We think something bad must have happened to artist Nathan James. Maybe he stopped taking the pills, maybe he took too many. Whatever has occurred to cause it, things have gotten fascinatingly twisted in the artistic output of the Ontarian who is exhibiting a new, rather disturbed, body of work in his adopted London.
The Golden Age of Hollywood is the setting, but James’ view of the era is rather more dystopian than popular thinking suggests. Creepshow has been inspired by the Pessimist Pop movement, and it’s very much the exposed underbelly of Hollywood we see in his works. Those beautiful faces of the silver screen melt together in horrific fashion, bums linger menacingly, and whatever Mickey Mouse has done to James, we hope we never repeat – the cartoon icon shows his hand in many of the oil paintings of Creepshow, attached to other characters but more often than not up to no good. The Cob Gallery, Camden, will be the setting, or rather the scene of the crime, from 20th March to 7th April.
Drugs’ll Fix It, oil on canvas,
24 x 30 inches (61 x 76 cm), 2012
Right-Hand Man, oil on canvas,
48 x 36 inches (122 x 91 cm), 2012
Who Needs Friends?, oil on canvas,
24 x 30 inches (61 x 76 cm), 2012
Imagine What Home Feels Like, 2012
Creeps, oil on canvas,
30 x 40 inches (76 x 102 cm), 2012
After The War, oil on canvas,
36 x 24 inches (91 x 61cm), 2012
