HERMAN JAMES
Contemporary Surrealist Painter | Human Figurative & Psychological Landscape Art
ARTIST STATEMENT
I am a painter working in oil and acrylic, exploring the human figure set in landscapes of the mind—imagined spaces that hover between reality and dream. My work is grounded in the quiet structure of classical art, where imagination finds form and emotion takes visual shape. This intersection of order and mystery lies at the heart of my practice and defines my connection to surrealism.
As a child, I was less drawn to the surrealism of cartoons or comics than to the imaginative worlds I could create myself. The classical paintings I discovered in books and during museum visits with my mother captured my full attention. Through them, I found a visual language where the past could speak directly to my own experience of the present.
Today, the dreams I create on linen are intimate reflections on life as it is and as it might be. In A Dream of Plenty (seen in the Portfolio scroll), for instance, a surreal figure carries a vision inspired by 17th-century Dutch still life—a table laden with abundance—while in the background, the reality is one where a dinner plate holds sparse nourishment and a farmer’s field lays fallow.
Drawing and painting are my ways of making sense of form and much else. As I spend most of my days in the studio, it is in the act of painting that I find a modicum of peace of mind and heart amidst the turbulence. I hope that my work, as it moves between the imagined and the real, and between internal motion and rest, may invite a diverse audience to connect with their own memory, emotion, and place.
Biographical Information
Representation
LIC Gallery, Seattle, WA (Present) • Joyce Goldstein Gallery, New York, NY (1997–2003) • Monique Goldstrom Gallery, New York, NY (2004–Until her passing) • Dutch Kills Gallery, New York, NY (2008-2010)
Selected Exhibitions
Subrosa – Joyce Goldstein Gallery, New York, NY • Aperto – Museum of New Art (MoNA), Detroit, MI (Curated by Jan van der Marck) • Aesthetica Art Prize (Short List Exhibition) – York St. Mary’s, York, UK • Neuer Realismus (New Realism) – Galerie Rothamel, Frankfurt am Main, Germany • NYU Small Works – New York, NY (Curated by Edward Thorp) • All Chairs in the Catalogue – Galerie ReinerTisch, Berlin, Germany • Das Bilderwörterbuch Projekt – Duden Verlag, Mannheim, Germany • Project Night – Location One, New York, NY • Nuclear Family – Urban Institute for Contemporary Art (UICA), Grand Rapids, MI • Bibendum Chair – Chapelle Saint-Louis de la Salpêtrière, Paris, France • A Book About… – Emily Harvey Foundation, New York, NY (Traveling Exhibition, curated by Matthew Rose)
Selected Public & Private Collections
Works by Herman James are held in prominent private collections and in the permanent collections of major museums and institutions including: Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York • Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Los Angeles • Museum of New Art, Detroit • York St. Mary’s – York Museums Trust, UK • Michelson Collection – Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Willamette University, Salem, OR • Dishman Art Museum, Lamar University, Beaumont, TX • Langenscheidt KG, Munich, Germany.
Selected Critical Coverage
Hyperallergic (New York) • Carpazine (New York) • Fallon and Rosoff’s ArtBlog (Philadelphia) • The Boston Globe • Independent Art Criticism in 25+ articles across the Northwestern U.S., including Seattle’s Reflex, and with additional coverage in Portland and in the pages of ArtWeek (San Francisco)
Curatorial Projects (Selected)
Zeros and Ones–New Media in the Digital Age, Climate Gallery, New York, NY (Co-curated with Whitey Flagg) • Focal Resolution 1–International Photography Exhibition, Climate Gallery, New York, NY (Co-curated with Bonni Benrubi) • Putting It All Together–Collage, Montage, and Assemblage – International Exhibition, Climate Gallery, New York, NY (Co-curated with Dale Copeland, Jonathon Talbot, Pierre Varet) • Die Zeit of Drawing–The Time of Drawing–International Drawing Exhibition, Climate Gallery, New York, NY (Co-curated with UK based Angela Gram) • Art of the Book–National Artists’ Books Exhibition, Climate Gallery, New York, NY (Co-curated with Maddy Rosenberg of Central Booking Gallery, New York) • Paint!–An International Exhibition, Climate Gallery, New York, NY (Co-curated with Jason Andrew of Norte Maar)
Grants & Awards
National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Grant – The Magic Tree, Boston • Awards in the Visual Arts (AVA, 1987) – Northwestern U.S. Section (Sculpture Nomination) • Studio Residency – Chashama, Tribeca, New York • Aesthetica Art Prize – Short Listed, York Museums Trust, UK.
