Terrell James

Terrell James (born 1955) is an American artist who makes abstract paintings, prints and sculptures. She is best known for large scale work with paint on stretched fabric, and for parallel small scale explorations such as the Field Studies series, ongoing since 1997. She lives and works in Houston, Texas.

Early life and education

A seventh generation Texan, Terrell James was born in Houston, Texas in 1955. Her childhood was divided between New Orleans, Louisiana, and Houston, Texas, where she was exposed to the culture of immigrant Hispanic families and became fluent in speaking Spanish. She graduated from Houston's Lamar High School[1] in 1973. Also in 1973, James studied painting and printmaking at the Instituto Allende[2] in San Miguel de Allende (Guanajuato, Mexico). During 1973-77 she attended The University of the South[3] in Sewanee Tennessee, where she continued her studies in painting and printmaking.

Artistic practice

Painting

Hidden Histories, 2013, 42x72

Terrell James' paintings are typically made by applying oil, acrylic, and/or custom-formulated pigments in various thicknesses to stretched canvas or linen, and sometimes to vellum or papers of varying makeup. Canvases range in size from about 60"x 60" up to twenty feet in width or height. She typically utilizes medium (2") and large (5") brushes, and oil stick in creating compositions whose "articulated line... and patches and fluid areas of color" sponsor an openness "usually seen in watercolor, rather than in oil."[4] Suggesting ambiguous visions of nature, urban geometries and technical artifacts,[5][6][7] they resist easy determination.[8][9] Instead of obvious images and visual stability, the viewer finds a pictorial landscape composed of alternate potential readings.[6][8][7] James has said: "I am interested in the viewer's participation in my work. There is the work, then there is something that happens between the viewer and the painting: a sort of second painting."[10] Writing for the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Daniel Stern stated that "To gaze at a painting of Terrell James' is to enter into an experience in the making: painting in which the act of painting continues on as the eye wanders the finished surface. Each individual painting is completed by each individual encounter."[10] For some, even an image that seems fully resolved can retain the sense that, still, "it might morph before our eyes."[11] With new imagery continually arising,[9] only to be repeatedly superseded,[7][10] the works' interplay of form and color foregrounds the mind's interaction with its object in shaping awareness.[6][7]

Field Studies

Field Study FS-457, 2007, 20x16

Since 1997, James' numbered series of Field Studies (examples[12][13]) have presented small works devoted to ongoing, open-ended visualization.[14] As with her large works, ambiguity in the interplay of color and form is critical to the viewer's experience. However, in the Field Studies there is no expectation that this ambiguity will be resolved. Instead, the viewer discovers a continuing evolution of imagery. As Curator Alison de Lima Greene[15] (MFAH) has written: "Sometimes a drawn line darts across the field or serves as a scaffold, sometimes pale afterimages challenge the viewer's eye, and even the occasional collaged element is welcomed as well."[16] James herself has said, "These works are alive because they are so direct, so fast. In some ways, they feel automatic or undirected..."[14] Field Studies are often made in parallel with much larger synchronous works, tracking their internal color relationships in a secondary form.[17] Painted on translucent vellum, the series is named after the small notations of color traditionally made by landscape painters in preparation for the studio-completion of their large works (to assure fidelity of color to nature).[14][18][19] Of identical size, James' Field Studies number (as of 2017) more than 800.

Forrest Bess and Archival Research

From 1980 to 1985, Terrell James worked as a field collector and material archivist for the Archives of American Art,[20] Smithsonian Institution. While in this position, she was involved in the rediscovery, cataloging and exhibition of works by artist Forrest Bess.[21][22] This assignment included her research involving Bess' family and contacts in Bay City, Texas, her cataloging of correspondence related to the artist's exhibition with New York gallerist Betty Parsons,[23][24] and her organization of the 1986 exhibition of Forrest Bess' paintings in collaboration with Hiram Butler Gallery.[25] This show led to the involvement of other galleries, such as New York's Hirschl & Adler Modern.[26] Her research on Bess' life and work was seminal to the posthumous emergence of his world-wide following among collectors and institutions.[27][28] In addition to archival work, James was integrally involved in the production of films and books about Bess. James played the archetypal feminine figure of Forrest Bess in Jim Kanan's 1987 film of Bess, Fishmonger, and was a primary source for Chuck Smith's book Key to the Riddle.[29]

