Sleeping rough. Collage

Jamie Andrews was born on the edge of Dartmoor, Devon. His inspiration to become an artist stems from his father, a dealer of art and antiques in the 1960s. Who encouraged him to playfully draw and look imaginatively at life, opening a world of visual communication and imagination. Moving from his beloved Dartmoor to the small Cornish town of Looe in 1976 at 14 years old was not a happy one, with a sudden realisation of growing up. Punk rock music and the attitude of no future dominated his mid-teens, creating a long-lasting rebellious streak. He defies limits and expectations, enjoying poking fun at more traditional methods of creating art. Working with a childlike playfulness and naivety with the introduction of toys and charms, often vintage, highly collectable pieces which the artist works into his acrylic paintings and sculptures as a means of playing with the idea of and subverting value. J’s vivid, tactile works bind a jovial, playfulness and innocence with much deeper messages, often darkly humorous accounts of politics, religion and the troubling events of contemporary society. Throughout the matter-of-fact and satirical documentation of worldly matters, J maintains a deeply rooted sense of compassion for his fellow man and the environment. His work is bound up in the essence of lost innocence, cleverly captured with a delicate balance between a bold display of raw tragedy with a nostalgic easiness and empathy.