Simon James
Depth. Surface. Structure.
Simon James constructs paintings through processes of layering and removal, revealing form as a function of depth rather than depiction.
Simon James’ practice operates between painting and sculpture. His works are built through a sustained process of accumulation and excavation, in which layers of gesso and pigment are applied, then cut back to reveal underlying structures.
Material is both added and removed. Surfaces are constructed, disrupted, and reworked, producing fields in which depth is physical rather than illusionistic. Form is not imposed, but uncovered through a sequence of controlled interventions.
References to landscape, architecture, or the figure emerge only partially, held in tension with what remains concealed. The image is never fixed, but exists as a shifting condition between surface and depth.
James’ work positions painting as an object of construction, where process and material determine what can be seen
“My work is always the product of a thousand decisions, some conscious and many unconscious.
Intention is always in tension with intuition.”
“Each viewer completes the work in their own way, that’s the quiet collaboration I love most.”
The Art of Simon James
“Illuminated Audience”
Physical Work 1/1
Size: 230cm x 170cm
Media: Gesso on Canvas
“Hot Summer”
Size: 120cm x 120cm
Media: Gesso on Canvas
“Fragmented Section”
Size: 120cm x 120cm
Media: Gesso on Canvas
“Free Spirit”
Size: 230cm x 170cm
Media: Gesso on Canvas
Selected Exhibitions
Solo exhibitions include presentations at Max Planck Institute for Psychiatry, Munich (2016, 2023), and Praterinsel, Munich (2014–2017).
Group exhibitions include Neue Stadt Museum, Landsberg am Lech, and international presentations in Madrid and Vienna.
Recent presentations include Domagk Ateliers, Munich and Wiede Fabrik where James has maintained a long-standing studio practice.
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