Jimmie James

PlayTime 

on view May 23 - July 13, 2013 | reception May 23, 2013, 7–9 pm

571 Projects in collaboration with Fair Folks and a Goat is pleased to announce PlayTime, an exhibition of new small-scale abstract paintings by artist Jimmie James curated by Sophie Brechu-West.  The opening reception will take place on Thursday May 23, 7-9pm at Fair Folks and a Goat, 96 West Houston Street in Manhattan.

In this exhibition of new paintings on canvas and wood panel by artist Jimmie James, a wordless dialogue is created between the individual pieces and the viewer. While some pieces like an attempt to reach before (2013, acrylic on wood panel, 12 x 12 in.) are pared down to brooding, moody, monochromatic black and white, others speak to a tangible nostalgia through a modernist palette painterly gesture. The angular planes and collage-like veils of paint are juxtaposed with organic scribbles, random words, and vague figures from the artist's unconscious.  The exhibition’s title, PlayTime, takes inspiration from Jacques Tati's unique 1967 film which presents a closely observed, ultra-modern Paris, a city reduced to gleaming, polished architectural surfaces and spaces of plate glass and steel animated by the people traversing them, most notably the affable figure of Monsieur Hulot.  This confrontation of the angular and the abstract with the organic and rawly human is at the heart of Jimmie James’ paintings.  Spontaneous line drawing elements lie next to deliberately executed areas of paint.  Elliptical titles, such as softly she said (2010, acrylic on watercolor paper, 14.5 x 14.75 in.), are poetically elusive as though taken from dialogue.  James’ paintings always exhibit a strong sense of emotional integrity and truth.

Jimmie James: PlayTime will be on view May 23, 2013 through July 13, 2013 at Fair Folks and a Goat, 96 West Houston Street, New York, NY 10012.  Fair Folks and a Goat is open daily, 7 am – 7 pm.