by James Blinkhorn
James was born in Manchester in 1966 into an
artistic family. At school he was considered outstanding and
from a very young age he was actually taken out of lessons to
paint. He received commissions from staff and parents and as
a teenager he was runner up in a major art competition. So in
the matter of a career choice he says quite simply, "there
was no choice!"
After studying at Tameside College of Art James set up his
studio in Cheshire. As a result of featuring in a series of
successful one-man shows in th local area, he quickly established
a formidable reputation in the artistic community as a creative
and versatile young talent.
In the early days James was inspired by unconventional outdoor
scenes that combined interesting shapes, textures and colours;
a particular favourite was his local scrapyard, especially on
a rainy day. He liked to explore the idea of man's incursion
on the environment and the obvious next step for his work was
the cityscape. With success came the opportunity to travel the
world in his quest to absorb the sights, sounds and atmospheres
of his chosen subjects, and this experience has informed his
stunning depictions of New York as well as various European
locations .
James loves to experiment with art materials and creates his
atmospheric images in a wide variety of media. He exhibits in
galleries in Europe, the USA and across the UK and has a range
of prestigious private and corporate collectors. His work in
on show in the boardrooms of such prestigious companies as BT
and Siemens.
James’s powerful, ultra-stylish compositions stop us
in our tracks as effectively as the speeding Ferraris they portray.
A striking example of modern male success, James is talented,
innovative and competitive, with that traditional masculine
weakness for the sexier things in life – particularly
fast cars. His images contrast the myriad greys of sidewalks
and skyscrapers with occasional ventures towards the bolder
end of the spectrum. To achieve this distinctive look, James
approached a bespoke pastel manufacturer and had over 50 different
shades of grey individually created ranging from oyster to ash,
from iron to dove, from seawashed pebbles to cloudy skies. These
allow him to describe every nuance of concrete, smoke and sky
to stunning effect with minimal use of the more conventional
range of colours, a stylistic achievement which has won him
a unique place on the contemporary art market.
