James Faure Walker

 

James Faure Walker (born 1948) studied at St Martins School of Art and the Royal College of Art. Solo exhibitions include the Whitworth, Manchester (1985); ARB, Cambridge (2015); Clifford Chance, Canary Wharf (2022); Class Room, Coventry (2017); and Felix & Spear (2018, 2020, 2022). Group shows include Hayward Annual (1979), John Moores (1982, 2002), Serpentine Summer Show (1983), and Digital Pioneers, Victoria and Albert Museum (2009). He was a co-founder of Artscribe magazine in 1976, and its editor for eight years. He has been using computers in painting since 1988. He exhibited eight times at SIGGRAPH, USA, and regularly at DAM, Berlin. He won the ‘Golden Plotter’ at Computerkunst, Germany in 1998. His ‘Painting the Digital River’ (Prentice Hall) was published in the USA in 2006. He has 28 works in the V&A Collection. He won the Royal Watercolour Society Award in 2013 and was RWS Honorary Curator for five years.

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Critics have commented on the lyricism and exuberant colour of James Faure Walker’s paintings. They have mentioned his independent stand, using photos of pedestrians, birds, shops, at the same time as having developed an ‘abstract’ language. As Stuart Morgan wrote in 1985, “His doubt may lead to one of those careers which bridges older and newer practice, and which opens more doors than it closes”.   

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Writing recently of watercolour, James Faure Walker said: "I want my pictures to look fresh, luminous, caught in the moment, but also off guard and unexplained. I admire Turner’s ambition, the expertise, the freedom - also Cezanne and Sam Francis. They were not watercolour specialists, but I cannot imagine their paintings without that watery touch. Nor can I imagine how I could work now without using digital paint alongside other media."

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Exhibitions:

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James Faure Walker: Recent Paintings  18 May - 15 June 2019, Felix & Spear, London (press release and brochure)

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James Faure Walker: Paintings of the Seventies and Eighties  7 July - 29 August 2021, Felix & Spear, London (press release)

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James Faure Walker: How It Works  4 November - 4 December 2022, Felix & Spear, London (press release)

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James Faure Walker: Paintings and Sightings  9 May 2022 - 31 Aug 2023, Clifford Chance, Canary Wharf. Curated and arranged by Frank/Hindley Art Consultants (pdf brochure)

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James Faure Walker - Watercolours: Painting with Light  28 February - 24 March 2024, Felix & Spear, London (press release)