Teaching

From 1991 to 2004, James held a teaching position in the Painting Department at Glassell School of Art,[30] Museum of Fine Arts Houston, where she served as Department Chair of Painting 1998-2004, and was concurrently Professor of Art at the University of St. Thomas[31] from 1995 to 1997. In 2004 she left Glassell and returned to her studio full-time. In recent years, James' role in education has extended to her recruitment by newspapers, magazines and other media for commentary on important art figures and events .[32][33][34][35][36]

Exhibitions

Terrell James: A Place for Two Stones

James has exhibited her work at a number of museums and public spaces, including the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston,[37] the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, The Cameron Museum of Art[38] (Wilmington NC), the Centro Cultural Arte Contemporaneo (Mexico D.F.),[39] the Art League Houston[40] (including extensive on-line coverage and documentation),[41] and the Shanghai Museum, People's Republic of China,[42] in March of 2015.

Collections

Terrell James' works are collected by museums as well as private collectors, including the Whitney Museum of American Art[43] (New York), the Menil Collection[44] (Houston), The Watermill Collection (Robert Wilson Foundation, Water Mill, N.Y.),[45] Casa Lamm/Televisa Cultural Foundation and Museum (Mexico, D.F.),[46] the Museum of Fine Arts Boston,[47] the Museum of Fine Arts Houston,[48] the Dallas Museum of Art (Dallas),[12] the University of St. Thomas (Houston),[49] the Albee Foundation (New York, N.Y.),[50] The Cameron Museum of Art (Wilmington, N.C.),[51] the Free International University World Art Collection[52] (The Netherlands), the Centro Cultural Arte Contemporaneo (Mexico D.F.),[53] the Portland Art Museum (Oregon),[54] the Rice University Collection[55] (Houston), The United States Department of State,[56] the Museum of the University of the South (Sewanee, Tennessee),[57] San Antonio Museum of Art,[58] and Texas Tech University[59] among others.

Recognition and commentary

Terrell James has been recognized for her art and community involvement, including selection as Texas Artist of the Year (Art League Houston, 2016),[60][61][62][63][64] as archival focus by the Joan Mitchell Foundation's CALL Project (2014),[65][66] induction into 2014's Texas Art Hall of Fame (Houston Fine Art Fair),[67][68] recipient of the 2008 Texan-French Alliance for the Arts' TFAA Recognition Award,[69][70] recipient of the Decorative Center Houston's 2013 Design Star Award,[71][72] and a Visual Arts Fellowship by the Edward Albee Foundation in 2010,[50][73] among others, stretching back to the Creative Artist Program Award from the Cultural Arts Council of Houston in 1986.

In addition to awards from various organizations, James work has inspired writings from well known art critics and art world figures, including Stephanie Buhmann,[74][75][76][77][78] Michael Petry,[79][80][81][17] Sasha Dela,[82][14] Alison de Lima Greene,[83][84] June Mattingly,[85][86] Jim Edwards,[87][88] Lauren Della Monica,[89][90] and Paul Middendorf.[91][92] Walter Hopps,[93] the Curator and Founding Director of The Menil Collection was generous in his support of James' work, remarking how "she calls forth the scope and depth of nature in a painterly performance of its rhythms and forms."[4]

