JAMES OWENS

James Owens's paintings maintain a precarious balance. An underlying sinister element is pitted against sparks of life. Fresh growth is ploughed over with sweeping shadows as dark blues, blacks, and reds are dispersed by spreading shoots of green and white. Barbed brambles cut across green trees and new flowers. Figures are caught in half motion, almost lost among the spreading greenery. An idle hand sketches its own curling tendril, its face cast in shadow, staring pensively into the distance. The work captures the natural world, constantly oscillating between life and death. There is a speed in the movements of the paintings, tendrils growing instantly, withering or insnaring something nearby. Held in this tension Owens's paintings draw the eye to the equilibrium that we are surrounded by, and unwittingly a part of.

James Owens b. 1995, Middlesbrough, lives and works in south-east London. Solo Shows include; It’s All Good, Setareh, Düsseldorf, 2023; Dreaming of UFOs, Lychee One Gallery, London, 2022; Quiet Fire, Arusha Gallery, London, 2021. Group Shows include; The Moth and the Thunderclap, Stuart Shave Modern Art, London, 2023; I Take What is Mine, Arusha Gallery, New York City, 2022; Praxis, Arusha Gallery, London, 2022; Unfair Weather, Lychee One Gallery, London, 2021; PPP on Paper, Painters Painting Paintings, online exhibition, 2021; Bloodroot, Arusha Gallery, Edinburgh (Duo show) with Mary Herbert, 2021; Spring Fling, All Mouth Gallery, London, 2021; What I See I Will Never Tell, Wilder Gallery, London, 2021; Delphian Open Call 2020, Delphian Gallery, online exhibition, 2020; Tender Kith, 155a Gallery, London, 2020; When Shit Hits the Fan, Guts Gallery, online exhibition, 2020.