Simon James is a video artist and fine art photographer whose work is shaped by his experiences living in Asia and Europe, along with frequent travel in the United States, Australasia and the Middle East.
Whether working in paint, photography or video, he has often found inspiration in the tension between the man-made environment and the forces of nature.
His work is characterized by emotionally heightened and often abstracted imagery, expressed in photo sequences or immersive video installations that explore the properties of light, space, surface and structure.
The latest photographic projects blur the boundaries between reality and abstraction. They also seek to challenge traditional distinctions between media, and the relative value assigned to them. Through his camera lens the image becomes painterly, reminiscent of watercolors, calligraphy marks or Asian ink paintings. Other photographic works evoke a painted surface or the sheen of a charcoal drawing.
His architectural imagery examines mankind’s desire for order, control and aggressive self-expression in a manufactured landscape. Video installations of rapidly self-renewing city skylines, presented with unnerving soundscapes, seek a heightened sensory experience of the insecurities of urban life.
Storms, volcanic energy, and seismic forces in his work aim to induce both anxiety and awe, as they threaten to overwhelm our sanctuaries of steel and glass. Throughout, light serves as an agent of perceptual change - the means of capturing, reframing and sharing images of our surroundings.
In his fine art photography, James is drawn to the colors, lights and textures of the world’s most vibrant cities - Tokyo, Shanghai, Singapore, New York, London and Dubai among them. But he also has an eye for quiet, contemplative places in the temples, shrines and back streets of the metropolis, with their accidental aesthetic of weathered paint, the curling smoke from an incense offering, or the pattern of street paving.
In recent years, he has found inspiration in the woods and rivers of the English countryside. Seeking solace in nature during the Covid years, he sought to apply an Asian-inspired sensibility to the seasons and sensations of rural life under the growing threat of climate change.
The video and photo collection ‘Water’ finds quiet beauty, power and peril in the waterfalls, lakes, ponds and hot springs that nourish the earth.
British-born James studied the traditional disciplines of painting and drawing at the Royal Academy and Royal College of Art in London. He exhibited his paintings, prints and photographs extensively in Europe before moving to Tokyo to work as an artist/designer. A stint as a TV graphic designer introduced him to the artistic potential of new media. While working in Singapore he began to explore multimedia forms and now works primarily in video and photography, based in the UK.
In ‘Chasing Light’ he presented abstracted video of the Singapore river set to music for the opening of the city state’s concert and gallery complex. ‘Storm’, a room-sized cube of video projections produced for InfoComm Asia, invited viewers to step inside a tropical rainstorm as it swept across the island, veiling the city behind a cascade of water. In ‘Natural Forces’, projections of electric storms and volcanic pools highlighted our vulnerability to nature’s deadly beauty. In 2007, just as the global financial crisis was unfolding, James explored the symbolism of skyscrapers with the video installation ‘Icon: Cathedrals of Commerce’, using footage of the world’s tallest buildings to reflect on the pursuit of status and economic advantage.
More than 10 years later as storm clouds gathered once again around the banking industry, he revisited the theme of financial totems, reflecting on the pain and uncertainty unleashed in part from those gleaming towers.
The latest projects explore the potential of photography as an artistic medium. The “negative light” collection is a modern twist on the old photography methods that turned dark into light and vice versa, while “inverted light” subverts the colourscape of a composition using photo software as a digital paintbrush. Elsewhere, watercolour paper and mounting techniques are used to celebrate the photographed image as a display object on a par with a painting.
James has held solo shows in Berlin, London, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo, winning several awards for his work including first prize in the 10th Cleveland International Drawing Biennale. His commissions include a video artwork for DHL Express and a multi-screen video installation for Electronic Design China in Shanghai. His photos have been used commercially in advertising and publishing.
He was Course Leader for the BA (Hons) Multimedia Design programme at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore, before relocating to the UK, where he freelances in design and photography and works as an independent artist.
Exhibitions Slide Show
EDUCATION
1987-1989 Royal College of Art
1984-1987 Royal Academy Schools
SELECTED AWARDS & COMMISSIONS
2006 Global Sources commission for the launch of Electronic Design China, Shanghai
2005 Video Artwork commission for DHL Express Ltd, Singapore
2004 Light installation commission for M Hotel, Singapore
2003 Commissioned artist for InfoComm Asia
1997 Installation commission for Yasuaki Shimizu & Saxophonettes concert, Tokyo
1993 Federation of British Artists Award
1992 Marks & Spencer Young Artist Award
1991 10th Cleveland International Drawing Biennale – First Prize
1987 Leverhulme Trust Award
1987 Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers Award
1986 Lloyds of London Commission
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025 'In Extremis' - 78 Derngate, The Charles Rennie Mackintosh House & Galleries, Northampton
2007 “Icon: Cathedrals of Commerce’ – Video Installation, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore
2006 ‘River’ – Video Installation, Shanghai
2004 ‘Natural Forces’ – Video Installations, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore
2003 ‘Storm’ – Video Installation, InfoComm Asia, Suntec City, Singapore
2002 ‘Chasing Light’ – Video Installation, Opening Festival, Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, Singapore
2000 ‘Luminance’ – NOPE, Tokyo
1998 ‘Look Don’t Touch’ – Gallery Aoyama, Tokyo
1997 ‘Car Park Installation’ for Yasuaki Shimizu & Saxophonettes concert ‘Cello Suites With Cars’ – NHK, Tokyo
1996 ‘New Work’ – The Ground Gallery, Harajuku, Tokyo
1995 ‘Paintings & Drawings: Tokyo’ Dual exhibition – CASA, Tokyo
1994 ‘Paintings’ – Kunstverein Friedrichstadt, Berlin
1994 ‘Drawings’ – Marks & Spencer PLC, London
1993 ‘Photographs’ – Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse, Heathrow Airport, London
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2011 "In All Its Guises' - Foreman's Gallery, Olympiic Site, London
2007 ‘Escape Clause’ – Nanyang Academy of Fine Ats, Singapore
2004 ‘Video Art’ – Shiodome City, Tokyo
2004 ‘Life Unfinished’ – Block 43, Singapore
2003 ‘Repetition/Recollection’ – Block 43, Singapore
1998 ‘British Art Now: 1998’ – Axis Gallery, Tokyo
1998 ‘Between London & Tokyo’ – FAC, London
1997 ‘British Art Now: 1997’ – Axis Gallery, Sagacho Exhibit Space, Tokyo
1996 ‘Meta Tokyo’ – Internet Project & Exhibition, Tokyo
1996 ‘Japan International’ – Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art
1992 ‘Six British Artists’ – Potsdam, Berlin
1991 ‘10th Cleveland International Drawing Biennale (prizewinner) Touring Exhibition
1989 "Whitworth Young Contemporaries, UK
1986 Lloyds of London Commemorative Exhibition
Work in the collection of: Cleveland County Council, DHL Express Ltd, The Foreign Office, Land Brandenburg, Lloyds of London, SmithKline Beecham and in private collections worldwide.