References

  1. ↑ "Lamar High School".
  2. ↑ "Instituto Allende".
  3. ↑ "University of the South".
  4. 1 2 Hopps, Walter (2004). "The Paintings of Terrell James". Jason McCoy Inc., New York NY. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
  5. ↑ James, Terrell (2004). "Exhibition Catalog". Jason McCoy Inc., New York, NY. Retrieved 2017-08-26.
  6. 1 2 3 Buhmann, Stephanie (2016). Hover: Terrell James. Houston, TX: Art League Houston. pp. 3–7.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Buhmann, Stephanie (November 2007). "Terrell James: Witnessing Places". ArtSlant. London, UK.
  8. 1 2 Gee, PhD, Allen (Winter 2002). "Terrell James: Rouffignac & Field Studies". ArtLies. 37: Page 89.
  9. 1 2 Littman, Robert; Pillsbury, Edmund P. (2001). Impression and Sensation: The Painting of Terrell James. Dallas, TX: Pillsbury Peters Fine Art. pp. 2–4. ASIN B00SNWO4EA.
  10. 1 2 3 Greene, Alison DeLima (2000). Texas: 150 Works from the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Houston, TX: Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. p. 144. ISBN 089090-095-7.
  11. ↑ Petry, Michael (2016). "The Abstraction of the Physical into the Poetic". Remembering the Poison Tree (PDF). London UK: Cadogan Contemporary. pp. 7–12.
  12. 1 2 "Field Study 9, 1998: Collection of the Dallas Museum of Art". collections.dma.org. Retrieved 2017-08-24.
  13. ↑ "Field Study 6, 1997: Collection of Museum of Fine Arts Houston". Retrieved 2017-08-26.
  14. 1 2 3 4 Dela, Sasha (December 17, 2008). "Interview with Terrell James: 'Preoccupations'". Glasstire, Houston TX. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
  15. ↑ "Alison de Lima Greene".
  16. ↑ Greene, Alison de Lima (2010). Terrell James: Field Studies. Houston, Texas. p. 4.
  17. 1 2 Petry, Michael (October 24, 2016). "The Abstraction of the Physical into the Poetic" (PDF). Remember the Poison Tree. London, UK: Cadogan Contemporary: 7–12.
  18. ↑ Pototschnik, John (April 19, 2015). "The Field Study". Retrieved 2017-08-27.
  19. ↑ Mowry, Elizabeth. "Landscape Painting in Pastel: Techniques and Tips from a Lifetime of Painting". Retrieved 2017-08-27.
  20. ↑ "Archives of American Art: Research and Reference Services". Retrieved 2017-08-27.
  21. ↑ "Forrest Bess".
  22. ↑ "About Forrest Bess". forrestbess.org. Retrieved 2017-08-27.
  23. ↑ "Betty Parsons".
  24. ↑ "View of Forrest Bess Exhibition at Betty Parsons Gallery". Archives of American Art. 1962.
  25. ↑ Butler, Hiram. "Forrest Bess, 2016". Hiram Butler Gallery. Retrieved 2017-08-27.
  26. ↑ Shapiro, Meyer (1988). Forrest Bess. Chicago Ill: Hirschl & Adler Modern. ISBN 0942051076.
  27. ↑ Glentzer, Molly (April 14, 2013). "An artist's artist gains a wider following: The Menil Collection exhibit exposes the full story behind the enigmatic work of Forrest Bess". Houston Chronicle, Houston TX.
  28. ↑ "Forrest Bess, Events". forrestbess.org. Retrieved 2017-08-27.
  29. ↑ Smith, Chuck; Thurman, Robert (Foreword) (June 11, 2013). "Forrest Bess: Key to the Riddle". powerHouse Books. ISBN 1576876225.
  30. ↑ "Glassell School".
  31. ↑ "University of St. Thomas: Art Studio Degree Program". Retrieved 2017-08-27.
  32. ↑ Glentzer, Molly (September 20, 2015). "Mark Rothko 101: Six ways to see a 20th century art genius". Houston Chronicle, Houston TX. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
  33. ↑ Glentzer, Molly (April 18, 2012). "Retired MFAH curator Barry Walker dies". Houston Chronicle, Houston TX. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
  34. ↑ James, Terrell (May 29, 2005). "Cy Twombly: Heroic and Painterly". Houston Chronicle, Houston TX. Retrieved 2017-08-27.
  35. ↑ Hodges, Steve (April 2, 2005). "Walter Hopps: Standing Sideways, An ongoing conversation between Terrell James and Virgil Grotfeldt". Glasstire, Houston TX. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
  36. ↑ James, Terrell (July 14, 2017). "On Walter Hopps". The Brooklyn Rail, New York NY. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
  37. ↑ "Seeing the Forest Through the Trees". Group exhibition: Perspectives Gallery, Contemporary Arts Museum/Houston. August 13, 1993. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
  38. ↑ "Terrell James: Field Study". Solo exhibition: Cameron Museum of Art, Wilmington NC. May 6, 2011. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
  39. ↑ "Centro Arte Contemporaneo".
  40. ↑ "2016 Texas Artist of the Year". solo exhibition: Art League Houston. September 30, 2016. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
  41. ↑ Ash, Jennie (October 18, 2016). "HOVER by Terrell James at Art League Houston (Video Interview, 4:54 minutes)".
  42. ↑ "China Art Museum".
  43. ↑ "Collection Index: Four Works by Terrell James at the Whitney Museum of American Art".
  44. ↑ "Collection Index: the Menil Collection".
  45. ↑ "Watermill Center".
