On the Rebellious Streak of Abstraction: Alexander James
ALEXANDER wears FULL LOOK LOUIS VUITTON
High-minded rebelliousness, then, with a pleasingly-raw bent, as James’ oeuvre epitomizes paintings that are preoccupied with their own structural qualities at the expense of being conventionally abstract: Combining moments of history, past and present, in an eclectic color gamut on towering canvases, his subjects seem to stiffly hold their shape, paying little heed to the features that render them into real beings. “When I work on certain types of textures, like portraiture, even though the identification isn’t always clear I look at [painting] as a very tangible process,” he says. If for no other reason than to admire, his pieces reflect a respect for the ancient form in the context of the modern day, weaving into stories that are technical and personal in equal measure. But let's not overlook his rational ethos. “[My approach] feels quite sculptural, because the layers move so much; so, it’s about having this idea of not looking at a painting as a smooth transition, but like an evolving story,” he grins.
The effect of his approach acted as an artisanal foil to the development of his core influences, which are far from striving to achieve creative statements, but more about the unwavering power of heritage. Works such as Keep It In The Family (2021) show noticeable efforts on both counts. “I find heritage and memory interesting,” he freely admits, citing his sister — who holds a degree in Psychology — as her reference point when it came to subjects matters related to the mind. “I find that through memories I can create and connect with people, which led me to discover aspects that connect my great grandfather and my grandparents,” he says. Such vision marks art that complements the frisky strokes of his paintings with a poignant element that’s always open to interpretation. “I started writing my memories down on sporadic terms, creating these fanatical events that never happened,” he says. Relative to these dainty declarations, the artist makes a 360-degree turn towards the uncanny.
ALEXANDER wears FULL LOOK DIOR
ALEXANDER wears FULL LOOK BURBERRY
“Sometimes I find myself almost dreaming, and through abstraction I urge to portray such cases in my work,” he says. “A lot of paintings are fixated with color, surrounding these unknown orbits that track down a situation or a direction that looks at family, memory and my past experience.” On artistic evolution, the familiar question for James has been how to think more broadly on the ample layering of his pieces: it’s taken the artist time to reach a higher expression of his identity. “It’s all about trial and error!” he exclaims, explaining his frustrations when the aftermath is no easy feat and takes longer than expected. But as time goes on, his paintings have been getting more distinctive. “I’ve always been interested in the realm of figuration and blending it into something that’s more literal,” he says. “I guess the more abstract aspects of art allowed me to find a middle balance that I’ve been trying to search for so long. I never wanted to pigeonhole myself into one or the other, there’s no right or wrong, I’ve been working on that for a long time, so it's always evolving and it has to be natural.” Beyond the recurrent motif of memory — where James simultaneous pushes and pulls elements, taking them away and creating a paradox that aligns with the ancient practice of Damnatio Memoriae, a Latin phrase meaning ‘condemnation of memory’, practiced across ancient civilisations of Greece, Egypt and Mesopotamia that entailed a destruction of images — a poetic union of history and technique resulted into his fascination with sculpture.
“When I was younger, I used to go a lot to the British museum to look at large mythical sculptures,” he says. “As a kid, I loved things larger than life, especially the lighter sculptures I found in an area of the British museum that dated back to 500 or 550 B.C. I was enthralled by the missing parts, and how such erosion happens naturally with time, but what was also fascinating was how even then stories were based between time and travel, able to create a narrative on their own terms.” The vibrant, the sculptural and the deliberately abstract are weighed and shaped with such flourish and dexterity that it’s hard to resist their charm. “I’m always at the intersection between the realist and the abstract,” he says, blithely. “It gets to a point where it feels like a puzzle of dreams put together.” Among his recent works, a poignant attitude counterintuitively coexists with a throbbing vision, channeling a certain raw allure: such was the case in point in his new solo exhibit, Tuck Shop For The Wicked, on view at Marlborough London from September 23rd, 2023 till November 16th. And just when you thought that James had exhausted every possible traditional, experimental technique, he found another anchor to lean on. “The candies that were sold at his great grandfather’s ‘Tuck Shop’ inspired my latest body of work,” said James.
The exhibition explores notions of time passing, continuing to expand his painterly techniques by disrupting an easy consumption or reading of his images, “by using both a heavily layered—or additive process—as well as the removing of paint—or subtractive process—which diffuses compositional clarity,” state the notes. Honing on the medley of real and imagined experiences, the canvases flit between conscious and unconscious, captured by James’ portrayal of his enigmatic great-grandfather, Henry Kaminsky, which shines a light on one pivotal component that informs his visual language: family lineage. “[Family lineage] is important because I never met my ancestors, but I’ve heard about them through an enriching set of stories,” he said. “I’ve always enjoyed hearing about my great grandfather, as he was a wonderful storyteller, and I think from those early memories I wanted to leave a mark on such a pivotal part of my story.” Working over eight new canvases — and drawing on material fragments such as letters, photographs and memorabilia, James marked the grandfather’s painting using layers of kinetic mark-making, warm hues and brushstrokes that scraped away into sheer abstraction.
ALEXANDER wears FULL LOOK LOUIS VUITTON
Conversely, the remaining paintings capture a somber, transcendent edge, as if created through a mist that gradually lifts as figures become clear, slowly pushing them towards sheer abstraction. Expressionists will invariably stock them, but upon closer inspection, which unfolds the complex language of memory revealed through a vein of distortion, there’s a modern resonance that expresses, in turns, a continual flow in James’ practice. Be it the highly conceptual portraiture or a natural appeal that marks his subjects, there’s a sense of escapism that imbues his vision, which makes me wonder: is abstraction the key medium that is able to give a sense of elevation to the mind? On the whole, there’s an especially calming aspect to the familiar practice of James. It might seem uninspiring to some; to others, there’s comfort in knowing that past memories aren’t locked in the past and can shape a hopeful future.
