James Green

James Green is a British contemporary painter whose work explores the relationship between abstraction, figuration, and material process. Working within a field of expressive contemporary painting, his practice occupies a space where form emerges through decision- making rather than representational intent. Gestural marks, vibrant colour, and physical surface activity combine to create paintings that feel immediate, direct, and materially present.

Green’s practice is rooted in intuitive mark-making and sustained engagement with materials. He frequently works on unstretched canvas, allowing raw edges, scraped paint, and layered surfaces to remain visible as part of the finished work. These elements function as a record of the painting’s development, foregrounding process and presence over polish or resolution.

Although driven by instinct, Green’s paintings demonstrate a careful balance between spontaneity and compositional control. Figures and forms often appear only partially, hovering between recognition and abstraction. Rather than illustrating subjects or narratives, the work explores how meaning, rhythm, and structure can arise through the accumulation, adjustment, and erasure of paint.

Green has exhibited internationally an...

BA (Hons) Fine Art - Cardiff School of Art & Design (2007 - 2010)

*Currently exhibiting multiple times per year (predominantly solo shows)*

Some featured exhibitions:

‘Reckless Joy’ - Canvas Gallery (Sandbanks, Poole) - Oct 2022 / Solo Show
The Other Art Fair, London - Oct 2022
‘The Magnificent Modest’ - Well Hung Gallery (Hoxton, London) Sept 2022 / Group Show
‘Painted Word’, Galerie Sebban (Paris) 2021. Solo show featuring collaborative work created alongside french artist Monsieur Jamin
‘Small Wonders’, Well Hung (Hoxton, London) - July 2021 / Group show
Canvas Gallery (Poole, Dorset) - December 2021 / Solo show including 15 large scale paintings from my ‘Finding Freedom’ project
‘The Externals’, Chopper Chunky (London) - November 2021 / Group show featuring the work of contemporary expressionists
‘Defacement’, Zebra One (London) March 2021. Solo show of collaborative work made with fashion photographer Joe Quigg during lockdown
‘Chaos & Control’ - Chopper Chunky Gallery (Virtual) - March 2020
Marks & Tilt (London) - June ‘19. Solo show presenting body of work from my ‘Self portrait of somebody else’ project
Talented Art Fair, Old Truman Brewery (London) - March ‘19
The Other Art Fair, London - Oct 2018
‘The Asylum’ - Asylum Artist Management, Kings Cross (London) May - June 2018
Zeb...