(John) David James
Raised in Strachan Creek B.C.
Lives and works on Salt Spring Island
A self taught, keen observer, Canadian artist (John) David James has worked his way though medium and subject matter in an artistic practice that has spanned more than thirty years. As a musician, painter, filmmaker, and photographer, as well as a performance, sound and installation artist, he is well versed in many disciplines. At the core of his diverse and multifarious practice is photography – the medium which he uses to frame his creations and bring his images to the public eye.
James emerged in the late 1990s. His earliest works, in which he utilized the use of presenting art as the foundation to create his work, were based on a deep understanding of the conceptual ideology of the artist being both the creator and the viewer. With an exceptional degree of technical mastery, his subjects are most often presented as large-scale photographs of his creations.
Despite that fact that James’ work has rarely exhibited, he has been prolific and his work has been collected within Canada and beyond.