  46. ↑ "Casa Lamm, Mexico D.F."
  47. ↑ "Collection Index: Seven Works by Terrell James at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston".
  48. ↑ "Collection Index: 12 works by Terrell James at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston".
  49. ↑ "University of St. Thomas".
  50. 1 2 "The Albee Foundation".
  51. ↑ "The Cameron Museum of Art".
  52. ↑ "Collection Index: Works of Terrell James in FIUWAC Collection, The Netherlands".
  53. ↑ "Centro Contemporaneo, Mexico D.F."
  54. ↑ "Portland Museum of Art".
  55. ↑ "Rice University Collection Directory".
  56. ↑ "Terrell James – U.S. Department of State". art.state.gov. Retrieved 2017-09-15.
  57. ↑ "University of the South in Sewanee TN".
  58. ↑ "San Antonio Museum of Art".
  59. ↑ "Museum of Texas Tech University Artist Printmaker/Photographer Research Collection".
  60. ↑ Glentzer, Molly (October 28, 2016). "Poetic vision of Terrell James at Art League Houston". Houston Chronicle, Houston TX. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
  61. ↑ Anspon, Catherine D.; Ramirez, Matthew (October 23, 2016). "Texas' Artist of the Year is Revealed: The Big Art League Winners Are…". Paper City, Houston TX. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
  62. ↑ Hodge, Shelby (May 10, 2016). "Art League Houston salutes artworld headliners with 2016 awards". www.houston.culturemap.com. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
  63. ↑ Newton, Paula (May 6, 2016). "ALH Announces Texas Artist of the Year". Glasstire, Houston TX. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
  64. ↑ "2016 Texas Artist of the Year Exhibition: HOVER by Terrell James". www.artleaguehouston.org. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
  65. ↑ "CALL Project: Houston Scope". www.callprojecthouston.org.
  66. ↑ Newton, Paula (July 2, 2015). "Houston Artists in an Archive". Glasstire, Houston TX. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
  67. ↑ Staible, Heather (May 30, 2014). "Top artists named to Houston Fine Art Fair's first-ever Hall of Fame". houston.culturemap.com. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
  68. ↑ Rhodes, Elizabeth (September 19, 2014). "VIPs beat the rush on opening night of Houston Fine Art Fair with International Flair". houston.culturemap.com. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
  69. ↑ "Texan French Alliance".
  70. ↑ "TFAA Art Recognition Award and Auction". www.texanfrenchalliance.org. October 15, 2008. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
  71. ↑ "Decorative Center Houston".
  72. ↑ Hodge, Shelby (May 3, 2013). "Billionaire developer swoops in from NYC to present Decorative Center Stars of Design awards". houston.culturemap.com. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
  73. ↑ "Albee Fellows: 2010". www.albeefoundation.org. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
  74. ↑ "Stephanie Buhmann". Wikipedia. 2017-08-19.
  75. ↑ "Stephanie Buhmann: Profile".
  76. ↑ "Stephanie Buhmann index at Hyperallergic magazine". hyperallergic.com/author/stephiebuhmann. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
  77. ↑ "Featured Articles by Stephanie Buhmann in artcritical magazine". artcritical.com/author/stephanie-buhmann. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
  78. ↑ "Stephanie Buhmann contributor page, Brooklyn Rail". brooklynrail.org/contributor/stephanie-buhmann. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
  79. ↑ "Michael Petry". Wikipedia. 2017-06-25.
  80. ↑ "Michael Petry: Profile".
  81. ↑ "Michael Petry: author biography at Huffington Post". huffingtonpost.com/author/dr-michael-petry. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
  82. ↑ "Sasha Dela: TemporaryArtReview Author Index".
  83. ↑ Alison de Lima Greene, https://www.mfah.org/art/detail/83818
  84. ↑ "Museum of Fine Arts Houston".
  85. ↑ "June Mattingly".
  86. ↑ Mattingly, June (October 14, 2015). "CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS IN TEXAS: THE STATE OF THE ART". June Mattingly; 1 edition. ASIN B016OWNJ1Y. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
  87. ↑ "Jim Edwards: Profile".
  88. ↑ Edwards, Jim; Paglia, Michael (December 1, 2014). "Texas Abstract: Modern / Contemporary". SF Design, llc / FrescoBooks. ISBN 1934491462. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
  89. ↑ "Lauren Della Monica: Profile".
  90. ↑ Della Monica, Lauren P. (April 28, 2013). "Painted Landscapes: Contemporary Views". Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 0764343580. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
  91. ↑ "Paul Middendorf: Profile".
  92. ↑ Middendorf, Paul (Sep 19, 2016). "Working Boundaries: An Interview with Terrell James". Free Press Houston, Houston TX. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
  93. ↑ "Walter Hopps: Profile".

