Merlin James

Merlin James is a painter who brings a fresh and unconventional perspective to the history and legacy of painting. 

Biography of Merlin James

Merlin James was born in 1960 in Cardiff, Wales. He had an extensive and enriching educational journey. From 1978 to 1979, he studied at Cardiff College of Art. During 1979-1982, James pursued his studies at the Central School of Art in London, where he earned a BA (Hons). Later, from 1983 to 1986, he attended the Royal College of Art in London, where he obtained an MFA in Painting.

James wrote his college thesis on the French artist Jean Hélion. Later, Hélion introduced him to London's Albemarle Gallery, which eventually led to James' first solo exhibition there in 1990.

In 2004, the artist moved from London to Glasgow. Three years later, in 2007, he represented Wales at the 52nd Venice Biennal.

Merlin James' paintings have been exhibited in various solo and group shows around the world. His notable solo shows include "Painting" at Galerie les Filles du Calvaire in Paris (2013); "To the Present" at Kerlin Gallery in Dublin (2016); "Paintings for Persons" at Sikkema Jenkins & Co in New York (2016); "Untitled (Sex)" at SELECT in Berlin (2019); "Far and Near" at Anton Kern Gallery in New York (2022), among others.

Selected group exhibitions of James' artworks include "On the Edge of Real" at Whitechapel Art Gallery in London (2004); "New Ideas in Abstraction" at APSU in Clarksville, Tennessee (2009); "A Bucolic Frolic" at Mummery+Schnelle in London (2012); "Cuts, Shapes, Breaks and Scrapes" at Seventeen Gallery in London (2016); "La vita Materiale" at The Goma in Madrid (2017); "Double-M, Double-X" at Kerlin Gallery in Dublin (2020); "To be a giant and keep quiet about it" at Margot Samel in New York (2022), and many more.

Currently, Merlin James lives and works in Glasgow, Scotland.

Merlin James' Art Style

Merlin James approaches the history and legacy of painting with a highly thoughtful and unconventional perspective. Typically small in scale, his works encompass a wide range of subject matter, including vernacular architecture, riverside views, post-industrial landscapes, empty interiors, mysterious figures, and scenes of sexual intimacy.

In his 'frame paintings' on gauzy, sheer material, he integrates the structure of the picture frame and stretcher bar as an integral part of the work. Additionally, works on canvas might be collaged with tufts of hair or sawdust, distressed, pierced, cropped, or heavily overpainted.

James's profound engagement with the history of art profoundly shapes and informs his practice. His works skillfully refine and renew many of the painting's most time-honored concerns, such as genre and narrative, pictorial space and expressive gesture, and the emotive resonance of color and texture.

Sherman Sam from ArtForum said that James' work "has sought to rigorously problematize the experience of painting while simultaneously deepening its formal language."