Contemporary Surrealist Painter | Human Figurative & Psychological Landscape Art
ARTIST STATEMENT
I am a painter working in oil and acrylic, exploring the human figure set in landscapes of the mind—imagined spaces that hover between reality and dream. My work is grounded in the quiet structure of classical art, where imagination finds form and emotion takes visual shape. This intersection of order and mystery lies at the heart of my practice and defines my connection to surrealism.
As a child, I was less drawn to the surrealism of cartoons or comics than to the imaginative worlds I could create myself. The classical paintings I discovered in books and during museum visits with my mother captured my full attention. Through them, I found a visual language where the past could speak directly to my own experience of the present.
Today, the dreams I create on linen are intimate reflections on life as it is and as it might be. In A Dream of Plenty (seen in the Portfolio scroll), for instance, a surreal figure carries a vision inspired by 17th-century Dutch still life—a table laden with abundance—while in the background, the reality is one where a dinner plate holds sparse nourishment and a farmer’s field lays fallow.
Drawing and painting are my ways of making sense of form and much else. As I spend most of my days in the studio, it is in the act of painting that I find a modicum of peace of mind and heart amidst the turbulence. I hope that my work, as it moves between the imagined and the real, and between internal motion and rest, may invite a diverse audience to connect with their own memory, emotion, and place.
Biographical Information
Representation
LIC Gallery, Seattle, WA (Present) • Joyce Goldstein Gallery, New York, NY (1997–2003) • Monique Goldstrom Gallery, New York, NY (2004–Until her passing) • Dutch Kills Gallery, New York, NY (2008-2010)
Selected Exhibitions
Subrosa – Joyce Goldstein Gallery, New York, NY • Aperto – Museum of New Art (MoNA), Detroit, MI (Curated by Jan van der Marck) • Aesthetica Art Prize (Short List Exhibition) – York St. Mary’s, York, UK • Neuer Realismus (New Realism) – Galerie Rothamel, Frankfurt am Main, Germany • NYU Small Works – New York, NY (Curated by Edward Thorp) • All Chairs in the Catalogue – Galerie ReinerTisch, Berlin, Germany • Das Bilderwörterbuch Projekt – Duden Verlag, Mannheim, Germany • Project Night – Location One, New York, NY • Nuclear Family – Urban Institute for Contemporary Art (UICA), Grand Rapids, MI • Bibendum Chair – Chapelle Saint-Louis de la Salpêtrière, Paris, France • A Book About… – Emily Harvey Foundation, New York, NY (Traveling Exhibition, curated by Matthew Rose)
Selected Public & Private Collections
Works by Herman James are held in prominent private collections and in the permanent collections of major museums and institutions including: Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York • Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Los Angeles • Museum of New Art, Detroit • York St. Mary’s – York Museums Trust, UK • Michelson Collection – Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Willamette University, Salem, OR • Dishman Art Museum, Lamar University, Beaumont, TX • Langenscheidt KG, Munich, Germany.
Selected Critical Coverage
Hyperallergic (New York) • Carpazine (New York) • Fallon and Rosoff’s ArtBlog (Philadelphia) • The Boston Globe • Independent Art Criticism in 25+ articles across the Northwestern U.S., including Seattle’s Reflex, and with additional coverage in Portland and in the pages of ArtWeek (San Francisco)
Curatorial Projects (Selected)
Zeros and Ones–New Media in the Digital Age, Climate Gallery, New York, NY (Co-curated with Whitey Flagg) • Focal Resolution 1–International Photography Exhibition, Climate Gallery, New York, NY (Co-curated with Bonni Benrubi) • Putting It All Together–Collage, Montage, and Assemblage – International Exhibition, Climate Gallery, New York, NY (Co-curated with Dale Copeland, Jonathon Talbot, Pierre Varet) • Die Zeit of Drawing–The Time of Drawing–International Drawing Exhibition, Climate Gallery, New York, NY (Co-curated with UK based Angela Gram) • Art of the Book–National Artists’ Books Exhibition, Climate Gallery, New York, NY (Co-curated with Maddy Rosenberg of Central Booking Gallery, New York) • Paint!–An International Exhibition, Climate Gallery, New York, NY (Co-curated with Jason Andrew of Norte Maar)
Grants & Awards
National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Grant – The Magic Tree, Boston • Awards in the Visual Arts (AVA, 1987) – Northwestern U.S. Section (Sculpture Nomination) • Studio Residency – Chashama, Tribeca, New York • Aesthetica Art Prize – Short Listed, York Museums Trust, UK.