James Cullinane

James Cullinane, Sarcophagus Blues, 2020, Ink and paint on paper, Diptych: 41"x 56" (104.1cm x 142.2cm) overall

James Cullinane's drawings, collages, paintings and installations employ a wide range of materials from the traditional (paint, paper, wood, etc) to the unexpected (Wasps' nests, sink drains, map pins, etc). These materials function as symbols, signs and marks that expressively and conceptually explore ideas related to philosophy, art history, theory and literature, time, space, physics and the human condition. James’s process-based work often plays with a tension between fictional or implied space and actual physical space as he combines and recontextualizes traditional and non-traditional materials. His process of visual recontextualization is a search for knowledge similar to Dante’s or Virgil’s journey to the underworld. This process “has to do with finding a way to move beyond what I think I know about an image” to arrive at something more meaningful. Cullinane’s compositions are thus visual representations of that journey and constitute what he has learned from each particular experience of making a work of art.

James Cullinane received his BFA from the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Art and Science, NYC in 1979. His work has been exhibited locally and nationally. In 2001, he was a resident at the Kohler Art Center, Sheboygan, WI, a participant in the 2002 Artists in the Marketplace 22, Emerging Artist Program, at The Bronx Museum, NYC and in 2004 a resident at the Spaces World Artist Program, Cleveland, OH. He lives and maintains his studio in New York City.