Group show - The Missing: Rebuilding the past 15 April - 7 May 2016 Jessica Carlisle Gallery 4 Mandeville Place London W1U 2BF www.jessicacarlisle.com
James Brooks Civic piazze of Tuscany - Piazza dei miracoli, Pisa 2016 Gouache, scalpel, and pencil on watercolour paper 21 x 21cm
James Brooks Pillars of Hercules - EU Embassies in Brussels 2015 29.7 x 21 cm each
Installation shot:
Geometra 2016 Monica Bobinska/ Canal Projects London
Installation shot - Geometra 2016 Monika Bobinska/ Canal Projects London
Installation shot - Geometra 2016 Monika Bobinska/ Canal Projects London
Paul Carey-Kent
Review of Geometra
James Brooks' subtle drawing-originated practice delights in using coded realities as the basis for apparent abstraction, and the seven methodological strands of Geometra also link the classical world to contemporary communications and terrorism. The result is the simplest-seeming complex show you could wish for. The audio slideshow Stoic Meditations of Marcus Aurelius combines three elements: seven black and white images of Syrian Roman Ruins as they were before the current conflict; seven selections from the ancient text chosen for resonance in the context; and a musical score for harp and flute derived from the sequencing of letters in the quotes. We're flickering between chance and calamity; yet the 22 minute whole is ambiently meditative. http://paulsartworld.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/top-ten-up-now.html
250 words or less
Review of: James Brooks - Geometra 14 Jan - 6 Feb 2016 Monika Bobinska/ Canal Projects, London Brooks dissects civic spaces into their constituent parts analysing how each are experiences of European social order, at the junction between the contemporary and historical. He has brought together these elements – Roman roads, Ancient Greek lakes, town squares, and urban boundaries – re-imagining them as a cartographer, containing them within the boundaries of pure geometry devoid of the organic and the human. The shapes are precision cut and reapplied to a base that contains the geometric super-structure. Up-close you can see the calculations, lines, and intimate geometric explorations; from afar, we are presented with a birds-eye view of each series rendered in flat colour. I found the most successful works to be Paris’ twenty Arrondissements and the Tuscan Piazze. The former are no longer shown as a puzzle piece within ‘l’escargot’, but instead as individual areas in grey gauche. This is not the usual experience of a map of Paris, but is probably closer to how the Arrondissements’ demarcating boarders are used to order Parisian civic life. The latter shows the four main piazze of Tuscany’s major cities; each space the flash-point of the historical, religious and civic, and are painted in the umber and terracotta that colour the Tuscan landscape. Though conceptual, this exhibition is not alienating as it investigates the universal familiarity of civic life through the most basic of shapes. The aesthetic is such that should the viewer be armed with only the title of the work, it is apparent what is being observed. (246 words) http://250wordsorless.tumblr.com
James Brooks Geometra 14 Jan - 6 Feb 2016 Monika Bobinska/ Canal Projects 60 De Beauvoir Crescent London N1 5SB
info@canalprojects.info www.canalprojects.info
James Brooks Civic piazze of Tuscany (Siena) 2016 Pencil, cuts & gouache on watercolour paper 21 x 21 cm
Group Show - Contemporary British Drawing Academy of Fine Arts Xi'an, China Dec 2015 - Jan 2016 Contemporary British Drawing - Xi'an Academy of Fine Arts, December 2015 While Western contemporary art in general is now quite frequently shown in China, this is the first show devoted specifically to contemporary drawing from Britain and represents a very interesting area for fresh investigation. Traditional European drawing has been a foundation of Chinese academic study from the Renaissance through to Impressionism and up to Soviet Social Realism. In contrast, the study of developments in Western drawing since the beginning of the 20 century, especially after the second world war has been left almost blank. Therefore this show will provide a rare opportunity for the Chinese public to discover the diversity and depth of Western drawing today. The definition of drawing in the West has become more dynamic and conceptualised than ever. The aim of this exhibition is that it might encourage a wider discussion and an exciting dialogue on the subject of drawing between China and the West. British artists have been a driving force for art across the globe since the end of the 20th century. British Drawing can be seen as a specific aspect of British creativity. At the request of Xi’an Academy of Fine Arts, we have especially included in the show two pieces by the iconic British masters Lucian Freud and David Hockney, who both had a considerable impact on the development of Chinese academic practice since China opened its doors to the West in 1978. However, more importantly for the aim of this exhibition is to bring to the Chinese public for the first time a collection of the most recent drawings by British artists.
