Approved: 16.09.2013

James Irwin

Artist

Approved: 16.09.2013

James Irwin is a visual artist living and working in London. He graduated with a BA(Hons) in Fine Art from Newcastle University in 2005, and went on to complete an MFA in Computational Studio Arts at Goldsmith's between 2008-2010. He was awarded the 2012 Emerging Artists Bursary Award by the Royal British Society of Sculptors, and has exhibited widely across the UK since 2005. His most recent solo show, Listening to Xanax, was at Gossamer Fog, London in February 2018. He is a PhD candidate at the Contemporary Art Research Centre, Kingston University.

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Artist Statement

James Irwin is a visual artist living and working in London. He graduated with a BA(Hons) in Fine Art from Newcastle University in 2005, and went on to complete an MFA in Computational Studio Arts at Goldsmith's between 2008-2010. He was awarded the 2012 Emerging Artists Bursary Award by the Royal British Society of Sculptors, and has exhibited widely across the UK since 2005. His most recent solo show, Listening to Xanax, was at Gossamer Fog, London in February 2018. He is a PhD candidate at the Contemporary Art Research Centre, Kingston University.

My work investigates the relationship between physical and digital reality using sculpture, sound and moving image. I rework and manipulate content that I find online to shift or skew the relationship between the physical world and it’s digital image. By doing so I attempt to offer alternative narratives, or new fictions, that challenge and confront how we make meaning. Recent examples include a single channel video composed of 4 adverts for Apple Music slowed down and algorithmically synchronised, and a networked robotic work that creates a soundscape of human breathing sounds as robots take it in turns to navigate their way around a desktop.

CV & Education

James Irwin
b. 1980, Lincoln, England. Lives and works in London.
www.jamesirwin.net

Education

2018 PhD Candidate, Contemporary Art Research Centre, Kingston University.
2008-2010, Master of Fine Arts with Distinction in Computational Studio Arts, Goldsmiths College, London.
2001-2005, Bachelor of Arts with First Class Honours in Fine Art, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne.

Solo Exhibitions

- 2018, Listening to Xanax, Gossamer Fog, London.
- 2013, The RGB Spectrum, 313 Kingsland Road, Space In Between, London.
- 2013, Binary Translations, Space In Between, London.
- 2011, Hopeless Communication, Space In Between, London.
- 2010, Monument to the Alphabet, Goth on Bus, London.
- 2009, 10, Goth on Bus, London (with Everything is Number).

2 Person Exhibitions

- 2016, How the mind comes to be furnished, Space In Between, London (Collaborative project with Lilah Fowler).

Online Exhibitions

- 2017, Spread the Virus, web based project @ dateagleart.com (Curated by dateagleart and Bob Bicknell-Knight).
- 2017, Skelf Art Feast, Digital Partner of the Art Licks Weekend 2017, Art Licks, London.
- 2016, Could Ecopsychology cure my Cyberchondria, online residency with Space In Between, London.

Selected Group Exhibitions

- 2017, Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London.
- 2017, ColLive, Space In Between, London (Collaborative project with composer Catherine Cheung and Silk Street Sinfonia).
- 2016, Technonatural, Gossamer Fog, London.
- 2016, This Frontier So Familiar So Strange, ARTICLE, Birmingham (Curated by Mona Casey).
- 2016, Jump Cut, The Averard Hotel, London (Curated by Saturation Point).
- 2015, Generator | Systems, Logic and the Analogue Art of Programming, Kaleidoscope Gallery, Sevenoaks (Curated by Saturation Point).
- 2015, Flat Art, William Benington Gallery, London.
- 2015, Dialogues at London Art Fair, Space In Between, London with Grey Area, Paris.
- 2014, Head Grammar (Project LALO), Transition, London and Weekend, Los Angeles.
- 2014, Fabric (curated by Janne Malmros), Oriel Sycharth Gallery, Wrexham.
- 2013, Alter//Shift//Control (curated by Samuel Capps), Bermondsey Projects, London.
- 2013, Let’s Pluck the Bird, Limoncello, London (with Irwin / Robinson).
- 2012, First @ 108 Public Art Award, Royal British Society of Sculptors, London.
- 2012, RBS Bursary Award 2012, Royal British Society of Sculptors, London.
- 2012, Joint Ventures, Space In Between, London.
- 2012, Art Licks, ICA, London.
- 2012, System of Objects, Departure Foundation, London.
- 2012, Microcosm, Departure Foundation, Ellington Building, Leeds.
- 2011, Presence Absence, Kingsland Road Studios, London.
- 2010, Grey Area, Centre for Creative Collaboration, London.
- 2010, A Tender Cut, Fold Studios, London.
- 2010, Grey Area, Centre for Creative Collaboration, London.
- 2010, A Tender Cut, Fold Studios, London.
- 2010, The Middle of Nowhere. Objects and Actions in the Abyss, Departure Gallery, London (with Everything is Number).
- 2010, Goldsmiths MFA, Kinetica Art Fair, P3 Gallery, London.
- 2009, The Fleet Rises, Departure Gallery, London.
- 2007, Wrecking Ball, 2-10 Hertford Road, London.
- 2007, On Growth and Form, Redwire Gallery, Liverpool.
- 2007, On Growth and Form, Permanent Gallery, Brighton.
- 2006, Coals to London, Nolias Gallery, London.
- 2005, Degree Show 05, Hatton Gallery, Newcastle.

Curatorial Projects

- 2017, SuperHumanCorporation: An Exploration of Digital Nature (Part 1) with Rowena Harris and Nicholas O’Brien @ spaceinbetween.co.uk and across the SIB Instagram feed.
- 2017, SuperHumanCorpoation: An Exploration of Digital Nature (Part 2) with Andrew Benson and Laura Davidson @ spaceinbetween.co.uk and across the SIB Instagram feed.

Forthcoming Projects

- 2018, Manuscript, group show curated by Laura Davidson and Gudrun Filipska.
- 2018, SuperHumanCorporation: An Exploration of Digital Nature (Parts 3 & 4).

Awards

- 2013, First@108 Public Art Award (Finalist), Royal British Society of Sculptors.
- 2012, Royal British Society of Sculptors Bursary Award.
- 2008–2010, Professional Preparation Masters Scheme, Arts and Humanities Research Council.

Residencies

- 2014, ESXLA, Los Angeles, USA.

Reviews

- February 2018, ‘Gossamer Fog: James Irwin Listening To Xanax', letsmakelotsofmonet.com
- February 2016, ‘Space In Between Presents Collaborative Exhibition by James Irwin and Lilah Fowler : How the Mind Comes to be Furnished’, Widewalls.
- February 2016, ‘How the mind comes to be furnished: James Irwin & Lilah Fowler’, Elephant Magazine.
- 30 January - 5 February 2016, ‘James Irwin & Lilah Fowler’, theguardian guide, p.36.
- June 2013, ‘Binary Translations’ 4* review by Eddy Frankel, Time Out.
- September 2011, ‘Hopeless Communications’ review by whatwherewhen.com.
- June 2011, ‘Presence, Absence’ review by Alex Tieghi-Walker, Aesthetica Blog.

Interviews

- 2016, ‘How the mind comes to be furnished: James Irwin & Lilah Fowler’, Traction Magazine.
- 2015, Interview with Saturation Point's Laura Davidson, saturationpoint.org.uk

General Publications and Exhibition Catalogues

- 2012, RBS Bursary Awards 2012, Exhibition Catalogue (text by Sarah Kent).
- 2012, ‘Autocue’, Art Licks Magazine Issue 7.
- 2010, Kinetica Art Fair 2010 Catalogue, Kinetica.