Further reading

  • Bovee, Katherine, Virgil Grotfeldt and Terrell James at Froelick Gallery, Art Lies, Issue No.58, p 104, 2008.
  • Buhmann, Stephanie (September 2016), Place and Transition in the Work of Terrell James, HOVER: Art League 2016 Texas Artist of the Year, Houston TX, pp.3-7.
  • Buhmann, Stephanie, Terrell James: Witnessing Places, ArtSlant, London UK, November 2007.
  • Della Monica, Lauren P., Painted Landscapes: Contemporary Views, Schiffer Publishing, 2013. ISBN 0764343580
  • Gray, Lisa, About Time: Terrell James's art hangs near a crossroads where her past and present intersect, Houston Press, Houston TX, pp. 12-13, April 26, 2001.
  • Greene, Alison de Lima, Terrell James: Field Studies, Houston TX, March 2011, pp.3-5.
  • Hodges, Steve, Walter Hopps: Standing Sideways (Terrell James and Virgil Grotfeldt), Glasstire, Houston TX, April, 2005.
  • Hopps, Walter, (2004), The Painting of Terrell James, Jason McCoy Inc., New York NY.
  • James, Terrell (July,2017), On Walter Hopps, The Brooklyn Rail, Brooklyn NY, Critics' Page.
  • Paglia, Michael and Edwards, Jim, Texas Abstract: Modern / Contemporary, SF Design, llc/FrescoBooks, 2014. ISBN 1934491462.
  • Petry, Michael (October 2016), The Abstraction of the Physical into the Poetic, Remember the Poison Tree, Cadogan Contemporary, London UK, pp.7-12.
  • Pillsbury, Edmund P. and Littman, Robert R.(2001), Impression and Sensation: The Painting of Terrell James, Pillsbury and Peters Fine Art, Dallas TX, pp.2-4. ASIN B00SNWO4EA.
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