James arrived at Colstoun in the depths of winter 2023 he's the third artist I've written about in the lead up to our exhibition RESIDENT I (you can read about Lara & Joe here). wrapped up tightly he made the studio his home. At this point in our development we still had the drawing room (which is now the studio) as half a studio and half a living room. Personally, I absolutely loved this approach, a big comfy sofa, and a TV it was the perfect place for rest and relaxation. James and I spent time sitting and chatting about all things art.
Unlike many other exciting new talents in the art world, James has had another career before art. he attended L’ecole Superieure D’Arts Visuels in Geneva and The Slade School of Art some 18 years before exhibiting he went in to television and had a successful career before returning to his true love, painting. Since returning to the art world he's won the Ingram Prize, he's been selected for the Bloomberg New Contemporaries and been seen in numerous group exhibitions. Additionally, he's exhibited three solo exhibitions including with BWG. As his resume blossoms he's been begun to appear in numerous notable collections both public and private.
Coming back to the art world after such a big break necessitates time to contemplate, I feel that the time spent at Colstoun although brief gave James exactly that. whilst staying he completed a number of works from his own studio whilst additionally painting a large scale work "Mairches Landscape with Figures and Birds" (200cm H x 160cm W Oil and Acrylic on Linen) as well as a smaller work "Fighting Pheasants" (91cm W x 91cm H Oil on Canvas) deeply inspired by the Scottish landscape and yet characteristically James Dearlove works, both feature a stage like platform surrounded by trees on which a scene is depicted in bright wonderful colours. Fighting Pheasant has additionally been selected as the poster work for our RESIDENT I exhibition.
James Dearlove isn't a traditional landscape painter and that is an important part of our residency program, we want it to be for artists that are inspired by nature and landscape, not just for landscape painters. Most of Dearlove's works are highly figurative, but they are placed within landscapes that are generally quite surreal, it is generally true to say that his figures however are not highly detailed nor hyper realistic, instead he draws an essence from them, a mood, an action or position. This lack of direct detail provides the viewer an opportunity to implant their own ideas of who the figure is and their story.
It has been a busy 16 or so months since we last saw James at Colstoun he's been in a number of Group Shows including: Slow Painting Culutural Landscapes, EXH13, Bloomberg New Contemporaries, Rogue Gallery in St Leonard, Camden Art Centre, London, A solo booth at Platform, London Art Fair, Business Design Centre, London, Bloomberg New Contemporaries, Grundy Art Gallery, Liverpool, Tom of Finland Art and Culture Festival, Standard Hotel, London, Two by Two, Morrell House, London, Studio1.1 Members Show, Studio 1.1, London and being included in the longlist for Jackson’s Painting Prize, and attending the Clover Mill artist residency in Holland as well as his own Solo show mentioned above.
In Just 3 days we will be welcoming James back to the studio for him to complete his work "Mairches Landscape with Figures and Birds" for our exhibition in August. I am excited to bring James back to Colstoun during the summer months when there is a lot more to explore, the world is greener and the trees have leaves. It'll be exciting to see how the impact of the summer months and hopefully some sun will be felt on the painting. James often remarked about how the low light, was especially golden across the skylines of the depths of a Scottish winter, alas with the summer light it is bright before we get up and often dark after we fall asleep, golden hour is not for the feint of heart in the midst of Scottish summer. I have no doubt this work will be very special upon completion but we will keep you updated with James' progress through the coming weeks.
Website: https://www.jamesdearlove.co.uk/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamesdearlove_art/
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