Interview with James Green

Randee Silv
May 2021

The Artist Never Sleeps, James Green in collaboration with Monsieur Jamin,
Paris, 2021 (left) James Green, Working From Home, 2021 (right)

James Green, The Artists, 2021

In the artist statement for your exhibition, “James Green (featuring collaborations with Monsieur Jamin”) at the Canvas Gallery, you wrote “Art is the only thing that ever really made sense to me, however realism felt more like maths than art. It didn’t allow me to express myself or my life – which I now believe art should.” You followed by saying that your turning point came when you visited Barcelona’s Museu Picasso. Could you elaborate more on this ?

Throughout my early years (primary/secondary school, college, art school) I could only, for whatever reason, see value in ‘art’ that displayed a high level of technical ability. I would spend a month painting a face to make sure it resembled the subject or sitter precisely with no compromise whatsoever. If the result wasn’t ‘perfect’, I’d scrap it. Following art school I took some time out to purely experience life and in doing so began to become much more open minded. Having lived a little, I began to realise what art actually is. That’s when things (my approach) changed quite dramatically. For some reason it wasn’t art school that educated me on what art was; it was life.

A turning point came in visiting Museu Picasso, Barcelona. I could see that Picasso started off in the same way as me; but wanted to put his stamp on the world of art and so began to develop his iconic style. A style unique to only he. This helped me to understand that the only way to make a significant impact is to make art that only you, the artist, can make. Only then does it feel authentic.

The last decade has really been about dissecting the human form in a process unique to myself – chaotic, spontaneous, and what’s more, organic. I now find it much more powerful to capture the essence of a person rather than to accurately convey. They are uniquely personal to that specific moment alone, and authentic to me and my life.

I honestly just try to paint freely and focus on expressing personality so that my paintings are mine on every level – I guess each piece is something of a self-portrait. And more accurate than a realistic one!

L’Artiste , James Green in collaboration with Monsieur Jamin, Paris, 2021

Your use of densely layered pigments, arresting colors, spiralling & jetting gestural lines fills each canvas with visual and textural  diversity.  In each stroke there’s a bold immediacy, humor, an unspoken directness, intrigue,  a poetic delving that quickly surfaces and engages one instantaneously. Are all these paintings in this exhibition done in collaboration with Monsieur Jamin? How did you meet, and how does this collaborative process between you work?

I’m glad that all comes across! Although my process is highly impulsive, every mark is purposeful – even if it ends up covered by the next splash of paint. It all adds to the depth of the finished work.

Just three paintings from the show are in collab with Monsieur Jamin and the story to how we came to paint together (which is an ongoing thing) is quite an interesting one!..

Jamin’s best friend (Francois) spotted my work in a pub in London and instantly messaged me a note saying, “You need to meet my best friend – I think you think the same”. I thought that to be a pretty strange message, so assumed it to be something I’d most probably swiftly dismiss… However, a quick Google search ‘Monsieur Jamin’ and I was interested. Francois organised the meeting (Jamin to my studio in Stroud (Cotswolds, UK) with Francois acting as translator) and none of us could believe quite how important the meeting proved to be. We have both said that it was like meeting a brother. I don’t speak French, and Jamin doesn’t speak English. Strangely, that didn’t matter. We paint in the same way, and seemingly think the same. We have both said it’s like watching ourselves paint – a pretty remarkable experience… I doubt that it’s realistic to expect to experience another connection like this in a lifetime. It’s something we’re both hugely grateful for (particularly to Francois!). We have since painted together on multiple occasions (UK / Paris) and are insanely productive together. It’s the most unique connection. Although we can’t communicate with language, the process is natural and effortless as it is. We’re reluctant to learn each others’ language given how unique the connection is as it stands.

When it comes to painting together we both said (via Francois) that it’s important that we paint with the same freedom that is typical of both of our work… meaning if I am impulsed to paint over something he has painted, and vice versa, then that’s how it is to be. So we just go nuts with a crazy amount of energy, jump around each other, sometimes working on the same canvas, sometime on different pieces and then swap etc. It is somewhat reminiscent of a dance. We typically have approx 10 canvases up that we just flow through as the day goes on. Each canvas has our individual unique marks and you can see both of us haven’t held back. It wouldn’t be right if we did and would be easy to begin to move into something contrived if we were over cautious / concerned about what the other may think. So these things feel hugely authentic. We’re both super chilled (practically the same person!) so it’s all easy. It’s a very social affair too, and that’s important. We share our favourite music with each other (which in itself feels enriched by the fact we can’t verbally communicate), drink beer, and celebrate our love of food when all work is done. It’s all a one of a kind thing that’s become hugely significant to us both on a personal level.

James Green, Where I Belong, 2021

It’s quite amazing this connection, this shared creative force that you have with Monsieur Jamin. Yes, it is a dance, an improvisation, instinctive, intuitive, that opens multiple doors to enter into. Within the paintings, the faces, and their expressions, seem to be looking right at us, almost through us, insisting that we respond. Can you speak about your own routines and structures in regards to how you approach and engage painting?

My creative process has always been pretty instinctive / intuitive. I’ve tried not to implement too much rigid structure to my working day and allow my practice to be embedded more as my way of life, than ‘work’. So I don’t go to the studio at a set-time, and there’s no time allocated to when I’d leave. I turn up when the moment takes me; when I have a feeling that something needs to get out. Those moments (most days at some point) are so exciting. I’ve learned along the way to follow my gut. Not just with work but also with life. It’s the reason I have got anywhere and I consider it to be my most powerful tool. So figured I should follow it. It’s particularly important with expressionism as you are painting from within. Painting on those grounds means my work is entirely unique to myself. With the way I paint it is largely based on feeling and emotion so it can take a lot out of you even just over a short period of time. I’d rather paint for a few hours a day and it be something I want to put my name on, that I can say “yeah, that’s me”, as opposed to grafting and forcing something out over a 10 hour day that isn’t quite right. That doesn’t mean long days don’t come… I certainly work til the early hours of the morning fairly often. But I just know when and when not to do that.

I’ve recently established a small element of structure to my daily practice, though, which involves, upon arrival to the studio, reading a poem by Rudyard Kipling called ‘If’, followed by a short meditation surrounded by my works in progress. This helps me to tune into that specific moment in my life and ensures the authenticity to the work that’s about to happen. The word authentic is perhaps the most important to me. The poem is hugely significant to me on so many levels. It says so much about my life. You could write an essay about every line or two. To me, it’s something of a guide on how to do this thing we call life!

James Green (featuring collaborations with Monsieur Jamin)