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James McMeakin

Date of birth 28.Jul.78
Place of birth London
Country of residence United Kingdom
Contact jamesmcmeakin@yahoo.co.uk

The paintings of James McMeakin set him at odds with the world he shrewdly inhabits. Whilst possessing a healthy scepticism towards painting, he is reluctant to buy into the fads and styles that pervade a saturated London art scene. Amidst the milieu of painters chanting 'any old icon', McMeakin opts to satiate his appetite with something less whimsical. His inclination is of an art that deals ostensibly with cultural identity and one which, to a large extent, explores the vagaries and representations of Britishness. The subjects McMeakin chooses to paint are by no means arbitrary. From a veiled Hancock to a monochrome depiction of the Brixton riots, he playfully anticipates the viewers' willingness to impose a meaning. McMeakin’s mantle-piece size paintings appear as transgressive overtures. Scant of colour and reminiscent of Freud or dare I say Spencer, they intimate a feeling of loss and even perhaps a lamentation of something that never truly was.

Although the content of McMeakin’s paintings appear manifold, there does however seem to be an overriding quality that at times insinuates a prophetic notion of violence, a foreboding sensation that belies their overall seductive nature.

Selected Exhibitions:

'The Triumph of Panting' (08/06) - TheLegion@The Music Room, Mayfair

'Summer Exhibition 2006' (08/06) - Fosterart, Shoreditch

'Whatever Happened to the Leipzig Lads?' (08/06) - James McMeakin & Wayne Clough, The Waterloo Gallery

'Painting to Music' (02/06) - The Music Room, Mayfair

'Working for Peanuts' (05/05) - Space 44 Studios, Hackney Wick

'Hide & Seek' (05/05) - The Music Room, Mayfair

'In Gallery Mode' @ MODE (06/00) - Business Design Centre, Islington

Exhibitions Start Your Collection 2008!, 01.Aug - 20.Sep.08, Contemporary Art Projects, 'Histories', 15.Feb - 24.Feb.08, James McMeakin, Start Your Collection 2007!, 01.Aug - 30.Sep.07, Contemporary Art Projects, Summer exhibition 2006, 17.Aug - 03.Sep.06, Contemporary Art Projects


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