I have a multidisciplinary practice that includes sculpture, installation, drawing, video and performance.
Historical and contemporary narratives with longevity share commonality – they pose obstacles without resolution. My work reflects on these stories as inspiration and acknowledges their role as a source of knowledge within societies.
I often make work in large repetitive quantities because duplicating the process with slight variations often reveals an unexpected diversity of results. It resembles an anthropological study: from the largest cross section of ideas, I assemble thoughtful, empathetic awareness and appreciation of our influences, and collective history. Then, I start asking questions.
How can I re-present historical and contemporary issues? What materials best suggest these ideas? What form can I use to examine these narratives?
I favor raw materials such as wood, industrial plastic sheeting, fabric and plaster for the purity of their metaphorical meaning. For example, wood connotes time, aging and rejuvenation, whereas plastic might be seen as fake and manufactured. I deliberately engage labor intensive hand tools, which make the marks by my hand more evident. Every work carries the natural blemish of the materials and highlights intentional imperfections visible in joinery or the dangle of a loose thread. It gives away who we are: flawed and imperfect, which becomes a feature of the work.
I choose to honor our sorrow, loneliness and discomfort with respect, humor, and humility. I use witty forms and a light-hearted palette as a defense mechanism that transforms confounding topics into a more accessible visual presentation.
While I believe people are inherently good, broken institutional structures create environments defined by strife. We find ourselves dealing with the anguish of daily news, ache of social and racial injustice, political divisiveness, income inequality, and environmental destruction. We must balance these challenges with innovative and healing scientific advancements, technological marvels, human capability for compassion, generosity and good will.
The work has been exhibited in The United States, China, South Korea, Colombia, Denmark and has been reviewed in such publications as ArtForum, Artillery, Hyperallergic, The Huffington Post and Sculpture Magazine.
Lives and works in Los Angeles, CA
Vowed to Learn Blood Type After a Near Fatal Nosebleed, PYO Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
A Historic Point of Interest and other Landmarks, PYO Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Sledgehammer.Bullet.Bomb, Manhattan Beach Art Center, Manhattan Beach, CA
No Shame in Them Thar Woods, Woven, West Hollywood, CA
Worker, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogota, Colombia
Worker, Pitzer College, Claremont, CA
Warnings & Instructions, Dallas Contemporary, Dallas, TX
The Privacy of Underpants, Part II – PYO Gallery 798, Beijing, China
The Privacy of Underpants – PYO Gallery South, Seoul, South Korea
I Know Everything About You and We Haven’t Met – Light & Sie Gallery, Dallas, TX
(Don’t) Want to be Anonymous?, Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Nomad, organized by the Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, CA
Chrysalistas, Lyons Wier Gallery, New York, NY
A Short Survey of Contemporary Abstraction, Sandy Bennett Gallery, Bergan Center for Performing Arts, Englewood, NJ
Thrive, Avenue des Arts, Los Angeles, CA
On Bodies, The Goss-Michael Foundation, Dallas, TX
A Narrow Passage, Noysky Projects, Los Angeles CA
Plastic Primitive, LeStudio, Paris, France
LA Art Show, Los Angeles, CA
Women’s Work: Masculinity and Gender in Contemporary Fiber Arts, San Diego Art Institute, San Diego, CA
Moist, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Ana, CA
UnDressed:An Eposé of Conceptual Garments and Accessories, Santa Cruz Institute of Contemporary Art, Santa Cruz, CA
Acceleration, Dallas Contemporary, Dallas TX
Eye Candy, Couturier Gallery. Los Angeles, CA
Show & Tell: the art of pop culture, Zimmer Childrens’ Museum, Los Angeles, CA
Outfitters: The Contemporary Art of Clothing, Bedford Gallery,Lesher Center for the Arts, Wanut Creek, CA
An Exchange with Sol LeWitt, Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Adams, MA
The Social Graph, Hyperallergic, Brooklyn, NY
Unrealised Potential, Cornerhouse Gallery, Manchester, UK
Instructions, Platform4, Aaloborg, Denmark
Transitive Pairings:Body Objects, Centraltrak, University of Texas, Dallas, TX
Manifold: An Exhibition of Editioned Works, The Public Trust, Dallas, TX
Our History, Light & Sie, Dallas, TX
Tigersprung: Obscure Couture in the Now-Time, The McKinney Avenue Contemporary, Dallas, TX
MOCA Fresh, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA
We Are Here, PYO Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
What’s the Matter with Mommy, The Hangover, curated by Shana nys Damdrot, Phantom Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Heaven and Hell, Christie’s, Beverly Hills, CA
Aqua, Light & Sie, Miami, FL
Gracias a la Vida, Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
What’s the Matter With Mommy, curated by Shana nys Dambrot, Salon Oblique, Los Angeles, CA
Gastronomia | erótica y estimulante, The McKinney Avenue Contemporary, Dallas, TX
