo exhibitions

* 2019: ''Nares: Moves'', Baker/Rowland Gallires, Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI * 2013: ''Street'', Reinberger Galleries, Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland, OH * 2013: ''Road Paint'', Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York, NY * 2013: ''Street,'' Cinemarfa Film Festival, Marfa, TX * 2013: ''Street'', The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY * 2012: ''New Media Series – James Nares: Street'', St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO * 2012: ''Street'', The Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT * 2012: ''James Nares, 1976: Films and Other Works'', Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York, NY * 2011: Cinemarfa Film festival, Marfa, TX * 2011: ''The Films of James Nares'', IFC Center, New York, NY * 2010: ''New Paintings and a Film,'' Michael Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles, CA * 2010: ''James Nares at the Armory Show'', Paintings and Video, The Armory Show, Paul Kasmin Gallery, Pier 94, New York, NY * 2009: ''James Nares, New Paintings, New Video: Element Number One'', Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York, NY * 2009: ''James Nares'', Galleria Arnes Y Roepke, Madrid, ES * 2008: Galerie Stefan Roepke, Cologne, DE * 2008: Sebastian Guinness Gallery, Dublin, IE * 2008: ''James Nares: Motion Pictures'' (film retrospective), Anthology Film Archives, New York, NY * 2007: Galerie Stefan Roepke, Cologne, DE * 2007: Michael Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles, CA * 2005: ''New Paintings and Chronophotographs'', Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York, NY * 2005: Goss Gallery, Dallas, TX

Filmography

*2011: ''Street'' (61 min, HD video) *2010: ''Thread'' (3.5 minutes, HD video) *2010: ''To Make A Prairie'' (12.5 mins, 16mm) *2009: ''Element Number One'' (30 mins, HD video) *2008: ''With God On Our Side'' (8 mins, HD video) *2007: ''Globe'' (43 min, HD video) *2007: ''Paper Factory'' (8 min, video) *2007: ''Drip'' (2 min, video) *2007: ''Drop'' (4 min, HD Video) *2007: ''Primary Function'' (2 min, HD video) *1998: ''Cloth'' (3 min, 16mm, silent) *1998: ''Punch'' (2 min, 16mm, silent) *1998: ''Giotto Circle #2'' (3.5 min, Hi-8 video) *1991: ''Hammered'' (2 min, video) *1991: ''The Lighthouse'' (30 min, video) *1991: ''Weather Bed'' (3 min, video) *1991: ''Cornfield'' (8.5 min, video) *1991: ''Piano'' (8.5 min, video) *1990: ''Glove'' (1.5 min, Hi-8 video) *1990: ''Lens'' (2.5 min, Hi-8 video) *1987: ''Studio Tape'' (45 min, Hi-8 video) *1982: ''Waiting For The Wind'' (7.5 min, Super8) *1980: ''No Japs At My Funeral'' (60 min, video) *1978: ''Rome '78'' (75 min, Super8-to-16mm.) *1977: ''TV Faces'' (6 min, Super8-to-16mm) *1977: ''Suicide? No, Murder'' (30 min, Super8-to-16mm) *1976: ''Game'' (3 min, video) *1976: ''Block'' (3 min, Super8-to-16mm, silent) *1976: ''Giotto Circle #1'' (3 min, Super8-to-16mm, silent) *1976: ''Poles'' (2 min, video) *1976: ''Pendulum'' (17 min, Super8-to-16mm) *1976: ''Studio Pendulum'' (7 min, Super8-to-16mm) *1976: ''First Pendulum'' (5 min, Super8-to-16mm) *1976: ''Steel Rod'' (5 min, Super8-to-16mm, silent) *1976: ''Arm And Hammer'' (3.5 min, Super8-to-16mm, silent) *1976: ''Ramp'' (3 min, Super8-to-16mm) *1976: ''Twister'' (2 min, Super8-to-16mm, silent) *1975: ''Handnotes #2'' (5 min, video, silent) *1975: ''Roof'' (12 min, 1/2" video)

References

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nares, James 1953 births Living people Artists from London Artists from New York City British expatriates in the United States British contemporary painters Postmodern artists School of Visual Arts alumni British LGBT artists Transgender artists Transgender women