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James Davis BIOGRAPHY
1940 Sydney, Australia - 2019. Known for: Figurative, expressionist, surreal painting.
James Davis was born 1940 in Sydney. Studied National Art School and Julian Ashton’s School of Fine Art, Sydney. Lived in Northern Europe, 1960s, principally in Amsterdam and Berlin. Influenced by... Read full biography
James Davis was born 1940 in Sydney. Studied National Art School and Julian Ashton’s School of Fine Art, Sydney. Lived in Northern Europe, 1960s, principally in Amsterdam and Berlin. Influenced by the abstract expressionist movement and Willem De Kooning’s figurative, abstract forms. In his early... Read full biography
James Davis was born 1940 in Sydney. Studied National Art School and Julian Ashton’s School of Fine Art, Sydney. Lived in Northern Europe, 1960s, principally in Amsterdam and Berlin. Influenced by the abstract expressionist movement and Willem De Kooning’s figurative, abstract forms. In his early thirties, Davis abandoned painting, intending to return to art after a year or two, however, this was not to occur for another fifteen years. It was a further four years in 1989 before the artist held... Read full biography
James Davis was born 1940 in Sydney. Studied National Art School and Julian Ashton’s School of Fine Art, Sydney. Lived in Northern Europe, 1960s, principally in Amsterdam and Berlin. Influenced by the abstract expressionist movement and Willem De Kooning’s figurative, abstract forms. In his early thirties, Davis abandoned painting, intending to return to art after a year or two, however, this was not to occur for another fifteen years. It was a further four years in 1989 before the artist held his first solo exhibition at David Ellis Fine Art Gallery in Melbourne. Davis’ return to art was marked by a commitment to figurative, expressionist art and social comment centred around the Melbourne suburbs of Fitzroy and Collingwood. In 1993 the... Read full biography
James Davis was born 1940 in Sydney. Studied National Art School and Julian Ashton’s School of Fine Art, Sydney. Lived in Northern Europe, 1960s, principally in Amsterdam and Berlin. Influenced by the abstract expressionist movement and Willem De Kooning’s figurative, abstract forms. In his early thirties, Davis abandoned painting, intending to return to art after a year or two, however, this was not to occur for another fifteen years. It was a further four years in 1989 before the artist held his first solo exhibition at David Ellis Fine Art Gallery in Melbourne. Davis’ return to art was marked by a commitment to figurative, expressionist art and social comment centred around the Melbourne suburbs of Fitzroy and Collingwood. In 1993 the artist returned to Europe for another three years, living and working in Budapest (Hungary), Tabor (Czech Republ... Read full biography
Artist Biography
Biography page for James Davis ((1940 - 2019)), known for Figurative, expressionist, surreal painting. Showing 1 biographical entries and 0 sample artworks.
James Davis - Artist Info
About James Davis
Biography from the Archives of askART
James Davis was born 1940 in Sydney. Studied National Art School and Julian Ashton’s School of Fine Art, Sydney.
Lived in Northern Europe, 1960s, principally in Amsterdam and Berlin. Influenced by the abstract expressionist movement and Willem De Kooning’s figurative, abstract forms.
In his early thirties, Davis abandoned painting, intending to return to art after a year or two, however, this was not to occur for another fifteen years. It was a further four years in 1989 before the artist held his first solo exhibition at David Ellis Fine Art Gallery in Melbourne.
Davis’ return to art was marked by a commitment to figurative, expressionist art and social comment centred around the Melbourne suburbs of Fitzroy and Collingwood.
In 1993 the artist returned to Europe for another three years, living and working in Budapest (Hungary), Tabor (Czech Republic) and Antwerp (Belgium) where he painted a new body of work relating to his Hungarian and Czech experiences.
Since his return to Australia in 1996, James Davis continues to paint social comment and social conscience art, as well as a new series of garden paintings presented in a surreal manner. Close to his inner city Fitzroy home in Melbourne, James Davis discovered similar darkness to old European cities. The artist sources his material from the shadows - individuals spotted in the corner of bars, or in the hazy light between lampposts in the late evening streets nearby. Davis avoids a didactic reading of his work.
It is an uneasy line between fantasy and reality that Davis so carefully treads - at one level his images are unerring reportage from dark corners of inner city life, on another, peopled with characters with bird heads, elephantine trunks and painfully elongated bodies. Yet despite their deformities, there is something sympathetic and decidedly human about his cast of characters.
Davis has avoided the clichés of visual art fashion. He has eschewed the movements of minimalism and postmodernism, opting instead for an individualistic approach. If anything, Davis is indebted to painters such as Bosch and Bruegel. His work is closely linked to British artists Ken Currie and Peter Howson, who both produce work of a similar sentiment.
Sources:
Ashley Crawford, Art Visionary Magazine, October 2001
http://artodyssey1.blogspot.com/2010/12/james-davis-james-davis-first-exhibited.html