Heaven, Christies, Beverly Hills, CA
Los Angeles Art Fair, Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Present Art XIV A Small Show of Small Works, Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Acceleration, Dallas Contemporary, Dallas, TX
Privacy is Dead Because We Said So, Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara, CA
University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus
University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus
Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, Omaha, NE
Pitzer College, Claremont, CA
Centraltrak: The University of Texas at Dallas Artists Residency, Dallas TX
Center for Cultural Innovation Quick Grant, Los Angeles/San Francisco
Metro, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Los Angeles, CA
Ruth and Harold Chenven Foundation Grant, New York, NY
City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs Cultural Exchange
International Grant
The Danish Arts Council, International Artist Grant
Manhattan Beach Art Center, CA
Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, Omaha, NE
Bedford Gallery, Lesher Center for the Arts, Wanut Creek, CA
Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX
Pitzer College, Claremont, CA
Sundays With Andy: Andy Warhol: The Last Decade, Modern Art Museum of
Forth Worth, Fort Worth, TX
Dallas Contemporary, Dallas, TX
Dallas Contemporary, Dallas, TX
Mount Saint Mary’s, College, Los Angeles, CA
Light & Sie, Dallas, TX
Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Bahadur, Tulika, “Natural Disasters, The Destruction of Heritage: Installations by James Gilbert,” OnArtandAesthetics.com, August 30, 2017
“Tweeted, Googled, Inappropriately Touched – James Gilbert, Artist to Watch/Visual Artist,” NakidMagazine.com, June 28, 2016
Goldman, Edward, “Art of War and Peace,” Art Talk, KCRW, kcrw.com, November 25, 2015
Wyszpolski, Bondo, “Protective Devices,” Easy Reader, November 19, 2015, Vol. XLVI-No.16, p.21, 24
Barton, Dave, “OCCCA Get’s ‘Moist'” OC Weekly, June 25, 2015
Solis, Chenoa, “Chenoa Solis Interviews Saatchi Online Artist James Gilbert in LA,”Saatchi Online Magazine, April 1, 2011
Terranova, Charissa, “James Gilbert,” Sculpture Magazine, March 2011, Vol. 30, No. 2, p. 70-71
Michno, Christopher, “James Gilbert and Jennifer Vanderpool,” Artillery, March/April, 2011, Vol. 5 Issue 4
Woods, Wes, “Pitzer College exhibit showcases different themes,” Inland Valley Dailey Bulletin, March 23, 2011
Cuevas, Steven, “Art exhibit at Pitzer College immerses visitors in a virtual sweatshop,” KPCC, www.scpr.org, February 15. 2011
Widdick, Richard, “Worker,” exhibition essay, Lenzner Gallery, Pitzer Art Galleries, January 27–March 25, 2011
Mills, Ted, “Full Exposure,” Santa Barbara Independent, August 27–September 2, 2010, p. 45
Odom, Michael, “James Gilbert,” Artforum, v. XLVII, NO. 10, Summer 2010, p.359-360
Terranova, Charissa, PhD “Orange Alert: Fashion, Frivolity in the Age of Terror” exhibition catalogue, Dallas Contemporary, Dallas, TX
Gleeson, Scott, “James Gilbert: Padding the Walls of the Labyrinth,” www,ovac-ok.org
Terranova, Charissa, PhD “James Gilbert Warnings & Instructions” A+C Magazine, March 2010, p. 26
Simek, Peter “The Modern Problems of the Dallas Contemporary,” D Magazine, March 2010
Arbery, Joan, “Melrose Place for Artists,” D Magazine, February 2010 p. 57-58
Carter, Steve, “The New Iconoclasts,” Dallas Modern Luxury, December 2009 p. 54-58
Nys Dambrot, Shana, Daily Dose Pick: James Gilbert, August 19, 2009, www.flavorwire.com
Terranova, Charissa, PhD “Celebrity Dread: Angst, Fame and the End of Privacy in the Work of James Gilbert,” exhibition catalogue, PYO Gallery South, Seoul, South Korea
Sparling, Gretchen, “High-Style Hideout,” Dallas Child, December 29, 2008
Terranova, Charissa, PhD “Privacy is a Perishable Commodity at Light & Sie,” review, The Dallas Morning News, July 7, 2008, 1E, 4E
Ingram, Kaitlin, “Stalking Art, Gilbert Doesn’t Know Us, But We’re Watching His Work,” Dallas Observer, June 22-28, 2008
Tellez, Lesley, “James Gilbert Talks Art, Underwear,” Quick, The Dallas Morning News, June 11, 2008
Quandri, Stephanie, “James Gilbert: Fashionable Art, “ FrontBurner, Dmagazine.com , June 4, 2008
Sheeler, Jason, “Meet the Artist,” FDluxe, The Dallas Morning News, June 2008, p. 6
Vartarian, Hrag, “James Gilbert On Tweeted, Googled and Inappropriately Touched,” November 23, 2010, Hyperallergic TV, Hyperallergic.com
Mathews, Quin, “James Gilbert, Warnings & Instructions” documentary to accompany Dallas Contemporary Exhibition, February 16 – May 15, 2010
Art this Week, “Dallas Contemporary, James Gilbert,” February 2010, Episode 35, www.artthisweek.com
Cuevas, Steven, “Art exhibit at Pitzer College immerses visitors in a virtual sweatshop,” 89.3 KPCC, Southern California Public Radio, www.scpr.org, February 15. 2011
James Gilbert & Garth Bowden – Plastic Primitive, Limited Edition Coloring Book, Ed.100
James Gilbert – Warnings & Instructions, Dallas Contemporary, exhibition brochure
Heaven and Hell, The Art of Elysium, Los Angeles,
Privacy of Underpants, exhibition catalogue, PYO Gallery South, Seoul, South Korea
Heaven, Celebrating Ten Years of The Art of Elysium, Los Angeles
The Goss-Michael Foundation, Dallas, TX
The Kinsey Institute, Indiana University, IN