James Brooks -
Spaces of cerebral exchange (Uffizi, Florence, Italy)
2015
Pencil and ink on watercolour postcard
10 x 14.8cm
Booth - Galerie Laurent Mueller, Paris Art 15 - Art Fair - Olympia - London 21 - 23 May 2015
James Brooks Forecastings - Vienna 2015 Acrylic & pencil on prepared portrait linen 45 x 35 cm
James Brooks Forecastings - Moscow 2015 Acrylic & pencil on prepared portrait linen 45 x 35 cm
James Brooks Forecastings - Salzburg 2015 Acrylic & pencil on prepared portrait linen 45 x 35 cm
James Brooks Spaces of Cerebral Exchange (Rochester Art Gallery) 2015 Pencil on ink on watercolour postcard 10 x 14.8cm Group show - DATA 03 April - 31 May 2015 Rochester Art Gallery 95 High Street Rochester Kent England
James Brooks - Mercantile conversation III 2015 Pencil & Ink on paper 29.7 x 21 cm
Group show - THE OFFICE OF GRAVITATIONAL DOCUMENTS 12 March - 25 March 2015 Galerie Laurent Mueller Rue des Archives 75 Rue des Archives 75003 Paris France
Group show - Kleine Formate
maria anisimowa, stephan baumkötter, karsten bott, james brooks, jean-luc cornec, jakob gasteiger, valeria heisenberg, julia jansen, jacqueline jurt, via lewandowsky, martin liebscher, arnika müll, gabriele muschel, laura j. padgett, peter rösel, ernst stark, cornelius völker.
6. dezember 2014 – 17. januar 2015
galerie martina detterer hanauer landstrasse 20-22 60414 frankfurt am main www.detterer.de
Group show - Crosswords 2 Galerie Jordan Seydoux, Berlin
Art & Language • Georg Baselitz • Patxi Bergé • Roland Boden • Boris+Natascha • James Brooks • Andreas Burger • Francisco Da Mata • Claudia De La Torre • Piotr Dluzniewski • Ursula Döbereiner • Maurice Doherty • Reinhard Doubrawa • Joel Ducorroy • Ilse Ermen • Claude Faure • Adib Fricke • John Giorno • Pierre Granoux • Sam Grigorian • Alex Hanimann • Knut Hertel • Alekos Hofstetter • Annette Hollywood • Claude Horstmann • Thomas Huber • Sharka Hyland • Judith Karcheter • Mark Lammert • P. Nicolas Ledoux • Françoise Mairey • Antoanetta Marinov • Nanne Meyer • Roland Moreau • François Morellet • Peter Morrens • Bruno Nagel • Alexander Negrelli • Sophia Pompéry • Marc Rebollo • Sven Stuckenschmidt • Mark Themann • Bignia Wehrli • Lawrence Weiner 08.11.2014 - 20.12.2014
Galerie Jordan Seydoux Auguststr. 22 10117 Berlin www.jordan-seydoux.com
The group show includes over 200 postcards works and will include pieces by, amongst others - Carl Andre, Richard Long, Dieter Roth, Bruce Nauman, Joseph Beuys, Yoko Ono, Ben Vautier, Gilbert & George, Susan Hiller, Gavin Turk, Ruth Proctor, Aleksandra Mir, Julie Cockburn and Mark Wallinger.
Group show - Data as Culture Lighthouse 28 Kensington Street Brighton 21 June - 20 July 2014 (Wednesday - Sunday) James Brooks Paolo Cirio Thick Ear James Bridle YoHa Sam Meech http://www.lighthouse.org.uk/programme/data-as-culture
Install photos - Fogli Group show Galleria Doppelgaenger, Bari, Italy
Sunday Screening - 09.02.2014 Galerie Laurent Mueller, Paris 4 videos by James Brooks - Sometimes in the studio I feel like Cooler King Hilts The Third Man Reversed Performance Nocturnes from the headlines of Le Monde
From the Fields series - Field 8:16 2013 29.7 x 22 cm Pencil on archival papers Drawing exhibited at the London Art fair 2014 - Giles Baker Smith Fine Art - http://www.gbsfineart.com/